16 May Can you repair cracked felt or loose slate?

You can repair cracked felt or loose slate, provided you are handy with handheld tools and don’t mind sweating it out. Repairing a roof can be challenging, more so if you have no or little experience.

You may want to hire a roofer if you don’t have the necessary skills, or you may want to get some help, from family or friends.

There are many ways of repairing cracked felt or loose slate. You can get accustomed with the methods to decide which one you should be using.

Copper tabs

There is a copper tab method which is quite popular. This method is typically used to replace lost or damaged slates. Get to the area where the felt has cracked or the slate is damaged, get rid of the concealed nails and then install the new slate, which should be of the exact same size. You should note that the size of a slate should be twice that of its exposure and an additional three inches for head lap. In other words, if your slate has an exposure of about ten inches then the size of the slate has to be twenty three inches. Make two nail holes in the slate. Do this from the back of the slate as that would allow the ragged part to be at the front and that will facilitate the nailing. Use two copper nails and install the slate, one nail on the slate above and one on the slate below the slate you are replacing.

Slate hooks

Then there is the slate hook method. This method uses slate hooks to replace the loose or damaged slate without causing any disturbance to the adjoining slates. You would need three inches stainless steel slate hooks. The hook is the base atop which you should slide the slate and install it. This process is quite simple. All you have to do is insert the hook and slide the slate and remove the hook which will allow the slate to pop into the intended place. Then you can use the conventional nailing technique to firmly install the slate.

There are many other methods of repairing cracked felt or loose slate but these are the more common ones. Should you be unsure of whether or not you can manage to pull it off, you must consider hiring a professional roofer to get the job done. It is quite possible that in your attempt to repair cracked felt or loose slate, you will damage the adjoining slates or felt further.

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