Slate is a popular material that is inexpensive, but with high reliability and durability. If painted, then for decoration it can easily compete with the new modern roof thing. Currently Southern Cross Roofing can help you to make a slate roof. Southern Cross Roofing is the only slate roof Sydney. Therefore, the slate’s scope is almost unlimited: asbestos-cement roofs can be found in simple rural homes and in luxury lodges. The spread of material is also facilitated by the fact that putting slate on the roof is not a difficult job, it can be done by anyone who wants it. But for coverage to be made to serve, as it should, for at least half a century, it will be necessary to study all the nuances of this simple but responsible event.

Many believe that slate is a universal roofing material. It is not that. To prevent rainfall from leaking under the slate, it is recommended to stack it only on a single or double slope roof with a slope of at least 15 °. If you want to use a flat roof as a base, you must make serious waterproofing from several layers of roofing material or membranes under the crates, and add inlets from adjacent sheets up to 300 mm.

Slate Laying Technique

To get a roof cover, the blackboard is mounted on a chest in a horizontal row, moving up (from the roof). Each subsequent sheet in the series imposes 1-2 previous waves. Each subsequent line is also shifted to the previous one, as a rule, at 120-200 mm.

There are two ways to put slate:

• Scrambling – when slate sheets from one horizontal row are installed with 1-4 wave shifts relative to adjacent rows of sheets. The docking line is stepped on. This technology is recommended for roof slopes, width in transverse direction (horizontal), but narrows along the slope.
• No offset – when slate sheets are installed on the same line, evenly, without shifting. Connections from all rows form one line. Because laying is not allowed to make multiple overlaps (i.e., to combine more than 2 layers of slate at one point), the edges of the sheet are cut at an angle of 30 ° -60 °. This method is the most rational for covering the slopes, wide on slopes, but small in diameter.

As a rule, stacked in a race. This option is less time consuming, because it is not associated with a large number of cuts. It is much more difficult to install a whiteboard without transfer, because almost every sheet must be cut in corners. But this technology has significant advantages – allowing you to save material.

Let’s consider step by step the slate roof process, emphasizing differences in two layouts.

Slate laying technology

First of all, to attach the slate, it is necessary to prepare the crate, which is placed directly on the rafter. The crates are dense and rare.

Solid crates – this floor is from OSB, plywood or board. Such a basis, as a rule, is used if needed to cover the roof with slate with irregular small thickness.

For a typical slate with thickness according to GOST, a rare chest is recommended – a structure made of bars is fitted with a certain pitch above the rafter. The suitable cross section is 40-70 mm. Too thin beams are not used, because of the possibility of damage under external loads (for example, under the influence of falling snow). The bar is too thick – too bad. When bent, they can cause rupture of asbestos cement fibers and the formation of cracks in the slate.

It is recommended to use rods with different heights as part of the coffin frame. Ordinary bars usually have 60×60 mm cross sections, they are fixed in odd lines. Even lines consist of elements that are slightly higher in height – half of the thickness of the slate used. For example, if the slate thickness is 6 mm, the height of the “flat” rod is 63 mm. Another height – 66 mm – has the first cornice, which will rise above the rank and file with the thickness of the slate sheet. For uniformity, they often use other schemes: they use blades of the same height – 60×60 mm, but on even and near rows, they are extended with a 3 mm thick layer.

The chest is attached to the casket, at the right corner, using nails or screws. Because slate refers to materials that are durable and not bent, 3 support rods are enough to attach each sheet. The tone of the railing depends on the length of the sheet. The standard length makes 1750 mm, respectively, steps from the obreshetka – 700-750 mm.

In skates, 1-2 sticks of lath are installed (on each slope) for subsequent installation of the ridge section on them. The height of the bars is in place, actually.

Besides that, do chests around the chimney. To do this, ordinary reinforcement is installed around the perimeter of the pipe at a distance of at least 130 mm from it (to ensure fire safety).