Slate Roofing Birmingham: Welsh Slate Repair and Recovering
Slate roofing work in Birmingham is dominated by one condition: Welsh slate laid on Victorian and Edwardian terraces whose iron fixings have corroded while the stone itself remains entirely serviceable. Book a survey and every elevation of the slate roof is checked, photographed and listed before a figure is put to it. What it covers: Slate roof · Strip and relay · Slate.
- On site in 45 to 90 minutesEvery elevation photographed from ground level and ladder, and the roof void inspected from inside.
- A written report in two daysDefects separated into immediate, this season and monitor, with photographs against each.
- An itemised written scopeAgreed and signed before anyone starts, with no variation without a new figure.
Call the crew07446 375079
Monday to Friday, eight until six, and Saturday mornings. Emergency make-safe runs outside those hours.
Crews work across 8 Birmingham and Solihull districts: Sutton Coldfield, Harborne, Edgbaston, Moseley, Solihull, Erdington, Kings Heath and Selly Oak. Postcodes outside that run are quoted case by case rather than turned away.
- Free survey No charge for the survey, and none if the report says nothing needs doing.
- Own crews The people who survey the roof are the people who lay it. No subcontracting, no lead resale.
- Written scope first Quoted as an itemised scope agreed before work starts.
- Workmanship warranty Issued in writing on completion. Sole trader, no scheme registration.
Nail sickness is the dominant failure mode on local period stock, and it decides which of these is honest on a given roof.
- Individual refixing — holds one slate, not its neighbours
- Slope strip and relay — one elevation at a time
- Full recovering
- Heritage matching by quarry, gauge and thickness
Four levels of work, and nail sickness decides which of them is honest on a given roof. 70–85% of sound slates are typically reusable in a strip and relay, and natural slate outlasts its own iron fixings.
What we fix
What slate roofing work do we carry out?
Slate work covers refixing individual slipped units, stripping and relaying a single slope, recovering a whole roof, and matching replacements on period property. Each is quoted after inspection, because the fixing condition decides which is appropriate.
- A strip and relay means slates lifted, sorted, refixed on new battens and membrane with non-ferrous nails.
How it works
The decision is made slope by slope.
- An iron nail corrodes and releases sound slate so the covering outlives its fixings.
- A strip and relay reuses sound slate on a new batten with non-ferrous fixing.
- A conservation area designation prohibits a fibre-cement substitute and requires a natural stone.
- A headlap requirement restricts a slate size on a shallow pitch.
What it costs
What slate roof costs
- Slate 70–85% of sound slates typically reusable in a strip and relay
- Slate £140–£280 supplied and fitted, the highest of the pitched coverings
Straight answers
Why do slates slip on Birmingham terraces?
Slates slip because their iron nails corrode. Victorian and Edwardian terraces across Balsall Heath, Sparkbrook, Handsworth and Moseley were built with Welsh slate on iron fixings that reach the end of their life around seventy years.
Nail sickness has a relevance of the dominant failure mode on local period stock.
- Tingle function and limit: refixes one slate; does not remedy adjacent corroded fixings
What does a strip and relay involve?
A strip and relay lifts every slate, sorts sound units from broken, renews the battens and underlay, and refixes the reusable slates with copper or aluminium nails. The stone returns to the roof; only the fixings and battens are new.
- Welsh slate has a matching of replacements matched by quarry, gauge, thickness and colour.
- A non-ferrous nail means copper or aluminium fixing preventing recurrence of nail sickness.
How many slates can be reused?
Designated streets require natural stone, not fibre-cement substitutes.
- Slate minimum pitch: restricted by headlap; shallow slopes limit the available slate sizes
Can slate be matched on a period property?
Yes. Replacement slate is matched by quarry, gauge, thickness and colour against the original covering. Quarry matters as much as colour, because slate from different sources weathers differently and a mismatch becomes visible within a few years.
How much does slate roofing cost?
Natural slate costs £140 to £280 per square metre supplied and fitted, the highest of the pitched coverings. A strip and relay reduces material cost substantially because most of the existing stone returns to the roof.
70–85% of slates typically survive a strip and relay, so material cost falls well below a full new-slate figure.
Repairing one elevation at a time
Nail sickness often reaches one elevation first, and a single-slope relay is a legitimate staged option. Replacement slate is matched by quarry as well as colour, because weathering behaviour differs between sources.
Book a slate roof survey
Reclaimed units are sounded and graded before reuse; a dull ring indicates delamination.
Strip and relay, and 6 more
- strip and relay
- tingle
- nail sickness
- gauge
- headlap
- non-ferrous fixing
- reclaimed slate
Recent work
Job photographs are added as each contract completes, with the date, the district and the defect named in the caption.
Where we work
8 Birmingham and Solihull districts
- Sutton Coldfield
- Harborne
- Edgbaston
- Moseley
- Solihull
- Erdington
- Kings Heath
- Selly Oak
Postcodes outside that run are quoted case by case rather than turned away.
Related pages
Book a slate roof survey
A survey takes forty-five to ninety minutes and the written report follows within two working days. Nothing is charged for the survey, and nothing is charged if the report says nothing needs doing.