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Slate roof - repair or re-roof, please help me decide!

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  • We recently had our house re-roofed (end terrace), The original slate roof was more or less how it was done when the house was built in 1912, so no roofing felt plus a hotch-potch of guttering etc. We paid around £10K and the roofer factored in having to replace up to 20% of the slates due to breakage etc, new roofing felt and battens. Effectively we were trying to pre-empt future problems as most repairs now seem to warrant erecting scaffolding etc at a cost. The roofer used reclaimed slates. 
  • stuart45
    stuart45 Posts: 4,886 Forumite
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    What would be on this original, and I'll likely-untouched, 100-year old roof, tho'? Probably just a cement fillet?
    Taken from a trade textbook over 100 years old. 
    Cement fillets~ To save the expense of lead flashings, fillets composed of equal portions of Portland cement and sand are used with zinc soakers, but are not as durable as lead soakers and flashings. 
  • ThisIsWeird
    ThisIsWeird Posts: 7,935 Forumite
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    So still likely to be that?
  • stuart45
    stuart45 Posts: 4,886 Forumite
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    So still likely to be that?
    Against a chimney stack on the cheaper Victorian houses you often find zinc soakers and a sand/cement fillet. 
  • HaircutHel
    HaircutHel Posts: 31 Forumite
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    Thanks for the diagrams. I also watched a YouTube video of someone replacing a lead soaker last night - surprisingly interesting! Maybe I will ask the roofer to have a look. At the moment there appears just to be a mortar filler around it. Would the water not just run down the tiles if there is no soaker? 
    I haven’t noticed any water stains in the room in the roof so am hoping whatever is there is doing its job! 
  • FreeBear
    FreeBear Posts: 18,268 Forumite
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    HaircutHel said:. At the moment there appears just to be a mortar filler around it. Would the water not just run down the tiles if there is no soaker?
    My house, a late 1920s semi, had a cement fillet along the junction between tiles & chimney but no soaker. Over time, cracks formed, and I suspect it pulled away from the brickwork in places (very soft reds). This allowed rain to penetrate, and the first I knew of it was water dripping through a bedroom ceiling.
    So, if there is no soaker, and the fillet is breaking up, water will find a way through. Just because the text books say "this is how it's done", do not assume that it is the case. There have always been cowboys & cheapskates in the building industry looking to cut corners and save a few bob.

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  • stuart45
    stuart45 Posts: 4,886 Forumite
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    If the fillet pulls away from the wall, even if there's soakers in there, the water can run down the back of them into the roof space.
  • HaircutHel
    HaircutHel Posts: 31 Forumite
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    hello, could I ask another question? Roofer has suggested removing the chimney stack altogether rather than replacing pots/reflaunching/repointing and so on. He said that they cause so many issues when not being used as designed, and given the driving rain we’ve had in recent years. Even if someone wanted a fire in the future he said they could just have a flue fitted.
    Will the house look odd though? I can see one or two houses in my local area have done this. I have honestly never noticed, but would it spoil the look?
  • ThisIsWeird
    ThisIsWeird Posts: 7,935 Forumite
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    edited 22 March 2024 at 4:46PM
    IF the chimney is not going to be used again, and IF you are certain it doesn't affect your house's aesthetics, then getting rid is easily the best solution. 
    It'll cost to do this, tho', but long term it's the best bet.
    If you'd like to post a pic of your whole house, folk on here should be able to give an opinion on whether it'll spoil it's looks.
    Bear in mind, tho', that you will be selling at some point, so make sure you don't spend silly money when it's not needed.
  • HaircutHel
    HaircutHel Posts: 31 Forumite
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    Traditional victorian semi detached house bay hi-res stockTraditional victorian semi detached house bay hi-res stock
    So; this is a random house from the internet, but mine is similar! The chimney in question is on the right obviously! 
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