Replies

1. 
   rez | Jun 02, 2007 08:19pm | #1

   bump

   There was a stove, a bed, and a place to sit, an infant in the house where it was born, a silk parasol, gilt-framed looking-glass, and a patent new coffee-mill nailed to an oak sapling, all told. The bargain was soon concluded, for James had in the meanwhile returned.    -Thoreau's Walden
   
1. 
   theslateman | Jun 04, 2007 02:54am | #8

   Rez,

   I thought this one died a natural death.

   Walter

1. 
   rez | Jun 04, 2007 09:42pm | #12

   Sometimes a thread will move off the main recent discussion listing and get placed to its designated folder pretty fast and many folks will miss the thread altogether.

   This place has gotten too big for anyone to read all the threads and posts get buried pretty easily.

   What I try to do at least once a week is run thru the General Discussion, Construction Tech. and energy/heating folders looking for posts that are unresponded to and bump them to give a little more opportunity for response before they slide away to the abyss of the archives.

   Sometimes there'll be a first time poster with a serious construction question that he obviously spent a goodly amount of time crafting that will be lying there unknown.

   It surprised me seeing this thread there like it was but then again around here nothing can be surprising anymore. snorK*

     At six I passed him and his family on the road. One large bundle held their all — bed, coffee-mill, looking-glass, hens — all but the cat; she took to the woods and became a wild cat, and, as I learned afterward, trod in a trap set for woodchucks, and so became a dead cat at last.     -Thoreau's Walden

2. 
   DanH | Jun 03, 2007 01:10am | #2

   I've never looked much at slate roofs -- you don't see much of it around here. Is that metal (I presume) bottom edge normal for a slate installation?

   So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
1. 
   theslateman | Jun 04, 2007 02:57am | #9

   Dan,

   Yes, having a copper "apron" is quite common here in Maine. Prior to our Global Warming trend - we used to get lots of snow here, and the apron was a non permeable area where snow and ice could do no harm to the inside.

3. 
   DanH | Jun 03, 2007 01:13am | #3

   Also, I see that the original vent jack is a rubber gasket model vs a lead collar, suggesting that it's no more than about 30 years old. Is that true, or am I missing something? I'd think that a slate roof should be good, with minor repairs, for 50 years or so.

   So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
1. 
   Sphere | Jun 03, 2007 01:44am | #4

   I'll let Walter answer his way, but to tell ya about Longevity, I had a house in PA that was built in 1710...roof was still leakfree, in 1992 when I moved out.  Slate was PA slate and showing wear, but even tho' you  couldsee through some spaces from the attic, surface tension of the water kept it dry inside.Parolee # 40835

1. 
   rjw | Jun 03, 2007 03:15am | #5

   Years ago Old House Journal had an article on the varying life expectancies of different slatesIf I recall, it mentioned a church in England with a roof > 700 years old....

   With my mouth I will give great thanks to the Lord; I will praise Him in the midst of the throng. For He stands at the right hand of the needy, to save them from those who would condemn them to death.

   - Psalms 109:30-31

2. 
   theslateman | Jun 04, 2007 03:02am | #10

   Dan,

   Yes that boot was put on when the aprons were put on ,maybe 15- 20 years ago. Not by me but I remember when that house had work done on it.

   Slate can certainly last in excess of 50 years,some more like 100- 150.

   If you look at another thread of mine here " working on my own place" the salvage slate I'm using is close to 100 years old and the install I'm doing is geared for another 80 to 100.

4. 
   Matt | Jun 03, 2007 03:23am | #6

   OK - how about you explain to a southern boy about the the purpose of the snow guards and the metal all along the eves. 

1. 
   DanH | Jun 03, 2007 04:03am | #7

   The snow guards are to keep the snow/ice from suddenly sliding off the relatively slippery slate. This can create a hazard for people and things below. Same things are commonly installed on metal roofs, at least above doorways.The snow guards may also help protect the slate from damage due to suddenly departing ice, but that's just a supposition.Dunno about the metal, unless it's old-fashioned ice shield, given that ice dams are apt to form along the edge in old, poorly insulated homes, and the slate offers very little resistance to pooled water from an ice dam.
   So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin

1. 
   theslateman | Jun 04, 2007 03:08am | #11

   Matt,

   Dan has nailed it just right. The snow guards ensure that the paper boy, mailman, and oil delivery person all get to go home the night of a Winter delivery to this home.

   Cascading snow and ice off a slate roof can really be a frightening experience if you're below.  Shrubbery, plantings, etc. also do better without huge snowslides onto them.

   Walter

5. 
   MikeCallahan | Jun 05, 2007 03:45am | #13

   Here in the Sierras we often get over 5' of snow piled up on our roofs. No self respecting plumber around here would daylight the vent stack anywhere but just below the ridge. It will prevent the vent from getting sheared off when the slab cuts loose. The "snow guards" will also shear off, making an ugly mess. They are only a band aid and not a permanent solution. Snow guards are only designed for light loads. They are proven to be a bad idea and no one uses them unless ill advised.

   Mike Callahan, Lake Tahoe, Ca.
1. 
   DanH | Jun 05, 2007 06:38am | #14

   Yeah, this is typical of how conditions differ for such things from one area to the next. In our neck of the woods you'd be foolish to NOT have them, from a liability standpoint if nothing else.
   So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin