Slate Tiles

Slate roofing Toronto. Leaking valley and slate roof tiles.

Sat, 13 Nov 2010 19:37:03 +0000

Our downtown Toronto client's mansard roof was leaking near the valley where the two slopes meet. Contributing to the leakage was a narrow valley that did not run far enough under the natural slate tiles. Given the slate tiles on the smaller mansard section were in poor condition we replaced them with new slate tiles cut to match the decorative design and removed and replaced slates on the other section to install a proper width valley.

The slate tiles on the smaller and lower sloped section of the mansard roof were in poor condition, so given we were replacing the valley it made sense to install new natural slate tiles on this section. We installed high quality Quebec slate in the unfading black and light green colour to match the existing slate. For a section of that slope, the slate tiles were cut in a decorative diamond shape to match the existing scalloped edge slate design. In the video, you can see our slate mason cutting the green slate tiles with a slate cutter. As always we installed ice and water shield underlayment underneath the slate tiles and installed them using 2 inch copper nails. The valley installed was black to match neighbours roofs and is of heavy guage pre-painted steel. To finish we installed a new black ridge cap along the peak of the roof.

Along with the slate repair, M&R Roofing also installed our two ply modified flat roofing system.

Below is an image gallery of the slate project. Please visit our slate tiles blog category and slate roof portfolio for other information regarding our slate services.

Toronto slate roof. Slate tiles and copper on Heritage Toronto home

Sun, 05 Sep 2010 02:32:18 +0000

This past week, M&R Roofing's experienced slate masons installed fine Quebec natural slate tiles, which were finished with copper flashings, on the roof of a Heritage Toronto home in Cabbagetown.

Our Cabbagetown, Toronto client had initially called us to repair some of the slate tiles on the mansard roof of his Spruce Street home. When we arrived to inspect the condition of the roof, we saw slate tiles that were in extremely poor condition. Many were very soft and breaking easily into dust. The slate appeared to be of inferior quality. There were approximately 20 to 30 tiles that needed to be replaced. In addition, others would be broken in the process of the repair and would also need replacing. Given that 40 to 60 tiles would need to be replaced and that others may break in the near future due to their poor condition, we advised our client that it was most cost efficient to install new slate tiles on the roof. Given the home was designated as a heritage property by the Heritage Toronto board in 2005, the details of our proposed work had to be approved by Heritage Toronto. The proposal was approved and we proceeded with our installation last week.

Before we began stripping the existing slate tiles, we protected the landscaping on the property accordingly. Once the mansard roof and dormer were stripped, we replaced all rotten boards and installed ice and water shield underlayment. Our experienced slaters then began installing the slate tiles. The slate tiles selected by our client were identical in size to those previously installed, in order to tie in the roof with his neighbour's slate roof. The slate tiles installed were of a high quality Quebec slate in the unfading black colour. The tiles were 10 x 16 inches in size with a 1/4 inch thickness. The slate was installed with all copper flashing including copper wall flashing, copper ice stoppers and copper step flashings and valley for the dormer.

M&R Roofing offers a wide range of high quality Quebec and Vermont roofing slate tiles. Many various sizes and intriguing colours options are available as shown in the video below.

Below is a image gallery of photos of the slate roof before, during and after installation. Please also visit our portfolio gallery for photos of other slate roof projects completed by M&R Roofing.

Toronto slate roof tile repair

Sun, 27 Jun 2010 21:46:22 +0000

Here M&R Roofing is repairing and replacing slate roof tiles in East York, Toronto.

Our client’s roof still contains the original slate tiles which appear to be about 100 years old, but some were broken and missing and needed to be replaced. The original tiles were much smaller then those currently available on the market, so we had to cut them down to the appropriate size. We also tried to match the colour as closely as possible, however the match will never be perfect because of available stock, wear of original tiles and the nature of stone. In this case it was possible to repair some of the slate roof tiles because they were quite solid. In other cases, the roofing slate may be of inferior quality and very soft, in which case it is very difficult to repair since many will break in the process. Those borken must be replaced and the process is less cost effective then installing new slate tiles on the roof. Below are some photos of such a case where the slate is so soft it easily breaks and turns into dust.