Stone slate, graded and set out by hand.
Cumbrian stone slate and Westmorland green, sorted and laid in diminishing courses the way the roofs round here were built. It is a heavy covering, so the timbers get looked at properly before any of it goes back on.
No call-out charge, and the phone is answered 24 hours.
Written prices
the quote is the price, agreed before we start
Free quotes
no call-out charge, and a written price before anyone starts
24 hours
someone answers the phone, storm or shine
Fully insured
every job covered, from a single slate to a full re-roof
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Stone roofs.
A stone roof is a different job from a slate roof, and the difference is mostly weight and sorting. Cumbrian stone comes off a roof in every size from something you can hold in one hand to something that takes two people, and it only works if it is graded and set out so the big ones sit at the eaves and the courses diminish evenly all the way to the ridge. Get that wrong and it looks wrong from the road for the next hundred years.
The weight is the other half of it. A stone roof can put two or three times what a natural slate roof does onto the rafters, so when one comes off we look hard at the timbers underneath before it goes back — plenty of old roofs have been quietly sagging under it for decades. If a purlin has gone, that is the moment to say so, while the roof is open and it is cheap to deal with.
Most of the stone we lay is reclaimed, either off the same roof or bought in to match. New Cumbrian stone is available and it is expensive; on a repair, the roof you already have is almost always the best match for the roof you already have.
What the job covers
- Existing stone taken off, cleaned and graded for re-use
- Rafters, purlins and wall plates checked for the load they are carrying
- Timber repairs and strengthening where the roof has moved
- Reclaimed Cumbrian stone or Westmorland green sourced to match
- Diminishing courses set out from eaves to ridge
- Slates holed and pegged, or nailed, to suit the stone
- Torching renewed or a breather membrane fitted underneath
- Stone ridges, kneelers and verges re-bedded in lime
Also called Stone roof · Stone slate roofing · Westmorland slate
Want a price for this?
Describe what you can see from the ground and we'll tell you what it is likely to be. Coming out to look costs nothing.
What the work looks like.
Our own photographs, taken on our own roofs — not a stock library.
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Worth knowing.
- Diminishing courses
- Big at the eaves, small at the ridge, and the change even the whole way up. It is what makes an old stone roof look right, and it is the part that takes the time.
- The weight
- Two to three times a natural slate roof. It is why we look at the timbers before quoting rather than after, and why a stone roof is not something to put onto a house that never had one.
- Reclaimed or new
- Reclaimed nearly always. New stone is available, it costs a great deal, and set against weathered stone it stands out for years.
- Stone offered off another roof
- Often a good buy, as long as it is the right stone and it has not been knocked about coming off. Send us a photograph before you pay for it.
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The rest of slating and tiling.
These sit alongside this one under slating and tiling. If yours turns out to be one of those instead, the price is worked out the same way.
New roof installation
The first roof on a new build, an extension, a dormer or a garage — worked out for the pitch and the exposure before a single slate goes on.
Re-roofing
Stripped to the rafters, felted, battened and re-covered. A standard semi is usually two days once the scaffold is up.
Slate roofing
Welsh, Spanish, reclaimed and Lakeland green — what separates one slate from another, and which one belongs on your house.
Heritage roofing
Listed buildings, conservation areas and old stone houses. Reclaimed slate, lime mortar, and the conversation with the conservation officer before the scaffold goes up.
The other things we do.
Most jobs turn out to be more than one of these at once. If you're not sure which you need, describe what you can see and we'll work it out.
Slating and tiling
Nearly every pitched roof on this coast is slate. Stripping them, re-covering them, matching them to the terrace next door and putting stone back on the ones that had it.
Flat roofs
Fibreglass, EPDM rubber and torch-on felt for extensions, dormers, garages and porches. Laid to falls so water actually leaves the roof.
Repairs and leaks
Slipped slates, cracked tiles, failed valleys, damp patches on the ceiling. We find where the water is getting in before we quote for anything bigger.
Chimneys and leadwork
Repointing, flaunching, chimney removal and rebuilds, plus lead flashings, valleys and soakers cut and dressed on site.
Gutters, fascias and soffits
The cheapest part of the house to look after and the one most often left. Clearing, repairing and replacing gutters, downpipes, fascias and soffits.
Storm damage
Emergency call-outs, tarpaulins and temporary covers when the weather comes in off the Irish Sea. We work with insurers and can supply photos and reports.
- Roof maintenanceGeneral maintenance · Annual roof check · Roof survey · Moss removal
- Commercial and industrial roofingIndustrial and factory roofing · Factory roofing · Farm building roofing · Warehouse roofing · Commercial roofer
- Roof windows and glazingRooflights · Sky lights · Roof glazing · Daylight into a loft
- Roofing materialsRoofing material · Roofing supplies
Get a price for the stone roof.
Coming out to look costs nothing and there's no call-out charge. You get a written price before anyone lifts a slate.
Fill this in and we'll come back to you the same day, usually within a couple of hours. If water is coming in right now, don't type — phone.
07743 455071- 01We ring you back to talk through what you've got.
- 02We come out and look at the roof properly, free of charge.
- 03You get a written price with nothing hidden in it.