Roof Sheathing For Slate

Three quarter inch thick planed softwood spruce fir pine boards will last a century or more under slate.

Roof sheathing for slate.

Typically 1 4 or 1 6 boards of wood are installed with a 3 5 maximum space between each board directly over the roof rafters or in a cold roof system over the plywood deck. Century old sheathing boards can become pretty hard so if copper nails bend or deform use stainless steel roofing nails instead. Slate roofs require about the same founda tion as shingles. Also known as decking it is the wood in which the slate is attached to.

The sheathing also called decking is the wood to which the slate is attached. Plywood is a bit more expensive than osb but is usually stronger. Roof sheathing may also be constructed of plywood. Plywood may be used instead of osb in cases where the roof covering is especially heavy like in the case of slate clay or concrete tiles.

This will insure a roof per fectly tight against fine snow. Option 4 tongue in groove lumber kiln dried is suitable as a roof decking on slate roofs. Roofing felt paper overlapped about three inches at the top edges and nailed to the roof with 1 galvanized roofing nails egis ok here see below. Slate and tile are relatively brittle expensive.

Ideally the wood will last 150 years or long enough to support an average initial slate roof and replacement slate. The better the foundation the better will be the roof. Goboard structural sheathing is an ultra lightweight yet durable waterproof alterna tive to heavy sheathing products. Many slate roofs primarily barn roofs don t have any.

Final color selections should be made using full size shingles. Tarred or other waterproofed paper should be used under slate where the same is laid on sheathing boards. Generally the wood will last more than a century to support the slate roof. Spaced sheathing also called skipped decking refers to the construction details of the substrate which the cedar gets nailed to and thus secured to your home.

The proper sheathing is single plank boards which can be 3 4th to 1 inch thick. When replacing sections of slate or slatelike materials alternate slate courses with strips of 30 lb. Roof decking or sheathing for slate roofing must be adequate to support the loads involved but not less than nominal 1 inch lumber or 5 8 inch plywood sheathing. Different categories of wood will work except laminate woods plywood and particleboard.

Option 5 slating lath or 1x2 to 1x4 strips of wood spaced for nailing the slate made of at least 3 4 inch thick solid wood.