(040) 302-2137

There are basically 2½ answers to this question:

• As little as 10-12 years with signs of failure as early as 3 years
• As much as 150 years or more—or somewhere in between

To arrive at the answer for you, it’s like pretty much anything else in life; the quality of materials and workmanship will determine the lifespan of your new slate roof. That will come as no surprise so let us help you better understand how to acquire a slate roof you’ll only need to do once in a lifetime.

One good reason so many Melbourne homes and buildings have slate roofing is the proven performance to withstand everything the Melbourne climate can throw at it: salt air, high velocity winds, torrential downpours, hail, snow and ice, intense solar heat and rays, our roofs take a beating. Yet there are period homes in excess of 150 years old with the original slate roofs. That’s proven performance!

To achieve that on your own roof, you’ll need roofing slate with proven performance and a slate installer with proven experience. You also want to be sure you’re getting a written warranty.

Since we’ve outlined these important factors, it’s only fitting we include our own credentials. We’ve been doing slate roofs since 1980 and the experience predates that back to the 1970’s apprenticing under a lifelong master slater. Most of our slating team members exceed 10 years experience. Our workmanship warranty is 50 years and we offer slate tiles with up to a 100 year warranty.

Qualified slate roofing companies are easy enough to identify because they can prove their experience and are not put off by your wise concerns. The dodgy slate roofers do not stand up well to scrutiny. Considering what’s at stake, that bit of due diligence on your part is well worth the effort. Do that and the 100+ year life expectancy on your new slate roof will be your reward.

Many of the slate roofs around the Melbourne area, like many other places, are located in leafy places. A leading cause of slate roof failures that we see is from leaves and other debris clogging the gutter and drainage system. For this reason, an annual or biannual cleaning of the gutters is highly recommended.

Beyond that, a properly installed new slate roof of good quality, or a fully restored original slate roof, will be essentially maintenance free for many years. However, as the slate roof ages, we advise a professional inspection at least every 2-3 years. Many homeowners wisely choose an annual inspection to safeguard against unpleasant and expensive surprises from water damage.

This isn’t technically maintenance but a word of caution is also appropriate. If other services such as painting, TV or satellite antennas, solar heating, and so on are performed on your home or structure, a slate roof professional should also be consulted. Other tradesmen, or kind souls helping out, are not always aware of the damage they can inflict on a slate roof.

The operative word here is good quality slate properly installed. Once you have that, very little maintenance is required.