How To Remove Roof Slates Without Breaking Them

The tile is discontinued so it was worth the time.

How to remove roof slates without breaking them.

Working with roof tiles is a lot easier when you know a couple of basic tricks. After that i took more care with the cut ones and got them out without breaking. If you don t have a chimney or sturdy object on your roof slide 2 3 tiles on your roof up so you can access the rafters underneath. Pull the ripper down the line of the slates in an attempt to break the nail.

Broken slates worn flashings rotted sheathing boards or any element of the roof can be removed and replaced without the need to replace the entire roof. If just pulling the ripper doesn t break the nail hold the lower end of the ripper away from the surface of the slates and hit down the roof with a hammer onto the front of the handle the front of the handle normally has a flat face for this purpose. And the only sure but slow way to remove them without breaking many is a slate rip which rip the nail out from under the slate then you have to wriggle the bent nail out of the hole. Screw a harness anchor onto the rafters and tie the rope to it.

Because of this unusual maintenance characteristic slate roofs can be made to last as long as the slate itself will last which could be hundreds of years. While you don t need a safety harness for a roof with a gentle slope you can still wear one if you want to reduce the risk of falling down. Sometimes also called a slate slasher the ripper has a thin flat blade about two feet long with a square chiseled tip for and a pair of hooks cut into the side of the blade. This short guide covers how to use a slate ripper a useful tool designed for replacing slate roof tiles.

This video from bunnings shows you how to take a tile off and replace it prop.