Slate roof repair in Rīga
Corrugated slate, šīferis, is still on a lot of houses, dachas and sheds around Rīga. It lasts a long time, but most of it is old by now. Sheets crack, moss grows in the waves, and the nails rust.
A slate roof can usually be repaired sheet by sheet. Two broken sheets are not a reason to replace the whole roof.
What usually goes wrong
Things you notice from the ground, in the attic or on the ceiling.
Cracked sheets
A crack along a wave, often near a nail, or a corner broken off. Frost opens the crack a bit more every winter. Branches and ladders do the rest.
Moss and lichen
Moss holds water against the slate and lifts the overlaps. The water creeps sideways under the next sheet.
Drips along the nails
Old nails rust and their washers perish. You see small drips or stains in a line, under a row of fixings.
Ridge and chimney
Ridge pieces crack or shift, and the flashing around the chimney comes loose. Many slate leaks start here, not in the sheets.
Soft, crumbling edges
Very old sheets go soft at the edges and break when you touch them. Patching gets harder then, and replacing a slope may make more sense.
Old slate and asbestos
Slate made before 1990 often contains asbestos. It is safe while it is whole. The danger is the dust, from drilling, cutting, breaking or cleaning it with a pressure washer.
So please don’t cut, drill or power-wash old slate yourself, and don’t walk on it: it breaks under a foot. We replace damaged sheets with asbestos-free fibre cement. Old sheets are never drilled or broken, and we handle them properly.
What we do about it
Sheet by sheet, without breaking the old ones.
Look and price
Send photos or book the free inspection. We count the damaged sheets and check the ridge, the chimney and the fixings.
Take out the broken sheets
Damaged sheets come off whole. Nothing is drilled or broken on your roof.
Fit new sheets
Asbestos-free fibre cement sheets in the same wave shape, fixed with new fasteners and sealing washers.
Ridge, flashing and moss
Ridge pieces refixed or replaced, chimney flashing resealed, moss cleared without a pressure washer.
Guarantee
We clear up and give you a written three-year guarantee.
What slate repair costs
Starting prices, measured on your roof. The exact figure goes into the agreement.
- Inspection€0
- Slate sheetsfrom €35/m²
- Seams & flashingfrom €12/m
- Replacing a whole slopeprice after photos
- Removing old asbestos slateprice after photos
Replacing a whole slope is priced after an inspection. It depends on the area, the state of the boards underneath and the new covering.
All prices →Check your price online →Questions about slate
Is my old slate roof dangerous?
Not while it is intact. Slate made before 1990 often contains asbestos, and the risk is dust from breaking, drilling or cutting it. Leave it whole and let us replace the damaged sheets.
Can I change a couple of sheets myself?
We’d rather you didn’t. Old slate breaks under your weight, so you need crawling boards to move on it, and taking out old nails or cutting a sheet makes asbestos dust. It is a quick job for us.
Should I replace the whole roof?
Not because of a few broken sheets. If most of the sheets are soft and crumbling, or the boards underneath have rotted, a new covering is the honest answer, and we’ll tell you so.
How much does slate repair cost?
New slate sheets cost from €35/m². A first price comes the same day from photos.
Send a photo, get a price
One photo of the roof from the ground and one of the wet patch inside are usually enough for a first price the same day.
Mon–Sat 8:00–20:00. Leaks and storm damage seven days a week.
Prefer to click? Answer a few questions about your roof and see a starting price.
Check your price online →