Slate Roof...GrumbleGrumble....StupidIDIOT Gutter Installation!!!

[franklinstreetwest]

I've only had the house two years. I'm restoring it. The gutters were already there when I bought the place. They were cheapo gutters like you see slapped up on an asphalt roof after the fact. Thin aluminum straps that support the gutter, nailed in on top of the roof edge with two nails in each strap. The whole eave was covered in plastic siding and aluminum to hide the flaking paint of the boards beneath. When the gutter was installed (before I owned the house) they used fewer straps than needed to support the gutter properly. Which resulted in sagging useless gutters. ALL along the edge they didn't take care to punch neat little holes....the upper edge slates AND the ones that are layed upside-down beneath them at the edge were chipped, beaten & battered. I just got the scaffolding up yesterday so I could get a good look at the state of affairs.

Yesterday, I removed all the aluminum and plastic covering the eave so that the water coming off the roof doesn't get trapped and backflow into the house. And so I can restore & paint the trim, eave, and by the looks of it the whole edge of the roof. Every single slate is broken in a way that renders it unusable. I imagine the decking at the edge is likewise rotted...The rest of the roof is in fine condition. The ridge roll needs to be replaced... that's another story/project for another day.

The objective right now is temporary but carefully executed measures to shed water and snow off, while I get a plan of attack together for next spring to do the job right. I've never worked on a roof, let alone slate. So I've got some research and learning to do before I stumble in and make more of a mess than I need to!

 

[franklinstreetwest]

 

[franklinstreetwest]

Here's what I've done to the front so far....

 

[effie]

Absolutely gorgeous-they say you should use 5 colors of paint on an old victorian to make it pop--you have accomplished that!!! You know there is another type of gutter hanger that you don't have to put straps up on the roof like that. It just fastens into your fascia board and then the gutter fastens in. what a shame those slates are broken--and that is where they start so you would have to take the whole roof off to replace them. I haven't done any research but have always wondered if you could just slather the back of a new one with some type of epoxy and shove it up under there. It doesn't take much to hold one in place. Most of the ones we have taken off of roofs the nails had completely rusted away and just the weight of themselves on each other were holding them. Good luck-beautiful project!

 

[theotherranch]

Fantastic paint job. The house is beautiful!

 

[franklinstreetwest]

Quote:
As a matter of fact, there is a gutter on the exact opposite side of the house that was attached to the fascia. Great heavy-duty gutter and straps. Not only that, but the whole edge of the roof for about 4' up at one time was removed and repaired. There are slate hooks all along at that height and I can see a rubber liner and newer slate at the leading edge. Inside of that side of the house I can see evidence of a careful patch job in the plaster ceiling, so at one time that side leaked too. After some preliminary rootin around on the internet, I did find some instructions and tools that will allow me to remove only as many edge rows as I NEED to, to make the repairs to the deck and roofing. So at least I won't have to remove the whole roof, cuz that was my first thought too. But apparently there is a way to do only the rows/area that needs fixin and leave the rest in place. I am quite relieved. More study work to do .......

As to epoxy gluing stuff down....when I first bought the house I did just that! The assessor for the insurance company denied me because in his words "the asphalt shingles are curled and damaged and deteriorating from age" (you know in the way asphalt starts to wear away and curl up). He had sent a black and white picture to my agent....as she sat there showing me my "asphalt" roof...It was one crooked slate. I told her I would take care of it. When I got home, I scaled the roof, shinnied all down the ridge like I was sittin a saddle, carefully made it out to the peak with the offending slate, got out my liquid nail and glued the sucker back down!! Think I gave some poor guy in a company roofing van a heart attack...he saw me up there, started waving his arm out the window and yelling...nearly drove off the road, hehe. I hadn't put a whole lot of thought into that adventure. I probably deserved to be yelled at for that one. It's been two years and that thing is still in place. I took pictures of it fixed, took close-ups of my "asphalt" roof, pulled a loose slate from an edge that I knew I could shove back in....marched into my insurance agents office and told her I'd never seen a rock curl before. She looked at the pics, called the assessor and told him flat he was an idiot.

I've thought about gluing in some temps, but I don't have any. I do have rubber pond liner, which is basically rubber roof material. That might be my modus operandi for this winter. I really want to address the rotted boards beneath. Those are like a cancer! And I want to be a good steward to my simple but well crafted home. I have so much respect for a craftsman that can build a house that size without power tools, and after more than a hundred years of settling, the plaster is still solid and every joint in the trim inside and out is still tight...no gaps, everything carefully coped so it would fit together and never show a seam. The siding on the exterior is mostly in the same condition...cut so perfectly that it butts up to the corner boards perfectly tight! This home ownership thing is quite an adventure for me....other than painting the walls inside my previous apartment, I have NO EXPERIENCE doing any of this...I really don't know what people did without the internet??!!?? The only role model I saw doing this stuff growing up was on PBS...thank you "This Old House" & "Woodright's Workshop"!!

 

[franklinstreetwest]

Thanks so much for the compliments!

 

[effie]

check around your local antique shops for some slates or if you have a weekly sale bulletin there might be some advertised. Sorry I don't live close or I would bring you some. You shouldn't pay more than a dollar for them. I have bought several for 50 cents a piece. You can reuse used ones. We did the roof on our pavilion with used slates.

 

[EweSheep]

Love the color on the Victorian house!

We do have alot of slate roofed houses around here! Sadly alot of them are ripping them out and put in asphalt shinges.

 

[NYboy]

Nice painted lady!!