We have offered slate roof
consulting services nationwide since 1998. Some of our projects
have included the Smithsonian Institution Building,
Washington DC; Ford's
Theater, Washington DC; Cathedral
of St. Andrew, Little Rock, Arkansas; Castle
Park, St. Louis, MO area; the Gibraltar
Estate,
Wilmington, Delaware, Glenridge
Hall, Atlanta, GA area; the Zimmerman
Estate, Delaware Water Gap National Park; Grove
City College,
Pennsylvania; Indiana University
of Pennsylvania; Grand
Hall, Pittsburgh;
and many churches and private residences (inspections,
assessments, evaluations, restoration recommendations, installation
specifications).
Many older slate roofs will leak because
of flashing failures, broken or missing slates, or faulty
old repairs. All of these conditions are very common, yet
all are reversible. Properly applied slate roof restoration
procedures can add decades, if not generations to the life
of many slate roofs as long as the slate itself is still
good. However, as the primary source of income for today's
modern roofing contractors comes from the re-roofing of buildings,
it is very common for perfectly good slate roofs to be condemned
by seemingly knowledgeable contractors. It is also common
for good roofs to be condemned by more than one roofing
firm, all with a vested interest in replacing the roof.
A roof survey and conditions report by Jenkins
cuts through the contractor BS and provides you with an accurate
analysis of the conditions and needs of your slate roof.
We provide consulting
services on the condition that we will not provide
any contracting services regarding the project (in other
words, Jenkins will not work on the roof other than to
possibly provide training for your crew). Instead,
we help you to find a suitable contractor for the project.
Jenkins can then conduct progressive site visits, issue
progress reports, if needed, and conduct on the job training,
if necessary. We filter out contractor B.S., review contractor
proposals, and negotiate with contractors at your request
regarding costs, proposals, project specifications, or
other important issues.
A few examples of good slate
roofs are shown above and below. These were all condemned
by home inspectors or roofing contractors but were saved
by Jenkins roof consultations. Top left, residence in WV
with beautiful, hard black slate, condemned by home inspector
during re-mortgage negotiations. Top right, excellent ten-year-old
mixed Vermont slate roof condemned by a "slate
expert" who offered
to replace the roof for $450,000 (the minimal ice damage
was covered by home-owner's insurance). Bottom right, phenomenonally
good black slate on this huge structure was condemned by
roofing contractors who offered to replace it for $10 million.
Bottom left, four roofing firms condemned this beautiful
slate roof, which has a remaining life expectancy of approximately
75 years.
Our Slate Roof Consulting Services
We provide slate roof consulting services for new traditional
slate roof installations as well as for existing slate roofs,
no matter what age. Our services are utilized by insurance
companies, architectural firms, property owners, law firms,
general contractors and roofing contractors, among others.
Our services are provided in five basic ways:
1) Email Consultations:
At times our clients will want us to review photos and information
about a specific roof, then offer opinions and/or advice
regarding the roof or its restoration, repair or installation.
We can often provide this service via email, which is relatively
quick and inexpensive.
2) Mail Consultations: In
the event that email is not sufficient because a written,
letterhead document is required from us for a specific purpose,
then a mail consultation will often suffice.
3) Remote Technical Support: We
provide email, phone, mail and fax support for ongoing slate
roofing projects when no site visit is required.
4) Site Visits: We must visit
a slate roof on-site in order to conduct a roof survey and
prepare a conditions report. This service is necessary when
a detailed report on the current conditions of a slate roof
is needed.
5) Forensic Services: We offer expert witness services.
About Slate Roofs
Slate (stone) roofs have been installed on a large scale
in the United States for over 150 years. These roof systems
have been phenomenally successful — some slate roofs
that are already 150 years old are still functioning well
in this country today. Early slate roof tradesmen carried
their traditional skills over from their countries of origin — often
Wales, Ireland, Scotland or England. Today, following practices
built upon tried-and-proven traditional methodologies, we
can install new slate roofs that can be expected to last
a century, if not two.
Although slate roofing was once an art practiced by nearly
every roofing contractor a century ago, most of those experts
have long since passed away. Much of the basic knowledge
about successful slate roof installations has become lost
to modern roofing contractors and architects whose primary
focus is now on asphalt and low-slope roof systems. Slate
roofs require adequate headlaps and sidelaps, proper nails,
roof slope, tools and
installation procedures. They require a roof deck that
will last at least as long as the slate. They cannot rely
on underlayments (roofing paper) to make them water-tight
as no underlayments have the longevity of the stone itself.
If done correctly, a modern slate roof will be built upon
four fundamental elements: the slate, the fasteners (typically
copper nails), the substrate or roof deck (typically wood),
and the flashings (typically
copper). Correctly installed, such a roof will last 150
years or more while remaining water-tight and virtually
trouble-free.
About Joseph Jenkins
Joe Jenkins, Principal of Joseph Jenkins, Inc., became
a roofer’s helper in 1968 at the age of 16 while still
in high school, when he trained under a 63 year-old professional
roofer. He began his own business in 1970, working during
the summer months while putting himself through college.
He has personally worked on over 1,000 slate roofs since
then. Much of Jenkins’ training and knowledge about
slate roofs came from the deceased roofers of old, whose
work Jenkins removed and restored on hundreds of slate roofs
over a career spanning decades. It is from this experience
restoring century-old slate roofs that Jenkins gained his
understanding of traditional slate roofing systems.
Jenkins is the author of the award-winning Slate
Roof Bible (1997), editor and publisher of the Traditional
Roofing Magazine (traditionalroofing.com), and author
of articles about slate roofs
for Traditional Building Magazine, Period Homes Magazine,
the RCI Interface Journal, and the American Society of Home
Inspectors ASHI Reporter. Jenkins speaks internationally
on the topic of slate roofs and has been written about in
numerous media outlets. In 2005, he founded the Slate
Roofing Contractors Association of North America, Inc. (slateroofers.org).
He is also a member of the Roof Consultants Institute (RCI)
and is on the Board of Directors of the National
Slate Association, but is not affiliated with any slate
quarry, slate supplier, or other industry entity in such
a manner that would affect the objectivity of his consulting
services.
Joseph Jenkins, Inc. maintains a slate roofing supply service
at slateroofcentral.com,
which includes a public message
board about slate, tile and asbestos roofing.
Costs for our services vary according
to factors that include size and number of roofs, location,
accessibility, degree of difficulty, number of site visits
required, etc.
Call us at 866-641-7141 or email
us.
Email Consultations
Mail consultations
Site visits
Slate Roof
Installations
Slate
Roof Restorations
Our Contracting
Services
