Slate Roof Without Felt

In wales where we are located there are still many properties with original welsh slate roofs.

Slate roof without felt.

One with a simple. Roofing felt may be necessary for use with your shingles to meet a class a fire rating when shingles are evaluated for their fire ratings it is done on a small test deck with the roofing felt underlayment in place without this underlayment the shingles alone may not meet the class a fire requirements. I have viewed two properties over the last few days that have old roof with no felt until the tiles. A typical roof has three layers a felt layer and two layers of overlapping shingles.

Both of them are inter war 3 bed semis. Roofing felt was introduced primarily to act as a secondary barrier against wind driven snow and rain but its use also causes a reduction in air movement within the roof space particularly if the roofing felt is impervious and this effect is often compounded by the introduction of insulation. You may be able to use the original tiles depending on their condition. Roll roofing is different.

Traditional 30 pound organic roofing felt. It has just one layer so it goes. Often if you have slate and they re in good condition there s no reason they couldn t be reused. Definitely a good move.

You will also want to make sure your rafters and sheathing are strong enough to hold up a heavy slate roof without sagging. New roof redland 49 s breathable modern felt fabric stuff not draughty still dry no piles of snow on the bedroom ceiling insulation in winter no daylight gaps no wasps. Some older properties do not have felt and as long as they don t leak its ok. It is though difficult to repair so in the long run you are better off striping the roof and felting.