slate guys: Advice needed

Grumpy

I looked at a repair the other day. It's a slate turret with metal hips. For some reason the fasteners holding the metal to the structure are falling out. I was physically able to remove a few nails with my bare hands. They appeared to be 3" long staintless steel standard roofing nails. They are nailed through the metal and through the slate beneath.

The slate pieces seemed very firmly fastened. I can't figure why they are pulling out so easily.

I got a price on some 5" stainless nails, but any other advice first?

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-Grumpy
Chicago Gutters Chicago Roofing

English Roofer

Hi Grumpy, Its a difficult one to call with out seeing some photos, maybe fixing 5" nails will do the trick but the nails didnt come out for no reason, as you suspect it could just be the lenght isnt long enough.
We fix slates on over here with 40mm nails with is about 1" and5/8" so you would have thought 3" though the metel flashing would be enough, just maybe there not hitting the timber there meant too.
Cheers
Dave

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'I can resist anything but temptation'- Oscar Wilde
www.drroofing.co.uk

Grumpy

Yeah Dave I have no idea what the problem is without removing all the metal hips completely and seeing what's going on under.

__________________
-Grumpy
Chicago Gutters Chicago Roofing

English Roofer

Hi Grumpy, i was thinking about this today,is there enough fixings in the metal hips?
Could be that theres enough gap for the wind to get under the hips and vibrate the nails out if theres not enough fixings?
Cheers
Dave

__________________
'I can resist anything but temptation'- Oscar Wilde
www.drroofing.co.uk

Grumpy

mmmm if I had to guess I would say the nails are spaced about 1' apart, on 2 sides of the hip. The hips are about 4' long.

__________________
-Grumpy
Chicago Gutters Chicago Roofing

English Roofer

That sounds about right, maybe the longer nails will do the trick or perhapes use screws/washers and a cap

__________________
'I can resist anything but temptation'- Oscar Wilde
www.drroofing.co.uk

Grumpy

Well I wrote them an estimate and gave them no guarantee. If it doesn't work I will sell them a slate remove and reinstall on the turret to see what's going on under neath.

__________________
-Grumpy
Chicago Gutters Chicago Roofing

OUTLAW

Good point about the nails being spaced too far apart. This will allow the wind to get underneath and work itself loose.

I would go with srews and place them no more than 6" o.c.

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http://www.ClarkRoofingAndSiding.com

Broken_Roofer

I'm rather curious about this, was the metal hip covering a one piece unit or were there sections? Did the nails seem to show any signs of oxidation? Rust?

Did you look under the metal to see what might be underneath?

Grumpy

I did not look under the metal since I wasn't going to start dis-assembling things for an estimate. Too much liability to be working for free. The heads had some oxidation, some white chalky, but when I pulled them loose the shaks which were burried and not exposed were fine. These are stainless nails, not galvanized.

__________________
-Grumpy
Chicago Gutters Chicago Roofing