A roof that outlasts the mortgage.
Slate, copper and cedar for the old houses of the Maine coast. Most of the roofs we work on were here before we were, and with care they’ll be here long after.
The material decides the century.
Typical service life on the Maine coast, with reasonable care. Salt air, ice and how the roof was installed all move these numbers, but the order doesn’t change.
What we put on old houses.
Slate
Split stone, hung on copper nails. The longest-lived roof there is, if it’s installed and repaired properly.
Slate →
Copper
Bays, cupolas, valleys and the flashing that keeps slate dry. It browns, then turns the green everyone recognizes.
Copper →
Cedar
The shingle-style coast. Silvers in a season or two, and breathes the way an old house needs.
Cedar →“A good slate roof is never replaced because the slate wore out. It’s replaced because the nails rusted, or someone walked on it.”
Walt Ingraham, founder
Most slate roofs need slates, not a roof.
A slate roof with a few cracked or slipped pieces, a tired valley and old flashing is a repair. We’ll tell you honestly when a roof is past that, and it’s rarer than you’ve probably been told.
On the coast, this year.
The heritage roofing site, built in seven days.
Sixteen pages: three materials compared by lifespan, a repair-before-replace argument, ice dams explained for Maine, and Portland’s historic districts covered.