If a Job's Worth Doing...

Like most people who work in roofing, my eye is naturally drawn to rooftops as I travel around the country. When I started out in the industry the world took on a new dimension for me in this regard; never before had I taken the time to appreciate all the beautiful finishes and examples of incredible workmanship that crown our buildings in the UK. Its been a good number of years now and my patient wife is quite used to having all the nice slating, lead work or rustic hand-made clay tile roofs pointed out to her as we drive through town (though I suspect she doesn't share my enthusiasm).

With this new-found admiration of roofs and all things roofing however also came a realisation; a realisation that in the UK we are afflicted by a worrying amount of low quality roofing materials and poorly installed roofs, often on top of buildings that would otherwise have looked incredible, such as high-spec new builds or heritage refurbishment projects where corners and/or costs have been cut. It amazes me that the roof, such a vital element of how a finished building will look, is often value engineered to the point where the finish is totally compromised. This is a real issue affecting the roofing industry as a whole, but especially the natural slate market in which we operate.

Not only is natural slate beautiful when it's installed correctly, it’s renowned for being one of the highest quality and longest lasting pitched roof coverings, with an expected service life in excess of 100 years for premium quality slates.

Unfortunately, however, the reputation of natural slate is all too frequently tarnished by poor quality slates installed onto roofs; slates that can rust due to reactive pyrite content, delaminate due to high water absorption or fade and delaminate due to high calcium carbonate content, often leading to roof failure. Issues such as rusting and ‘leaching’ or other problems like colour fading also have a negative impact on the appearance of a finished building, leaving clients with a poor perception of the specified slate and often those who specified it.

None of these sub-standard slates should end up on our roofs in the UK, but sadly they are a consistent feature at the low-cost end of the market and regularly do. This is due to a number of contributing factors in the supply chain including the sheer number of quarries; the naturally varying quality of stone between quarries and producing regions of Spain; a lack of traceability and inconsistent supply behind trading brands; global market influences that affect which slates come to the UK; and our BS EN testing process that isn't as robust as the standards of other countries.

The combination of these negative factors makes it possible for poor quality material to be sold in the UK, carrying the requisite 'W1, S1, T1' classification, that can still oxidise, fade or delaminate over time. Therefore, in addition to the required performance characteristics and CE marking, specifiers really should be looking for evidence of a slate's track record in terms of proven performance in similar environments to their planned project, plus an understanding of exactly what's covered by the guarantees offered by the supplier.

Those who understand how to install slate roofs correctly also appreciate that poor-quality workmanship is a common factor in failing slate roofs (see above image). Contractors involved in competitive tender situations often do not have the same skill sets, experience or overheads (skilled labour isn't cheap) so when price alone is the driving factor in the decision making process, the likelihood of achieving the best result for the project reduces dramatically. I've spoken to many reputable slating contractors around the UK and this is a real frustration they share; they want to price work properly, taking into account the extra time that should be spent to do the job right, properly sorting and grading slates and 'perping out' the roof for example, but when the focus is on price and if the specification is wide open, listing only 'natural slate', they know they will be up against competitors pricing aggressively with the cheapest possible slates and not factoring these additional processes in their bids to win the work.

I don't envy the task that good contractors face in these scenarios and many do end up walking away from projects for this reason - they'd rather not do the job at all than do it badly. Of course, however, the work still gets done and often not to the intended standard, so unfortunately it's the client that can lose out in the end. I've heard numerous stories from roofing contractors that have lost tenders on price, only to then be asked to come back and put it right when the 'winning' contractors have made a mess of it... Being a sucker for a timely cliché, I could select from any number of 'buy cheap, buy twice' type truisms for this sort of scenario, but I feel "if a job's worth doing, it's worth doing well" fits best.

Slating is an ancient skill and its clear that even today it requires specialist knowledge, expertise and care to achieve the very best results. At SSQ we are therefore keen to ensure that when it comes to our premium slates this ‘very best result’ is exactly what our clients receive by coupling our high quality slates with high quality workmanship. Our new initiative Ultra-Cover delivers exactly this – offering our very best slates; Riverstone and Del Carmen Ultra, and by working with a network of robustly checked and vetted SSQ Assured Installers, SSQ are going above and beyond to ensure the quality of our projects and to safeguard the interests of our clients.

An Ultra-Cover specification will also ensure that all elements of the roof work correctly together and stand the test of time because Ultra-Cover incorporates a range of high quality ancillaries that compliment the roof finish aesthetically and are proven to perform well when installed with our slates.

To ensure that work is being carried out to the required standard and fully compliant with the material specification, Ultra-Cover also provides regular project progress reports to specifiers & clients throughout the schedule of works, with photographs and comments, providing a valuable window onto the project so that all parties are assured things are moving forwards as planned.

As Ultra-Cover is a full roof specification (excluding rafters & insulation) and SSQ have taken measures to verify the quality of workmanship involved, both during our robust application process for SSQ Assured Installers and during the roof installation itself, we are able to underpin the whole roof with a third party Insurance Backed Guarantee; meaning that the complete slate roof, in terms of both materials and workmanship, is protected by the scheme. For SSQ's clients therefore, Ultra-Cover provides unrivalled peace of mind that their roof will remain a functional & beautiful feature of their building, long into the future.

Barry Saltmarsh - Specification Director

[email protected] - 07471 030454