Where does slate for a repair come from today?
Since Scotland’s own slate quarrying industry declined over the twentieth century, as covered in our history of Scottish slate, most slate used for repairs and re-roofing in Scotland today is either reclaimed from other buildings or imported, chiefly from established slate producing regions overseas. Sourcing the right slate for a repair is as much about matching size, thickness, and colour to the existing roof as it is about finding "slate" in the generic sense.
Reclaimed slate
Reclaimed slate, salvaged from buildings being re-roofed or demolished, is often the best match for a repair on a traditional roof, because it shares the age, weathering, and character of the slate already in place. It is not unlimited, though, and quality varies, so a reclaimed slate still needs to be assessed for soundness before it goes back onto a roof.
New quarried slate
New slate is quarried commercially from a small number of producing regions, and can be a good match for certain roof types, particularly where a larger area needs re-slating and consistency matters more than matching a specific historic character. The Engine Shed’s guidance on slate as a building material sets out more detail on sourcing and quality considerations for anyone specifying slate at scale.
Why matching matters more than "getting slate"
For a small repair, the goal is never simply obtaining a slate of roughly the right shape. It is finding one that sits correctly within the diminishing courses of the existing roof (see our slate costs and coverage guide) and does not stand out in colour or texture against its neighbours. This is a genuinely skilled part of a small repair, and one reason we always assess a roof from photographs before saying what a job will involve.
Email us photos of the roof and what floor it’s on, or how many levels up it is, and we’ll tell you what we need to give you a price.
Need a slate matched to an existing roof?
Email us photos of the roof and what floor it’s on, or how many levels up it is, and we’ll tell you what we need to give you a price.
Email us about your roof