Slate, copper & heritage roofs
Westmount has some of the finest old roofs on the island: natural slate on mansards and turrets, copper on bays and dormers, and sheet-metal cornices that have been up for a century.
Most of these roofs can be saved. Good slate often outlasts the nails, flashings and valleys that hold it, so a careful repair usually costs far less than a new roof and keeps the house looking the way it should.
Our crew still trims and lays slate by hand, and we shape copper and zinc ourselves. That matters on a Westmount house, where the details are what you see from the street.
Westmount reviews most changes to the outside of its houses, roofs included. Before changing a roof’s material or look, check with the city. We can give you photos, samples and specs for the application.
Often, yes. We go over it slate by slate and tell you honestly whether it needs a repair, a partial redo or a new roof.
We source slate to match the colour, size and thickness as closely as we can, and we can reuse sound slates from the same roof.
Good slate can last a century or more. What usually gives out first are the nails, flashings and valleys, and those can be redone without replacing the whole roof.
Yes. We slide out the broken slate and fix the new one with a hook or a copper strap, without lifting the slates around it.
Yes. We open them up, repair or reline them in metal and make sure they drain, so the water stops running into the cornice and the brick.
No. Tar on slate traps water and makes the next repair harder. We replace broken slates and worn flashings with the proper materials.
Contact
Please phone or e-mail us and we shall be pleased to answer any questions you may have.
450-531-7032