Slate roof replacement in Scarsdale and Bronxville is the work we take most seriously, because the roofs deserve it. These two villages hold some of the best residential slate in Westchester County: Tudors, Georgians and Colonial Revivals from the 1910s through the 1930s, roofed in slate that was expected to last a hundred years and in many cases has. A lot of it is now at the end of that run, and the decision about what to do next is one homeowners only make once.
REVMA is based in Bayside, Queens and is licensed in Westchester (WC-38805-H25). Westchester is our heaviest market for slate and copper, and Scarsdale and Bronxville are the center of it.
What is actually on these roofs
The estate and near-estate homes in Scarsdale, Bronxville, Larchmont and Rye typically carry more than just slate:
- Natural slate in the field, often Vermont or Pennsylvania in origin, sometimes in graduated courses or mixed colors on the grander houses.
- Copper valleys and copper step and counter flashing at chimneys, dormers and walls.
- Standing-seam copper on bays, porch roofs and low-slope returns where slate cannot go.
- Built-in gutters on some of the older homes, lined in copper or terne metal and hidden behind the cornice.
On a roof like this, the slate is often the part in the best shape. It is the metal that fails first: copper valleys worn through after a century, flashing that has pulled away from the masonry, built-in gutters whose liners have split. When a homeowner calls us about a leaking slate roof, the slate is rarely the leak.
Restore or replace: the first decision
Before anyone quotes a new roof, the roof needs a proper inspection that answers one question: are the slates themselves still sound?
Signs the slate is sound
Slates that ring when tapped, hold a clean edge, and show no flaking or powdering on the surface have life left in them, sometimes decades. If the roof is leaking but the slate is sound, the job is a restoration: replace the copper valleys, reflash the chimneys and walls, reline or replace the built-in gutters, replace the broken and slipped slates individually, and renew the ridge. It costs a fraction of a new roof and it keeps the original material on the house.
Signs the slate is done
Slates that are soft, that delaminate in layers, that shed a fine dust, or that break when handled are at the end of their life. Once a large share of the roof is in that condition, spot repairs stop making sense because every repair breaks the slates around it. That is when the roof gets replaced.
We tell you which situation you have before we quote either. Replacing a sound slate roof because the flashing failed is the most expensive mistake a homeowner in these villages can make.
What replaces slate when it has to go
New natural slate
On a house whose framing was built for slate, new Vermont slate is the material that matches the house and the neighborhood. Installed with copper flashing and a proper headlap, it is a roof for the next century. It is the most expensive option and, on the right house, the correct one.
Composite slate
Where the budget does not reach natural slate, or the framing has been altered and cannot be trusted to carry it, DaVinci or Brava composite slate gives the profile and color range of natural slate at a fraction of the weight, with a Class A fire rating and Class 4 impact rating. From the street, in the colors that match the neighborhood, it holds up. It is the usual answer when a slate roof is beyond economical repair.
Keep the copper
Whichever way the field goes, the copper details should be redone in copper. New valleys, new flashing, and where the house has standing-seam copper on bays and porches, that copper is either retained if sound or replaced in kind. Replacing copper with aluminum on a Scarsdale Tudor saves little and shows.
Village review in Scarsdale and Bronxville
Both villages run their own building departments, and both have architectural review boards that look at exterior work visible from the street. Historic properties may need additional sign-off. In practice, like-for-like slate replacement moves through easily. Composite slate in a matching color is generally straightforward. Anything that changes the character of the roof, a lighter shingle on a slate Tudor for instance, is where review pushes back, and rightly so.
We confirm the requirements for the specific address before quoting. In these villages the lead time depends more on the review calendar than on the roof, and we build the schedule around it rather than promising a date we cannot meet.
Snow, ice and the eave
Westchester gets materially more snow than the coastal markets, and ice damming at the eave is the dominant winter failure on these roofs. On a slate roof with a low-slope porch return or a built-in gutter, ice backs up under the slate and into the cornice. When we restore or replace a slate roof here, the eaves and valleys get ice and water membrane well beyond the code minimum, the built-in gutters get a new liner that is properly lapped under the membrane, and we look at attic ventilation so the roof deck stays cold enough that ice dams form less in the first place. Our guide to ice dams and ventilation in Westchester covers the mechanics.
Getting a roof estimate in Scarsdale and Bronxville
REVMA is based in Bayside, Queens, is licensed and insured (2126882-DCWP), and is licensed in Westchester County (WC-38805-H25). A slate estimate from us starts with an inspection that tells you whether you need a new roof at all. Call (646) 889-4529 or request an estimate online. See our project gallery for slate and copper work, and financing options for complete replacements.