Slate Roofing in Queens, NY

REVMA Roofing installs and replaces natural slate roofs on the older Tudors, Colonials and Dutch Colonials of Queens and the Bronx: Douglaston, Bayside, Jamaica Estates, Forest Hills, Riverdale and Fieldston. I'm Stavros Latos, the owner, and I look at every slate roof myself before we put a price on it, because with slate the honest answer is sometimes that the stone is fine and the metal is the problem.

When a Queens Slate Roof Actually Needs Replacement

Does an old slate roof mean every piece of slate is finished? No. Good slate can outlast two or three sets of flashing, so on a lot of the slate roofs we see in Douglaston and Jamaica Estates the stone is sound and the nails, the valleys and the chimney metal are what failed.

What pushes a slate roof to full replacement: slates that flake, delaminate or snap when you press them, a lot of slipped or missing pieces across the field, rotted sheathing under the stone, and years of tar patches that trapped water instead of stopping it. Around Bell Boulevard and toward Crocheron Park the pitches are steep and the dormers are many, so every dormer is another place where slate meets a wall. Let's say the stone is good but the copper around a chimney is gone. Keeping that metal because we're keeping some stone would leave a weak point in the job, so the metal gets replaced either way.

What's Included in a Queens Slate Roof Replacement

A slate job is a different animal from a shingle job, so here's what a REVMA slate price covers:

• Careful removal. We take the slate off by hand and sort it. Under NYC Building Code BC 1511.5, sound slate can go back on. Cracked or broken pieces can't.
• Deck inspection. Old board sheathing gets checked and replaced where it's soft. Three to five sheets of plywood are included.
• Ice and water shield at the eaves, in valleys and around chimneys.
• Underlayment over the whole deck.
• New copper flashing at valleys, chimneys, walls and dormers. Rusted or damaged metal doesn't go back on, also per BC 1511.5.
• Copper or stainless nails and hooks, because the fastener has to last as long as the stone.
• Matched slate for anything we can't reuse, sized and colored to the roof.
• Cleanup with a magnet sweep of the yard and driveway.

Most slate roofs take one to two weeks depending on size, dormers and how much stone is reusable.

Natural Slate vs Composite Slate in Queens

Natural slate gives you actual stone, with variation from piece to piece, and a life of 75 to 100 years and more. It's heavy, so the framing has to carry it, and we check that before anything else.

Composite slate gives you the slate look at a fraction of the weight, a 40 to 50 year life and a lower price. It looks different product to product, so I'll show you samples next to your house. In Fieldston, a designated historic district, visible work needs Landmarks Preservation Commission review, and Forest Hills Gardens has its own private architectural review, so those approvals come into the material decision. See composite roofing for the synthetic side.

Cost Range for a Queens Slate Roof

Natural slate runs $2,200–$3,500 a square installed in Queens and the Bronx, so a typical 20-square roof is roughly $44,000–$70,000. Where good stone can be reinstalled, the number drops, because you're paying for labor and metal more than new slate. Composite slate runs $1,200–$1,800 a square. Steep pitches add 15–25%, and every extra sheet of plywood past the included three to five is $110.

For the full material comparison: How much does a new roof cost in Queens?

Insurance Claims for Storm-Driven Replacements

A falling limb or a hard wind can knock slates loose and crack others. We photograph and measure every broken piece, and I'll meet your adjuster on the roof so they see the slate up close. Then we repair what the carrier covers, matching the stone. We don't negotiate your claim or act as your adjuster. That's between you and your insurance company.

Insurance carriers generally like slate because it doesn't burn and it lasts, but they won't pay for old flashing that rusted through on its own. I'll tell you which is which.

Attached, Semi-Attached and Two-Family Homes

Slate shows up on attached houses too, especially the older semi-detached Tudors in Jackson Heights and Forest Hills. Where your slate meets the neighbor's, we tie in the flashing so the joint sheds water, and we tell the neighbor before work starts.

Staging on a slate job takes room, because the stone gets sorted on the ground. On tight lots we plan where the pallets go before we quote.

Service Areas for Queens Slate Roofing

We're based in Bayside and we work Queens and the Bronx only, so the crew isn't driving in from three counties away. Area pages: Queens, Bayside and the Bronx. Neighborhood deep dive: Slate roofing in Bayside. Around northeast Queens that means Bayside, Douglaston, Little Neck, Whitestone, Auburndale and Oakland Gardens, plus Forest Hills, Jamaica Estates and Fresh Meadows further in, and Riverdale, Fieldston, Throgs Neck and Country Club in the Bronx.

Slate Roofing Questions from Queens Homeowners