What Is a Slate Tingle?

On a slate roof every slate is nailed near its top edge, and the course above hides those nails. That is how the roof keeps water out, but it means a lone replacement cannot be nailed the usual way. The nail would have to pass through slates above, which are still in place and sound.

So what holds the new slate up?

The tingle does. The roofer nails the strip to the batten, the timber lath the slates hang from, in the gap between two slates below. The new slate slides up over the metal, and the free end is folded upward across the slate's lower edge to lock it.

It is cheap, quick and needs no special part. Nothing is cut out of the roof and nothing around the repair is disturbed. For a one-off breakage on an otherwise healthy slope, it is usually the sensible choice, and our guide to slate roof repairs shows where a tingle fits among the other fixes.

The same method works on a ridge-side slope or an eaves course, with a little adjustment, though the first and last courses have their own fixing details.

Both metals bend easily by hand and hold a slate for years. Lead is the older choice and takes a fold without fuss. Copper is firmer and stays crisp, and it weathers to a green-brown that suits old slate.

Why does the metal matter?

Because different metals can stain or corrode their neighbours. A roofer picks a strip that suits the nails and flashings nearby, and avoids letting water run from one metal onto another. Colour counts as well, since a bright new strip catches the eye on an old slope.

MyJobQuote says lead can last for over 80 years, a lower bound given for flashing, but a fair indication of how long the metal itself can stand up to weather. A tingle is a small piece in a sheltered spot, so the strip is seldom the weak link. The nails on either side of it usually are.

The strip must be cut and folded so the slate sits flat. A thick or clumsy tab lifts the tail and lets the wind in, which defeats the purpose of the repair.

No published life exists for a tingle, and it would be wrong to promise one. What can be said is that the strip is rarely what fails. A well-fitted tingle can hold for as long as the slates and battens around it stay sound, and the metal itself shrugs off rain and frost far better than iron nails do.

Why do some repairs come back?

Because the slate was lost for a reason. If nearby nails have corroded, more slates will follow, and each fresh tingle becomes a plaster on a bigger problem. Our answer on nail sickness explains that pattern. A rotten batten behind the repair will also let the strip work loose.

A roofer should therefore study the neighbours and not only the gap. If three or four slates in one patch have gone, a tingle for each is false economy, and a larger repair is the better buy.

The tab stays visible on the slope. One or two are hard to spot from the road, but a roof dotted with them records a history of repairs, and that is the moment to ask about re-slating that section. Ask for the old nails to be looked at while the roofer is up there.

A slate hook is the neater alternative. It is a metal fixing that clips over the tail of the slate and looks cleaner from below. It depends on the roof being steep enough, though, because the slate maker Cupa says hooks should stay off any pitch under 25º.

Which one should I choose?

Where the roof is low in pitch, the tingle is the safer answer. Once the slope is steeper, a hook may suit better, particularly where the roof faces the street and neatness counts. Either way, the slate maker's data sheet for your slate is the final word on what the product allows. Our answer on slate hooks versus nails weighs the two, and our slate roofing service covers the wider work.

We measure the pitch, check the slates either side and choose the fixing to suit. We also look at the battens and underlay behind the gap, because a repair fixed to rotten timber will not hold, however neat the metal looks. Afterwards you see the repair in pictures, and the written price is one total. If a slate has landed on the lawn, a photo of the gap and the broken piece tells us what the first visit should bring.