Your Batten Plan

If you’re providing your own roof measurements, it is important to ensure that these are as accurate as possible ahead of ordering. Incorrect measurements can lead to incorrect batten plans, which in turn leads to us supplying the wrong amount of roof slates for your project. We can rectify this if it happens, but it will often incur additional costs and extra time for your project.

You should measure each section of roof requiring stone slates (often referred to as ‘elevations’), providing a width (left to right – often referred to as the ‘ridge length’) and height (bottom to top – often referred to as the ‘spa length’) measurement for each.

If in doubt, measure the width and height of each individual elevation separately. You may also want to measure and note the location of any roof lights or windows within the roof.

Once you have collated your measurements, send them to us in as much detail as possible. It is helpful to us if you can provide a basic sketch of the roof, but this is not essential.

Remember that we’re always happy to measure your roof for you and bring samples to show you, if you are in travelling distance of our office. Just get in touch to arrange this.

When you receive your complementary batten plan, it’s important to ensure that the batten plan spa length matches the actual spa length. You should do this before you begin battening.

Any errors at this stage will likely in a shortfall or overshoot as you approach the peak, resulting in either a shortage of stone or the need for additional cutting work.

Batten plans can easily be altered, but the sooner the adjustment, the better the outcome. Unfortunately, Truestone cannot accept responsibility for any shortage or cutting work required if discrepancies in spa length are not addressed before battening commences.

As always, we’re here to help. Please get in touch if you have any concerns or need any advice.

Once you’ve thoroughly checked your batten plan and you’re confident it’s correct, it’s time to install the battens.

First, measure your roof from the outside wall or fascia (whichever is closest the gutter) to where the top of the first (lowest) batten will be positioned. The measurement for this will be on the ‘Under eaves’ line of your batten plan. This is the batten will carry the eave slate (the first course of slates) – essential for maintaining a waterproof roof.

Once you have the positioning marked, affix the batten to the roof. Repeat this process for the second course of slates. This is the first course of slates that will be visible once the roof is installed.

Note how the first two batten positions are measured from the outside wall or fascia rather than from each other. This is because these must be correct in order to ensure that the rest of the roof slates line up properly.

For each subsequent batten, take the measurement from the top of the previous (lower) batten and affix until you have installed all the battens specified in your batten plan.

The batten plan should end around 5” from the top the roof. This is to allow space for the 18” closer slates and 12” top slates required to finish off the roof.

If there is less than 5” available, you may need to slightly adjust the positioning of your other battens. For example, if you have 3” available and need to reclaim 2” to accommodate the closer and top slates, it is better to adjust four battens by 0.5” than one batten by 2”.

If there is more than 5” available at the top of the roof, you should never attempt to increase the space in between battens. If this does happen, it is likely a problem with the initial measurements and an additional course of slates may be required.

With the battens installed, you can begin to hang the slates on the battens. Your roof slates will be divided into the various sizes required and will be clearly labelled. First, double check that the slates delivered are what you are expecting, based on your batten plan.

Using the fixings provided, begin to hang the slates. Start by working from the undereaves upwards.

Slates for each course will be comprised of diminishing height slates, and these will overlap the horizontal joins in the previous course (the head lap). There will be a mix of three different widths provided (12”, 18” and 24”), allowing you to create a pattern whereby the vertical joins between slates on each course are overlapped by the slates on the course above (the side lap). This is to ensure appropriate waterproofing.

It’s also important to note that the heights of slates are measured from the bottom of the slate to the hole used for the peg, so a 30″ slate would actually have an overall height of 820mm, for example.

We recommend laying the different widths of slates as randomly as possible (bearing in mind the available slates and using a balanced mix of sizes). This will make your roof look as natural as possible while maintaining good waterproofing.

Finally, if you have any queries or questions, please feel free to ask. We are more than happy to advise or help you with a roof layout and plan.