Slate in an old, tightly built town
Highland Park is a 2.2-square-mile residential town about four miles north of downtown Dallas, surrounded by Dallas and University Park, with about 8,764 residents (Census estimate). Its land was bought in 1889 by the Philadelphia Place Land Association for development along Turtle Creek, and many homes date from the early and middle 1900s. That age is why slate here so often needs repair rather than replacement: the stone can still be sound while nails, flashing and earlier repairs have worn out.
What usually goes wrong on an older slate roof
- Nail failure. Slates slip when their original nails rust through. We reset them with slate hooks or nail-and-bib methods.
- Worn flashing. Valleys, chimneys and wall flashing usually fail before the slate. We rebuild them, often in copper.
- Bad old repairs. Face-nailing, caulk and tar patches trap water and crack nearby slate. We take them out and do it right.
- Foot traffic. Cable, satellite and HVAC crews who walk slate break it. Our repair page explains how we limit that.
Matching the slate on your house
Slate varies by quarry. We look at the color, thickness, size and how it has weathered, then source matching stone, often from the same region (see Vermont and New York slate, Pennsylvania slate and imported Spanish slate). When the original is gone, we take salvaged slate or pieces from a hidden slope for the visible repairs.
Hail near the Park Cities
NOAA's Storm Events Database lists 10 reports of golf-ball size or larger hail within about 10 miles of Highland Park from 2016 through September 2026, the largest 2.5 inches near New Hope on June 2, 2017. This year the Storm Prediction Center logged 1-inch hail 4 miles north-northwest of University Park on May 22, 2026. Hail can crack slate, but so can age and old repairs. Our report shows which is which. If you file an insurance claim, we document the damage and meet your adjuster on the roof. Texas law requires you to pay your deductible, and a contractor may not waive, absorb or rebate it. We never will.
How we inspect a roof you can't walk like a shingle roof
Slate and tile break under the wrong footstep, so a careless inspection can cause the damage it's looking for. We plan a walk path, step only where the pieces are supported, use roof ladders and pads where needed, and fly a drone over the areas that aren't safe to walk. Every inspection comes with a free digital photo report, so you see what we see. The report separates old breaks, fresh breaks and installation problems, because they lead to very different answers.
Repair or replace?
If most of the slate is sound, a repair and new flashing usually costs far less and keeps the original roof. If the slate is soft, flaking or broken across the roof, we'll say so and lay out options, including new natural slate or a lighter synthetic slate. We don't push a replacement the roof doesn't need.
We're certified with GAF, CertainTeed, Owens Corning, Atlas, Johns Manville, Carlisle, Tropical Roofing Products, Mule-Hide and Enviroshake. More on Highland Park: our Highland Park roofing page. Next door: tile roofing in University Park.
Product names, ratings and features are as published by the manufacturer and can change. We confirm the current rating and warranty of the exact product before we order it.
Residential warranty: a workmanship warranty from 10 years up to lifetime, depending on the job, with manufacturer warranties up to lifetime. Manufacturer coverage depends on the product and brand, and on the project qualifying for that manufacturer's program. We put the exact warranty for your roof in writing.
Certified, with 30 years installing every major roofing brand, a family roofing business going back 75 years, and over $80 million in completed roofing projects. 5.0 stars on Google at all three of our offices.
Request a free inspection or call (817) 733-9228. Small repairs are welcome too.
