Slate on Westlake homes
Westlake is a small town of about 2,057 residents (2025 Census estimate), made up mostly of custom homes in gated and planned communities such as Vaquero, Glenwyck Farms, Terra Bella, Granada and Entrada. Most of those neighborhoods have architectural guidelines that control roofing materials and colors, which is one reason slate, tile and standing seam show up here far more often than in a typical DFW suburb.
Slate is also the roof that's easiest to ruin with the wrong crew. A slate roof can outlast several owners when it's hung correctly, but a crew trained only on asphalt shingles can crack more slate in one afternoon than the weather breaks in years.
Natural slate or synthetic slate?
| Natural slate | Synthetic slate | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Quarried stone, split by hand (see quarries and brands) | Polymer or composite tiles made to look like slate, such as DaVinci or Enviroslate |
| Weight | Heavy. The framing has to be checked before we specify it | Much lighter, so most homes need no structural changes |
| Hail | Thicker slate holds up well, but large hail can still crack it | Many products carry a Class 4 impact rating; check the exact product |
| Repairs | Individual slates can be replaced for decades | Pieces can be replaced, but colors and lines change over time |
We'll tell you honestly which makes sense for your house, your HOA, and how long you plan to stay. Our synthetic vs. real slate guide goes deeper.
Hail and slate in the Westlake area
NOAA's Storm Events Database lists 4.25-inch hail near Bartonville and 4-inch hail near Grapevine Reservoir on June 11, 2023, both in the area just north and east of Westlake. Tarrant County as a whole logged more than 500 hail reports from 2016 through mid-2026, 115 of them golf-ball size or larger. More recently, NOAA's Storm Prediction Center logged 1-inch hail northwest of Grapevine on May 22, 2026 and along Hwy 114 in Grapevine on June 2, 2026.
Hail can crack or chip slate, but slate also cracks from foot traffic, rusted nails and old repairs. Telling those apart matters, both for the repair and for any claim. 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.
Slate repair: matched, not patched
A good slate repair should be hard to find from the street. We match the slate's color, thickness and size, and we replace pieces with copper or stainless slate hooks or nail-and-bib methods instead of face-nailing and tar. When an original slate is no longer quarried, we look for salvaged stock or borrow pieces from a low-visibility slope. See slate roof repair.
Flashing is usually the real problem
On older slate roofs the stone often outlives the metal. Valleys, chimney flashing and step flashing at walls wear out first, and that's where most slate leaks start. We rebuild those details in copper or the metal that matches your roof, so the flashing lasts as long as the slate around it.
Westlake permits and HOA review
Contractors have to register with the Town of Westlake, and permits go through the Town's online MyGov system. Most Westlake HOAs also want to see the product, color and profile before work starts, so we give you manufacturer specs and samples to take to your architectural committee.
We're certified with GAF, CertainTeed, Owens Corning, Atlas, Johns Manville, Carlisle, Tropical Roofing Products, Mule-Hide and Enviroshake. More on Westlake: our Westlake roofing page, tile lift-and-relay in Westlake and standing seam accents. Next door: tile roofing in Southlake.
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.
