Roofs meant to outlast the people who build them.
Alder & Slate designs, restores and installs slate, copper and cedar roofs for architectural and historic homes. Every project begins with a consultation and a ladder, not a price sheet.
Material studies
Three materials, chosen for how they age.
Slate
Quarried stone that can last a century and more when it is hung on copper nails and flashed properly. We restore old slate roofs as often as we install new ones.
Vermont and Pennsylvania slate · restoration and new work
Copper
Bays, cupolas, dormers and standing-seam roofs, formed in the shop and finished on site. Copper starts bright and weathers through brown to green.
Standing seam · flat seam · custom flashing
Cedar
Hand-split shakes and sawn shingles for shingle-style houses and barns. Breathable, beautiful, and honest about needing care.
Shakes · shingles · breathable underlayment
Where roofs fail
The details nobody photographs.
- Valleys. Open copper valleys, wide enough to carry a storm, never cut tight to save slate.
- Wall flashing. Step and counter flashing let into the masonry joint, not surface-sealed.
- Fasteners. Copper nails into sound sheathing, because a slate is only as old as its nail.
Selected work
From the archive
Every project begins with a conversation.
- We visit, look closely, and listen to what you want from the house.
- We return with drawings, material samples and a written proposal.
- Work is scheduled with the season, not against it.