PROJECT

Re-Roofing the Margate Mosque in Spanish Slate

A full re-roof on the Margate Mosque in 10x20 Spanish natural slate, with breathable membrane and new battens. Built to last a century.

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At-a-glance

Location: Margate, Kent

Property Type: Place of worship

Service: Full slate re-roof

Year: 2025

Duration:

Materials: 10x20 Spanish natural slate, breathable felt, new battens

The brief

The roof on the Margate Mosque had simply come to the end of its lifespan. Nothing dramatic had happened to it — it had just done its job for as long as it was ever going to, and patching was no longer the answer.

What was needed was a complete replacement: strip the lot, and put back something that would protect the building properly and look right doing it.

Work on a building like this carries a bit more weight than a domestic re-roof. It matters to a lot of people locally, it's used constantly, and it's the sort of job you only get asked to do if somebody trusts you with it.

The challenge

Slate is unforgiving. It's the material that shows every decision you make. The gauge — how far each course laps the one below — has to be right for the pitch and the exposure, and the nailing has to be right for a coastline that gets weather off the estuary. Get either wrong and it doesn't just look wrong; it lets water in when the wind drives, and it does so for the life of the roof.

Setting out is everything on a large roof. On a small domestic slope you can absorb a small error. Across a building of this size, a setting-out error compounds course by course until it's visible from the street.

Choosing the right slate mattered. This is a north-facing Kent coastline. Whatever went on had to cope with salt-laden wind, driving rain and a century of it.

What we did

Stripped the existing slates and battens back to the structure, clearing the roof completely rather than working over the old covering.
Fitted a high-quality breathable felt across the roof. Breathable underlay does two jobs: it keeps weather out, and it lets moisture escape from the roof space rather than trapping it against the timber the way old bitumen felt does.
Installed new battens throughout, correctly gauged for the slate going on top.
Laid 10x20 Spanish natural slate across the whole roof, set out and nailed for the exposure of the site.

Spanish slate is our usual recommendation on this coast, and not just on price. It's a natural material with a lifespan measured in excess of a hundred years, it stands up to weather extremely well, and it looks the part on a building with traditional architecture rather than reading as a modern substitute.