Slate reroofs and copper flashing in Chevy Chase, MD (20815)

Chevy Chase on the Maryland side is a patchwork of small villages and sections, from Chevy Chase Village near the circle to Martin's Additions, Section Three and Chevy Chase View further out. Houses range from shingle-style and Colonial Revival homes of the 1900s and 1910s to brick Tudors and center-hall colonials from the 1920s and 1930s.

Original roofs here were often slate with copper valleys, copper gutters and copper-clad bays, and a surprising number survive. Others were swapped for asphalt in the 1960s and 1970s, sometimes with the old slate battens and nails left in place under the new layers.

Good slate can outlast several generations of nails and flashing, so the first question is the stone itself. We pull a few pieces and check for soft, flaking edges, white chalky faces and slates that ring dull when tapped. If most of the field is sound, a nail and flashing overhaul with salvaged pieces is often the right call.

When the slate is spent, we strip to the deck, repair or overlay boards as needed, and relay new slate over a heavyweight underlayment with copper nails and new copper flashing throughout. Some owners salvage the best existing slate for the front slopes. Our guide to slate repair versus replacement walks through the decision, and slate roof replacement covers the full process.

Deck condition decides a lot of the cost. Many of these houses have original skip sheathing or tongue-and-groove boards under the slate, and a few rotted runs near the eaves and chimney are normal. We note every board we replace in the photo report, so the invoice matches what you saw come off the roof.

• Tap test and edge check on sample slates
• Count of broken, slipped and patched pieces per slope
• Condition of copper valleys and step flashing
• Deck and batten condition seen from the attic

Copper on these houses usually fails at soldered seams, at valleys where slates were nailed through the metal, and in built-in box gutters along the eaves of shingle-style homes. Built-in gutters that leak send water straight into the cornice and wall, so we reline them in 20 ounce copper with proper expansion joints rather than smearing them with coatings. See our box gutter repair page for details.

Tall brick chimneys get new copper step and counterflashing set into cut mortar joints, with a cricket on the high side. Where a crown is cracked, we rebuild it with a drip edge so water doesn't run down the brick face.

Several of the Chevy Chase villages and sections have their own building rules and permit steps on top of the county permit office, including limits on work hours and where dumpsters can sit. We confirm the jurisdiction for the address and follow its requirements before scheduling.

Streets near Chevy Chase Circle and along Brookville Road are quiet and leafy, and residents expect clean job sites. We lay protection over landscaping, stack slate on pallets in the driveway, and run magnets daily for nails. Neighbors across the line in Chevy Chase DC fall under DC rules instead.

Work hours matter too. Some sections limit start times and weekend noise, so a slate tear-off may run over more days than it would elsewhere.