Yep we also always use professional roofers for every job not just slate, the slate ripper just doesn't work with Cambrian slate, it's fine with the others. Our guys have worked on slate roofs in a national park for the last 20 years and are very experienced.
Unfortuntaley Cambrian slate is very different to all of the other types of slate we've dealt with. Most slate is pretty straightforward to sort out with the aid of the usual slate ripper. The problem with the Cambrian slate is that you don't actually put nails into the slate as with other types of slate. It has a plastic lip that the slate sits on and it's the nails (which are more like screws and twice the normal length) that are the problem - they can't just be pulled off in the usual way with the slate ripper and even with patience and 20years experience they don't come off well. The guys who manufacture the slate actually re-roofed as there was a fault with the roof and they couldn't get the old ones off without breaking them.
It never ceases to amaze me how many installers don't use experienced roofers, but we're not one of them, the slates even beat the manufacturer!
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