There are several different reasons why you may be looking to find out how to make a bat access slate on your property. From wanting to enhance bat roosting spots by providing easier access or legal requirements to maintain bat access points during construction or renovation projects.
The shape and design of your bat access slate ultimately depend on the style structure of your property or barn.
Bat Access Slates can easily be designed to blend in, providing easy access to the roosts without altering the overall aesthetic of your property.
What is a Bat Access Slate?
A Bat Access Slate provides an access point in your property for bats to reach their roosts in the roof space or batten. Carefully designed to blend into your roof slate, a bat access slate is a roof tile that contains components which allow bats to access their roost in the roof space of a property.
When building and renovation projects are proposed on older properties, you will often find existing bat roosts. And these older properties often have a slate roof.
So because it’s against the law to move, disturb, or damage a bat roost (you could be fined or imprisoned for up to 6 months), you will need to replace some roof slates with bat access slates.
Why do you need a Bat Access Slate?
Bat access slates provide easy access for bats to their roosting spots. The most common place in a property is the roof or attic as it is dry and thermally stable. All 18 bat species in the UK are protected species by law.
So if you're doing building work with bats present, you need to create bat access points and preserve the bat roost.
What kind of roofs can fit Bat Access Tiles?
One of the main benefits of using a bat access tile is that it maintains the aesthetic of your roof with its discreet look. From our experience, as bat access tiles are most commonly used on older roofs during renovations, they are usually lead or slate roofs.
For lead roofs, you can make a bat access tile using the lead, however, this is usually best when working with a plain tile roof. On the other hand, if you have got a slate roof, at Beddoes Products we have designed a complete Bat Access Tile and a DIY Bat Access Tile Kit that are easy to install and blend into your existing slate roof.
Should I Buy a Bat Access Tile or a Bat Access Slate DIY Kit?
At Beddoes Products, we have both premade Bat Access Slates and DIY bat access slate kits so that you can make your own.
The premade bat access tiles are designed to fit like any other slate roof tile and are straightforward to install when renovating or constructing a roof. They are available in the 2 most popular slate tile sizes of 600 x 300mm and 500 x 250mm, and as standard are finished in a grey Spanish slate colour.
If you are looking for a bat access slate that matches the exact colour of the slate of your roof then you may want to consider our DIY bat access slate kits.
These kits come with everything you need to create a bat access slate with your slate to get an exact colour match. Below is a full guide on how to use our DIY kits to make a matching tile vent access for bats in your roof.
How to Make Your Own Bat Access Slate
If you want your bat access slate to match your existing slates, you can combine your slate with one of our DIY Bat Access Tile Kits from Beddoes Products.
Below is a list of products you'll need for this project:
- Bat Access Tile Kit [opens in new window]
- Your own slate
- CT1 adhesive
- Grinder with slate cutting disk
- Protective equipment (mask, eye protection, gloves)
Cutting and Assembly Instructions
Use the template provided to mark the cutting point for the hole. This is where the bat cowl will fit into the slate.
Make sure you're wearing protective equipment and get your grinder with cutting disk ready.
Taking your time, cut the square hole in your slate using the grinder. Blow or brush off any dust that has collected on the tile so the glue will stick properly.
Place the slate over the bat access component to check that the hole lines up with the bat cowl.
Run your CT1 adhesive down each side of the bat access component, making sure it is within the width of the slate you are using. There are lines on the under-base to represent both the width of a 20 x 10 inch slate and 24 x 12 inch slate.
Carefully place the slate onto the component, lining it up straight with the bottom.
Squeeze around the areas where the glue sits to make sure it has a good contact.
Clamp the slate in place and leave the finished product overnight so the glue can completely set.
Then it's time to install the product on your roof.
Fitting Instructions
