Slate - Real or Immitation?

CantonaIsGod

Hi
Just pricing materials for the roof on our self build at the moment and am wondering about the slates.

I've looked at Thrutone, Rivendale, AthyEcoSlate, Bretona etc.

Any one got any opinions on the AthyEcoSlate (Recycled Plastic Slate )?

tails_naf

I went with the Berona black and I'm delighted with it.

I struggled over the differences between real and imitation, but after seeing the finished roof I can't understand why someone would take a natural slate over it.

Maybe depends on the size of the house, etc, but for a relatively large house, the clean lines of these imitation slates look very sharp.

Leadership

We are all individuals but natural slate has great character and is very pleasing to the eye not to mention weathers well. The modern clean lines has its place but I do like to be different and everyone is fitting these tiles now.

imitation

Its mostly a looks thing really when it comes to natural slate. The only other big advantage is the fact natural slate may last a decade or two longer (From memory I think its 50 years vs 60-70 years) but I would imagine thats very subjective anyway, if the house is on top of a hill with howling wind then surely its not going to last as long etc.

Artifical slates are cheaper, there is less waste when putting them on as they are less fragile and weigh less. They also may be more weather tight on tricky detail areas as they are more uniform than natural slate. To me its an easy saving, I dont spend all day looking at my roof, and artifical is perfectly acceptable to me. The house I`m living in has had artifical slates for the last 30 years and they still look the job.

CantonaIsGod

Thanks for the input. Anyone heard of problems with wind howling through the plastic slate vs the real thing. Anyone know of significant discolouration of one type over another?

soldsold

Recent thread on rubber slates here, worth a read.

My brazilian slates were cheaper than the artificial, not too brittle (were hooked not nailed except around the perimeter) and look great in my opinion and anyone who's looked. They are a lighter grey not black though, suits my place but some want black colour and a more streamlined modern look than the rustic look that grey slates with a variety of shades gives.

FergusD

Can't comment on the rubber ones, but the real vs. fibre cement is down to personal taste/weathering-maintenance benefits/cost. All you can do is look at actual roofs done in some of them and see what you think. For me, I went natural - they're Spanish and I'm very pleased with the roof. That said, you might look at it and hate it. Price wise, in the scheme of the house, the premium for me to go natural was not significant - the roofer didn't charge extra to put them on, but it is more time consuming than putting on imitation. This is something you might need to factor in.

Fergus.