Slate roofing has a glorious history of being the only choice of castles, churches, and important buildings for its unrivaled quality and long-lasting properties. Even in today’s world with a vast range of modern roofing materials available in the market, roofing remains the primary roofing solution for those who don’t want to compromise with the superior quality slate is known for. However, its complex installation process, high price, and slate’s relative durability issue compared to some alternatives make slate roofing not a go-to option for many.
Slate Roofing: Advantages
As slate is a natural product without any synthetic element mixed with it, it adds great value to the overall aesthetics and stability of your house, thanks to its classy gorgeousness and the longest lifespan.
Followings are some of the prominent reasons why slate roofing is still the number one choice of a vast majority of homeowners.
- Appearance: Simply put, there’s no other roofing solution that can match the elegance, class, and stunning beauty slate roofing can offer. And contrary to popular belief, slate doesn’t only come in black and grey, it’s available in a myriad of sizes, depths, and colors including purple, green, red, and more.
- Durability: When constructed proper way by best professional slate roofing installers, roofing is expected to remain strong for around 150 years on average. In the modern world where other roofing materials hardly last 30 years, it’s almost an unbelievable number.
- Fireproof: Another key advantage of slate roofing is its fire resistance properties. Slate comes as 100% fireproof naturally, and it’s a big pro considering other roofing materials need additional solutions to protect them from fire.
- Environmentally sustainable solution: Typical roofing materials can be of great concern if seen from the environmental aspect. The major part of roofing solutions is built using asphalt, and it has a lifespan of 30 years maximum. That means you need to replace your roofing before 30 years if asphalt is used, and this fact alone is enough to explain how roofing can enormously reduce the volume of landfill with its 150 years average life.
Slate Roofing: Downsides
While slate roofing can be the epitome of beauty, class and longevity when it comes to roofing material, it has several downsides as well which you need to consider before you decide whether it’s the perfect solution for your requirements.
- Complicated installation procedure: Most general and roofing contractors and professionals lack the skills, experience and expertise required to install slate roofing, which is a complex process. Still many of them try to install the same which can lead to improper installation. Don’t hesitate to verify their prior experience in slate roofing of the installer.
- Heavy: Slate roofing is not a lightweight solution; therefore, you must consider your home’s structural capacity which should be able to bear slate’s 800 to 1500 pounds weight in every 100 square feet.
- Fragile: While slate roofing would last for over a century easily, it’s terrible in bearing weight. If you’re planning to install slate roofing in your home, say goodbye to walking on the roof; otherwise, there’s a big chance you’ll break some of the slate tiles. Furthermore, they are not easily replaceable as you have to follow the same complicated installation process again.
- High cost: The biggest disadvantage of roofing is its exorbitant pricing. It can set you back for 3000 to 8000 AUD for every square, which is a massive initial investment compared to other materials where you’ll spend five times less.
Why Should You Consider Slate Roofing?
Admittedly, slate roofing is not the ideal option for a lot due to the factors explained above. However, if you’re a person who gives more importance to aesthetic appeal, elegance, quality, and longevity, and wants to stand out in the community, and of course, cares a great deal less about his pocket – by all means, go for it.