Reasons to Choose Slate Roofing
publicat in: The stone house // Publicata pe 05.06.2023
Searching an optimum solutions for a roof? Roofing options include tile (e.g.: ceramic, metallic, or concrete), whiteboard, shingles, fibre cement tiles or slate. When choosing one of these materials, besides the acquisition and installation costs it is useful to consider their thermal insulation. PIATRAONLINE recommends slate roofing as an elegant and long-life solution.
1. What is natural slate?
Slate is a metamorphic rock, consisting of clay and sand, with 6-7 hardness out of 10 on the Mohs scale, dense, low porosity, versatile and durable against acids, wear and freeze-thaw cycle. Slate is able to be splitted naturally (you can obtain slate sheets) and is used for interior and exterior decoration project. Slate requires treatment (applied easily and quickly manually or automatic).
2. Benefits of using slate for roofing:
- hard rock;
- withstands perfect water, acidic rain, UV radiation;
- fireproof;
- withstand passage of time and freeze-thaw cycle;
- wide color range and a special look;
- withstands perfect organic stains (bird droppings, dried leaves, twigs);
- offers added value – slate roofing increases the resale value of your residence.
3. Why slate roofing?
Slate is one of the materials of choice for roofing. Other materials include: wood, sheet metal, cement, synthetic materials, fiberglass, all with their advantages and disadvantages. Some areas of the world use banana leaves, others straw or grass. Of all these, the best price / quality ratio is offered by slate. That happens because of the excellent price / years of life ratio, which proves that in spite of slate roofing (material + workmanship) higher price compared to others, it has a 50 years lifetime (and even more, in dry environments), thus enjoyed further by many generations.
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4. Requirements for roofing
Due to its location and purpose, the roof is a building element severely subjected to environmental factors.
The next factors decide the structure of your roof:
- precipitation exposure coefficient depends on your weather, location, the height of the house and slope location. Romania has a moderate exposure. The coefficient of exposure to precipitation decides the slope of the roof. The total number of rainy days is below 100 days / year in Baragan (the driest) and 190 days / year for Meridional Carpathians and Northern part of the Eastern Carpathians (the rainiest area). There are also years when rainfall was absent between March and April, July-August and September-October.
- wind pressure is a factor to consider mainly in deciding tiles layout; Romania does not have a history of roofs blown by strong winds, except very old or poorly installed roofs.
- temperature variations. The multi-annual temperature average is about 11 degrees Celsius, yet with significant variations and this decides the durability in time of your roof.
We can produce any type of finish, size or color for roofing.
Romania’a weather conditions turn a slate roofing into the ideal choice. Tiles recommended by PIATRAONLINE (slate roofing) are suitable for complying with a roof’s major requirement: the interdependence between slope and height. Another important requirement refers to roof framing that should be solid considering the fact that slate is heavy.