A Guide To The Types And Grades Of Cupa Natural Slate Roof Tiles

With Shades Ranging From Dark Grey, To Graphite And Blue/Black, Smooth Or Riven Surface Finishes And In 4 Different Grades, There Are A Few Choices To Be Made:

Therefore traditionally quarried roof tiles are almost always the biggest and thinnest available. Once considered luxury products covered in decorative fern motifs etched into their surface or carved into a spectacular silhouette with soil-rich decorative clay slip, today’s slate is less ostentatious. Their finery has receded, as have the carvings; they have become functional rather than frivolous ornaments; serving to protect you from the elements rather than drawing attention to themselves.each country has its own slate crafting signature. Italy is steeped in history and production of duomo slates uses time-honoured methods.

Spain is the biggest supplier of roofing tiles to overseas markets by virtue of their scale and  quality assertions. Spain maintains a strong market share for roofing tiles due to a tradition of producing good quality slate with a high natural percentage of split, flat and shaped tiles. The country makes no claim to eco credentials.nina, a rustic blue slate roof tile, is the largest of the schoeller slate roofs. It is also the most beautiful and the most expensive. It can be laid with no joints showing, but it’s usually installed in one of the most popular but time consuming patterns called herringbone -or more importantly - ‘straight edge’ pattern so that none of the slate is wasted.

It’s more expensive but there are more tiles in a sheet and less wastage which makes up for it.today there are even more factors that go into the manufacturing process of slate floor tiles and therefore affect their price tag. These include colouring, quality, availability, demand and the type of stone. The uk is no longer a major player in the slate roof tile world with less than 30% of the world’s slate being extracted here and most artisanal labour now employed overseas.these days however, many manufacturers are focussing instead on the beauty of the natural stone slab, and making less of an effort to extract maximum sizes. This can be to preserve the natural integrity of each rock, or to make a better job of laying the roof, but it certainly allows more variety in stone sizes and appearances on roofs.a traditional slate tile roof is made up of a combination of different grades. Slate tiles are traditionally laid in a diminishing course to get the best out of them as it was the biggest, thickest and therefore best quality slate available.

What Size?

But the big tile was not always best. Often it wasn’t suitable for a building design.

Now we have a much broader choice of the size of slate roof tiles that will suit a building (and the shape of its roof). This has come as manufacturers have adopted new technologies to control quality and costs, allowing products to be adjusted to suit buildings both large and small.yet today, slate roof tiles are very much the result of the cultivations of it’s quarrying location: enormous “monster” pieces of stone are now worked, usually in their natural form, often with the use of water.

The size has not got bigger but the processing has altered and technology has intervened to make the most out of these huge slabs.the availability of slate quarries and the grades of slate quarried were determined historically by the geology of the british isles. Although there are some new deposits of different colours being extracted, particularly in wales, the historic traditions and styles continue to be used today.

What Colour And Finish?

Although slate is mined in a number of countries these days, the tradition of using a distinctive regional-slate colouring and pattern still holds. The colours range from white, through pink and grey, to black, with varying amounts of ripple effect. A black roof can often be seen as quite formal, or even old–fashioned.

Be aware too that dark slate used on a pitched roof stops sunlight from reaching the inside of the building during the summer. So warmth and light are also big considerations when choosing your roof tiles.inside or outside? ?

Where a chimney pot is placed is another consideration. Outside you get a rounded top, inside the pots are truncated so that they stack or nest inside each other. With outside ones it’s possible also to find pots with a castellated (or castle-topped) crown - like the traditional slate roofing style that was common throughout much of wales and north west england.what colour and finish?.

Other than personal preference, choices over colour and finish are often determined by the need to match the regional slate roofing prevalence. Scotland, wales, cornwall and cumbria were historically the providers of slate. Roofs in these regions all have their own characteristics.

Heritage Slate Roofing

Cupa pizarras slate is produced with a very special process from the heart of haro, the historically significant slate mining region in the north-west of spain.

This produces high quality hard wearing and easy to cut (with a bite like no other) slates which will stand up to even the harshest british weather.heritage slate roofing is the blog of cupa pizarras, the number one producer of stone tiles in europe.

We talk about our business and what we do at cupa pizarras, who we are, our expertise and history. We also tell you about other things that may interest you.the slate sector is a dynamic industry with ever-changing evolving trends and products, but one constant remains – cupa leads the field globally in every aspect of the manufacturing process.

Understanding The Cupa Slate Selections

When the slate is ready to ship, it is beamed on a large cargo plane to our own ocean port. All of the slate is then loaded onto a large cargo ship that has been constructed specifically for moving slate over the sea and around the world. It takes roughly 12-14 months for the stone to arrive at its final destination in cities such as new york, san francisco and los angeles.

Our factories along the east coast then take over by cutting, shaping and sanding each piece of slate into a handcrafted product completed with customized hardware and a custom install team.i have worked in the marble and limestone field for 22 years. I am very familiar with the types of stone which can be obtained from each quarry, and i was able to tell what quarry resulted in what type of stone. It is in­cred­ible to me that even though each quarry knows exactly how to work their rock they can still achieve such different results.

It took me a full day to go through every piece of stone at my disposal. The inspection process for slates is extensive as these pieces are destined for high-end residential projects.the thinnest slates, less than 20 centimeters in thickness, are referred to as super thin and now these slates are making their debut into the united states market. The marketing terminology for super thin slate is: “ultra thin.”

According to the slate institute, “the thinner the slate becomes the more valuable it becomes - at least for roofing purposes. As a slate becomes thinner it tends to split more smoothly and achieve greater uniformity from one piece of material to the next.the slate is first conditioned by detailing the surface to allow for greater adhesion of the adhesive and for flattening then its edges are bevelled. The slate is then dried and bonded to a substrate with a thin layer of adhesive. The next stage in the manufacturing process is rounding where the slate is trimmed to achieve its desired shape followed by colouring using several types of approved dyes and sealants.

A Lifespan That Provides Real Value For Money

The lifespan of a slate tiled roof is longer than that of most other roofing options. The average life expectancy of a slating in the uk is 120 years!

Slate has been used for roofing since roman times. Its has stood the test of time so strongly, that most european buildings still have original slate roofs.

That’s why its one of the best types of material for weather protection and to keep your home cool in the summer and warm in the winter months.if you decide to have a slate tiled roof, then you will be in good company. The majority of our grade ii listed buildings have slate roofs and our church spires are covered in them! Over the years many famous buildings, including theatres, mansions and railway stations, have employed slates as their roofing material.

Slate For Sustainability And Its Green Credentials

In this regard the cradle to cradle product approach is extremely promising as it posits that every material has its brown and green parent. Brown parents are those substances that can be reused, and green parents are those materials that are inherently biodegradable.

For example, stone washing is a process of treating cloth using ground-up stones from quarry floors. This results in prime materials with little initial skin impact which gives low-waste production methods potential for real sustainability.slate is one of the best choices for a natural roof covering.

It provides minimal impact in terms of its raw material resource access, processing and manufacturing in comparison to most other natural or synthetic products that are used for roofing purposes. Natural stone as a roof covering is an extremely attractive choice for aesthetical and economic reasons.with the construction and manufacturing industries contributing 23% of global greenhouse emissions , it’s pretty clear that we have to find ways to cut down on our usage. And there’s no better way than finding products that use sustainable materials — designing buildings with the least possible environmental impact.

Its green credentials are golden. Each member of the new slate collection has been carefully chosen for its ability to yield up to 95% recycled content in its manufacture and itself is 100% recyclable.

But at the heart, or more precisely, at the feet of this collection lies the real reason for its development: a sustainable world where ecological sensitivity governs our actions.okay, so we all know that we should be supporting products from eco-friendly companies, but what does this mean exactly? And how will choosing a company who is truly “green” help us to reduce our carbon footprint? Let’s take a look at one of our favorite luxury tile and porcelain manufacturers: slate.

Tips For Achieving The Perfect Roof

Whatever budget you have set aside in your plans and specifications for roofing material, make sure it is not contingent solely on the slate.

Always build in a contingency fund of 10% - 15% (ideally from a completely separate budget for this) to allow for the extra cost of re-slating after a few years if necessary. The cheaper slates you are considering may well be attractive in terms of 5 year warranty claims based on purchase price but will prove much more expensive further down the line as you need to add more expenses to replace them.the properties of slate are many and varied, and supply is diminutive.

The consequences for getting it wrong can be fatal.

Its probably best to lay off if you dont understand; seek an expert, use existing examples, or better still - do what the romans do and build in concrete!. The longevity of a slate roof is dependent on the quality of your installation.

A correctly manufactured slate roof will last anywhere from 50, 100 years! When you’re choosing a slate supplier its vital to have a serious look about the product you intend to purchase.

Cupa Also Offer The Most Comprehensive Range

The crisp white colour of these sierra white tiles works really well with the dramatic shape and sheen this natural material offers, to compliment a traditional or contemporary roof.

For slate tile roofs in the uk, there are many different shapes, colours and sizes of our natural slates available.

Each tile will be different in some way so we have to sort each one by hand for you before delivery, only we can do that! In addition, each type of slate tile will have been quarried at a different location in devon which gives rise to a subtle difference in colour and texture.natural slate is a natural roofing material quarried from the earth.

It has been used for over 5000 years and is ideal for almost every style of building.

Slate tiles can be used on pitched roofs in any climate or country, the roof will look its best with just a coat of water-based acrylic sealer, every decade or so - but you get the picture.we supply a large variety of traditional and modern looking tiles in both pitched and sloped styles, from 3 different quarries we provide you with the exact tile that you want. Whether it be the natural grey slate , or the strong red slate we can supply it for you.

Size Now Matters In Terms Of Selecting The Right Size For The Pitch, And Exposure Of The Building In Its Setting.

The preferred size in the us is considered nothing more than an arbitrary requirement due to the table based layout of forums. However, they are now accepting units in the size range 300x250 mm or 12x10 with an accepted ratio of 3:2.

At first glance there seems to be a case for smaller displays having a proportionally larger space per unit, however you are then penalising mobile users for their preference on screen size.you could also use a larger format to attract more attention, for example 600x300 mm (or 24x12), is a classic sheet size for the top billing display boards. This option could be particularly effective if you want to make the area where graphics can be super-sized to create more impact.a square or rectangular image is better, and in the uk, a rectangular shape is preferred.

The most common size being the 500 x 250 mm - a countess in old money. These days simply referred to by its size in metric or imperial measurements, 500x250 mm or 20x10 respectfully.the minimum size for the rectangle varies according to the type of business using the billboard and the circumstances.

A city is known for its larger plain billboards whereas a rural area is known for smaller more frequent billboards.the rectangle is an extremely popular shape for uk exponents of sem. It’s rectangular form is uncomplicated and easy to show off in the following areas:.

When Considering The Right Size Of Slate For Your Project The Following Rules Of Thumb Apply:

From a practical point of view, slate slates can be laid in either direction providing they are bedded at an offset of 1 slate thickness.

For example, when using horsham blue slates, bedding in a n-s or e-w direction is possible but not in a true north/south or east/west (90 degrees) direction. In the right hand image above, bull nose slate, on the top row, is laid with ridges running down the e-w direction - the same as the horsham blue slates on the bottom row.a minimum of 40mm is required on a load bearing wall to hold the weight of the slates and to avoid further cracking of your roof.the thickness of slate needed will depend on the design of tile you wish to use and how much maintenance it will need.

Generally we advise you to use an extra 10-20mm in thickness for durability and stability over time.below are the most common sizes of slate which we think are best for re-slating old buildings. The slates chosen have been carefully selected to work with the existing pitches in your roof, and also give a good appearance to the roof from street level.shingle slates: the most common type of slate and found on most roofing projects.

They are cut to a defined shape and size and fit together perfectly, all the time maintaining the integrity of the overall roofing system. .