Choosing Faux Slate for Your Home’s Roof

August 18, 2015

You have a wide variety of options for your roofing, but it is vital that you make the right choice when the time comes, lest you be stuck with roofing that is not attractive or not sufficiently durable. Doing the research and learning about what you can use to protect your roof is important, but let us save you some time by recommending a material that has always worked well in a wide variety of situations: faux slate roofing.

Varieties of Faux Slate

Faux slate roofing comes in six varieties, each with their own particular strengths and weaknesses. First and foremost, the common faux slate chosen by today’s homeowner is a plastic, or polymer, composite. This is a material that is composed of many different plastics, all formed and shaped to look like actual slate – after all, it is faux slate, and should look as such! Fiber cement faux slate, on the other hand, is specifically combined fiberglass and cement, similar to fiber cement siding but made to look like the tiles that you see in actual slate roofs.

Rubber faux slate shingles are made from a kind of recycled rubber that combines both rubber and plastic to create a flexible faux slate tile that is tough and also environmentally sound, while steel faux slate tiles are incredibly durable though lacking in the “texture” that we would come to expect from slate, something that rubber and plastic accomplishes quite well. Clay faux slate tiles, lastly, are actually no different from the clay tiles you see on roofs, except that they are formed and colored to look like slate; you receive all of the benefits of using clay tiles for your roofing without the issues that slate sometimes creates.

Educate Yourself!

A major factor to consider in your selection of this material is the fire and impact rating of your slate. A shingle has a fire rating that determines its ability to resist fire – i.e., how well does it resist giving off burning particles and embers, and how well does it shield the roof deck from the fire? The ratings go from class A to B and then C, with faux slate roofing products consistently rating Class A; however, you should be certain that yours is not one of those few that rate Class B or Class C, as obviously, this is less than ideal for your home. Similar, the impact rating of a shingle is used to determine how well your shingles resist damage from impact, be it branches, hailstones, or some other object falling onto your roof.

This is just the start, of course. What maker and brand should you consider for your faux slate roof? What kind of color variation and blending will you be shooting for? How do you intend to have it installed? All of this and more has to be taken into consideration, but if you put the time in on having the best roof possible, you will be rewarded for years to come!