Natural Stone

Slate tile is quickly becoming one of the most popular building materials in the world. It is available in several hundred different colors and multicolors, a variety of textural finishes, and just about any size or shape you can imagine. Unique and exotic it is often described as the rebellious alternative to standard, corporate granite, since it has similar durability and resistances.

Sizes

Slate is a natural material which is quarried from mountains around the world. When it is extracted, it comes out in the form of enough chunks of unprocessed rock. These chunks are then squared off and sliced down into useable sizes and shapes.

Standard slate tiles are 12″ X 12″ squares. These squares can be cut down to any smaller size. If you have an experienced fabricator you can also cut the stone down to exotic shapes, or even circles. The standard thickness for a 12″ X 12″ tiles is 3/8″, although this can vary depending on how much dimensionality is found in the surface of the stone

Some tile dealers will also carry tile that is 16″ X 16″ square. Sometimes it is even possible to find 24″ square tiles. These larger tiles are often thicker, being 1/2″ - 3/4″ in depth.
For the most part sizes larger than 24″ X 24″ are called slabs.

The only real difference between tile and slab is that slabs are generally larger and thicker. They are also often irregular

Finishes

Slate is available in a wide variety of finishes

Clefted slate is the most dimensional, and includes peaks and breaks in the surface of the stone. A clefted finish is often referred to as a natural finish, because it looks like it was taken directly from the side of a mountain, which it was. The amount of cleft found in slate varies from material to material. Some relatively flat tiles may be called cleft, just because they have an occasional rise or bump, while other materials which have wild breaks, peaks, and crevasses will share the same name. It is important to get an idea of cleft, because this will affect your ability to walk, or work, on the surface of the stone.

Honed slate is material that has been ground down using a mechanical polishing machine. The resulting material is flat and smooth. When slate is honed, often the colors will change. Often they become more subdued, but sometimes the peaks and crevasses show up as patterns in the flat honed surface. While honed tiles are less resistant to slippage that clefted, they still provide greater traction than polished material.
Polished slate is material that has been honed to such a high gloss that it actually has a luster to it. Not all slate materials can reach this level and for them the closest that can be achieved is a hi-hone.

Brushed slate has been ground down just enough to take the points off of the clefts, but not enough to remove the dimensionality of the stone

Guaged material refers to tiles that have been leveled off at the factory so that they are all roughly the same thickness. You should only use first quality guaged material because using tiles which are all different sizes can cause your project to have gaps.

Outdoor Slate Tiles

Some slate tile holds up beautifully outdoors, others do not. It depends largely on the chemical makeup of the piece as it formed.

Many red slate do not last well outside. This is because the red color is often an indicator of iron oxidizing in the surface of the stone. This is a process which is similar to rust and which can cause the tile to fall apart when exposed to rain over the course of years.

Other considerations include the water absorbancy rate of the stone, and how much it suffers from clefting or splitting apart.

All outdoor slate applications should receive a water barrier sealer which will clog the pores of the material. You should also be aware that normal weathering effects tend to dull the colors found in natural slate.

Care and Maintenance

Slate generally has a low water absorbency, which means you don’t have to worry about stains and liquids getting into its pores and causing damage from the inside. A water barrier sealer should be applied to slate during installation, to ensure that the stone is protected against stains and mold.

The sealer tends to make slate seem brighter and more vibrant. These powerful colors will tend to fade back to normal over time unless the sealer is re-applied.

The sealer can also be re-applied on an annual basis to protect it from high traffic or high stain areas.

Cleaning slate is fairly easy and can normally be accomplished with soap and warm water. There are also special stripper soaps which may be available from your tile dealer, than can helo with ground in dirt.

Practical considerations

Slate is most often used in floors and counter tops, although it can be found in almost any application, from back splashes, to fireplace surrounds. It is even found in a series of innovative home decor products manufactured and designed by PebbleArt

Slate is very popu8lar in bathrooms because it is slip resistant and hides dirt

It is popular in kitchens for the exact same reasons

There are several hundred colors of slate, and even a single type of slate can vary in color from box to box. Be sure to check the range of the stone before purchasing. You should always buy an extra box or two, in case a tiule breaks later on. This is because in the time since you first purchased the stone, the color may have changed.

Restaurants and hotels often use slate flooring in order to avoid slips which can lead to costly lawsuits.

Slate is also a popular and classic roofing material

Location of Slate

A lot of slate is quarried in the united states, especially in places like Vermont. However, more exotic colors of slate are often imported from countries such as India, China, Pakistan, Turkey, and various places in South America.

Slate tiles is often quarried by a stone yard, then shipped to distributors via freight containers. These containers can house millions of dollars worth of tile. The distributors then house the materials, and sell them to architects and designers in smaller quantities, who then use them to finish projects.