Making Sense of Slate Roof Stand-Ins
Inventive imitators can match the panache of stone without the overhead.
Slate shingles, traditionally split from natural stone, are known to perform for decades—even a century or more with good installation and regular maintenance. Since the 1890s, however, roofing manufacturers have been combining other materials to produce man-made shingles that aimed to last longer, look better, or cost less. Have any of these products ever lived up to their promise? Sometimes, yes.
Many a building roofed with asbestos cement shingles in the 1930s or ’40s is still sound and dry today—a testament to the durability of one of the oldest types of “slate pretenders.” When asbestos was eliminated in building products in the 1970s, though, it opened this specialized corner of the roofing industry to new materials and product types that have been growing ever since. Because the industry has changed once again since Old-House Journal last reviewed the subject in 2002, here we present our look at another round of seismic shifts in the field of slate stand-ins and what you should keep in mind when considering these remarkable materials for roofing a historic house.
