Slate is an extremely durable material which is completely natural and brings beauty, elegance and style to any home or installation. Slate is eminently suited for installation in any part of the home; the kitchen, the bathroom, hallway, stairs, the living room or any part of the house. In addition to being used indoors, slate is one of the strongest roofing materials available and there are widespread uses for landscaping and exterior decoration.

Slate can be regarded as the Beauty and the Beast. It is 100% natural and comes in a wide range of colors from sky blue through to varying shades of yellows, grays and ochres through to browns – the Beauty. It can be considered to be The Beast because it is so strong, so very durable, waterproof, unaffected by chemicals and acids and it provides no food or shelter for plants, bugs and animals.

As a slab, slate can be used as a countertop in the kitchen. Slate is extremely strong and it is chemically inert, which means that it will not stain or suffer from the extreme wear and tear which is typical in kitchens. Bear in mind that kitchens are the most heavily used areas of the home, but also they are where we are at our most demanding in terms of style and physical appearance. Slate delivers here because it is an extremely beautiful stone with wide color variation and the ability to render different textures and changing appearance depending on the lighting conditions.

A variation of the slab is the tile (a tile is simply a small slab), and slate finds widespread use as a flooring material. Slate flooring tile is extremely hard wearing, so it is suitable for high traffic areas. At the same time, it is strong and flexible, which means that it is ideal for the construction of stairs.

Slate is relatively unique as a building material because it is so strong that it does not require additional strengthening as part of the installation. Slate is also fire proof – it will not burn. This makes slate very attractive as a building material in any area where there is a risk of fire. The kitchen again springs to mind in this regard, but as a roofing material for homes in high fire risk areas, there is probably no better or more suitable alternative.

Slate is exceptionally versatile as we can see from the wide range of applications to which it is put; slate is even used to make furniture! The next time you shoot some pool, the likelihood is that you will be playing on a green baize coat over a slate bed providing the firm, level playing surface.

Slate’s exceptional qualities as a building material do not restrict its use to inside the home, as we have already seen with slate roofing tiles. Slate is widely used in landscaping because it is a natural material which can also be used to provide strength to earth buttresses or to provide additional protection for the home when added as a cladding with render. Even the small chips and flakes can be put to use by providing a decorative ground covering for a driveway or flower bed, where they will inhibit the growth of weeds and help retain moisture in the soil.

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Category: Home Management
Keywords: uses of slate, slate uses, uses of slate in the home