Polymer Slate – How Does It Compare to the Real Thing?
You might not even be aware that there is such a thing called, "Polymer Slate". What is that anyway? Polymer imitation slate tiles are roofing tiles that are made out of a virgin resins (more or less a plastic) and molded to look like natural slate roofing tiles. However, while these tiles are made to look like natural slate, the performance of the tiles is quite different. Here are some of the main differences between polymer slate and natural slate:
- Lightweight – DaVinci's Slate is very lightweight and therefore can replace even the lightest of roofing materials. In other words, you don't have to beef up your roof's structure in order for it to handle the weight of DaVinci. The lightweight factor also comes into play when you talk about overall cost of transportation of the material, labor costs in transportation to and from your job site and to and from the ground to the roof.
- Multi-Width – DaVinci Slate comes in multi-widths (we do have some Slate products that don't – if you prefer that) whereas natural slate requires cutting of the tiles to get them to be those perfect sizes.
- Waste – There is very little waste with DaVinci imitation slate, however with natural slate, tiles can crack and break as they are being hauled to the job site, being installed or being walked on. This is one factor that can increase the material cost for natural slate.
- Color Blends – DaVinci's Polymer Slate comes in color blends that are job-site ready – pre-collated and ready to go. Whereas, if you wanted a multi-colored slate roof, you would be paying much more for labor, as the roofers would have to lay it out on site.
Do you have a DaVinci polymer slate roofs? Were you debating on whether or not to go with natural slate or DaVinci? What made you pick DaVinci? Share your project with us here.