The Ultra slate has a gorgeous deep dark grey, almost black, colour and is finished with a hand trimmed traditional trimmed edge.
This slate is uniform in width and thickness making it good to work with and providing an aesthetically pleasing roof.
This is a larger than normal slate measuring 20" x 10" (500 x 250mm) and looks more aesthetically pleasing on larger roofs
It may be quarried in the mountains of China but this consistent and and durable slate is well suited to the harsh Scottish climate.
As you are choosing a natural product it is recommended to allow a 10% surplus when ordering your slates. This accounts for cutting, breakages and natural irregularities. This precaution ensures full coverage, consistency in appearance and will help prevent delays during the fitting process.
Chinese Slate has been available to the UK market for over 20 years. During that time, like any slate, it has developed a good reputation and – for some – a bad one. Naturally, the vocal minority is a powerful one, and thus, the word spread, and Chinese slate became a too-hot-to-handle product in the roofing community. Is this justified? Not entirely, but contractors and homeowners are within their right to be upset with poor quality material. Chinese slate doesn’t typically fail like a poor quality Spanish does. Certain quarries produced what’s known as a fading slate. These slates would lose their rich, dark grey colour and fade into a lighter shade of grey. The issue lies within the selling of this material. If you don’t disclose this aspect of the slate, naturally you will have upset customers further down the line. A lot of merchants were selling fading slate with a huge margin at the time, and they’re partly the reason for the bad rep. It’s normal for us to conflate price and quality, so you can see why developers and homeowners were upset.
A similar thing happened with Spanish slate 30 years ago. When you see a brown, rusty roof, chances are you’re looking at a T2 material from Spain. It’s taken many years for the legitimate quarries and suppliers to regain the trust of the UK market, after all, they were victims too. A handful of bad eggs tainted the industry, and Spanish slate had an unjust reputation.
There are now vigorous testing processes in place to ensure the slates are of superior quality and meet BS standards. If the rock doesn’t meet these requirements, then it probably won’t make its way into the country through a legitimate supplier. The Chinese quarries are now doing the same thing. They are investing millions into surveying the land to ensure the material they’re extracting meets our requirements and demands. The Chinese quarries, like the Spanish, are incredibly proud of their products, and we are too.
