Man mad or natural slate

[Digger1]

Trying to decide on which option to go for.  I quite like the uniform look of man made but am put off buy the visible copper rivet of hook fixing.  I don't want my build to appear that i have gone for the cheap(er) man made option.  Can you get man made slates that don't require this 3rd fixing at the bottom and just use two shoulder fixings like natural slates?

 

 

[JohnMo]

You mostly pay for labour.

 

'I don't want my build to appear that i have gone for the cheap(er) man made option"

 

 Then use the real thing.

[markc]

Why would a man-made slate require different fixings? Many are slate dust in resin so are just tougher, longer lasting but more uniform

[joe90]

My natural (Spanish ) slates are fixed with hooks and looks great, you have to look really hard to see the hooks and broken slates won’t fall off the roof and can be replaced without awful lead/copper strips. I would always use hooks in future.

Edited February 11, 2022 by joe90

[nod]

18 minutes ago, joe90 said:

My natural (Spanish ) slates are fixed with hooks and looks great, you have to look really hard to see the hooks and broken slates won’t fall off the roof and can be replaced without awful lead/copper strips. I would always use hooks in future.

 

18 minutes ago, joe90 said:

My natural (Spanish ) slates are fixed with hooks and looks great, you have to look really hard to see the hooks and broken slates won’t fall off the roof and can be replaced without awful lead/copper strips. I would always use hooks in future.

Plus 1

we fixed ours with nails 

But our next will probably be with hooks due to exposed area 

I think hooks look fine 

A quick snap from ground level might help clear this up Joe 

[joe90]

Surely , with close up of porch roof. Spot the hooks???

 

 

Edited February 11, 2022 by joe90

[Thorfun]

I don't know how much man made costs as I never even thought about using them but good natural slate doesn't have to break the bank! we paid around £1.30 per slate for Spanish slates from Jewsons (Mont Azul Lombeiro slates). 

 

personally I think they look fantastic and our roofer said they were really good to work with.

 

[Digger1]

Looks great!