Slate roofing grew common in the middle of the nineteenth century. The product was found in the middle of the 18 hundreds, however the consumption of slate in roofing hasn't been based exclusively on supply. Slate was found In Wales, where the material had been consistently plentiful, slate did not acquire its status as a national roofing material right up until mid-19th century when transportation improved, population and cities grew, demand from customers for building material increased and architectural designs suited to slate roofing were popularized through pattern books and builders' manuals. In North america, railway development, town development and architectural demand converged slightly later to produce the common utilization of slate. Record books and state records show that the nineteenth century was the greatest point for slate roofing in Nova scotia.

Slate is a type of stone created from various clays by means of intense pressure over the ages. The extreme pressure as well as hot temperatures underneath, drive the boulders and create a metamorphic process, rearranging the structure of the rocks. Slaty cleavage, as this pattern is classified, produces slender, sleek, even sheets of rock that can be used for roofing. A proper roofing slate contains hardly any of the original clay but consists mainly of mica, quartz and chlorite, mineral deposits that happen to be remarkably resistant to absorption and weathering. Variations in mineral and chemical makeup identify slate color that varies from blue, black, and grey to green, purple and red. Slate in roofing, is a product whose use relies upon completely on the market where it is offered, because the cost of modern slate is higher than asphalt shingles by at least ten times.

To learn just why slate has failed to tackle other roofing products, one has to merely consider the construction methods of various other products in comparison to slate. Factory-made materials have been subject to the financial aspects of mass manufacturing and to a high level of mechanization that diminished expenses. Slate is deposited beneath the rock in certain areas - the extraction of which involves mechanized equipment and qualified crews. Added to that, just a fraction of the removed rock can be used. Added to the inherent expense of generating roofing slate was the load element. Since slate was a bulkier material than the majority of its competitors it needed to bear the price burden of greater shipping charges and the hassle of handling. Moreover the craft of putting a slate roof calls for way more experience and knowledge as compared with other materials.