With its natural beauty and high durability, natural stone, such as slate tile, is becoming more and more popular as a decor choice. Slate comes in both rough and smooth styles, and in a variety of colors, to fit practically any taste and need. The added bonus of natural stone is that no two tiles are the same, giving your customer a truly unique finished product every time.

Depending on your skill and that of your employees, you may need to decide whether to offer slate tile flooring or roofing. If you are experienced enough, you can benefit by offering your customer a one-stop slate tile service for both flooring and roofing. When looking to find slate tile information, keep the following in mind:

1. Slate tile for flooring comes in a many different color palettes and can have detailed veining and color patterns.

2. Slate roofing tiles are more uniform in design and usually comes in greys, blues, greens and reds.

3. Faux slate tile for roofing is available for a more cost-efficient option.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Offer a wide range of slate tile for flooring

There are many varieties of slate tiles available for flooring. They come in many colors and are often sold in complementary color palettes. To best meet your customer's needs, acquire a wide range of samples from your slate tile provider, as well as an up to date catalog.

I recommend: Stone and Tile Shoppe offers a slate tile directory with several color palettes and various volume-based pricing levels. StoneLocator.com has an expansive slate tile list with a wide array of colors and textures.

Provide roofing slate tile in both solid and multicolored patterns to benefit you and your customer

If you choose to offer slate tile roofing services, the sample process is slightly easier. The tiles tend to come in slightly few colors and are more uniform in appearance. While many may lean towards using a single color, be sure to show examples of multicolored roofing designs. This will add texture to the look of the project as well as allowing you to make use of leftover tiles from other projects.

I recommend: Diamond Building Products offers natural slate roofing tile in various shades of black, grey, green, purple and red. Tile Roofs offers both new and salvaged slate roof tiles in a variety of shades.

Consider offering faux slate tile for roofing as a more cost efficient alternative

While beautiful, natural slate tile for roofing can come at a daunting cost for your customer. With the added cost of breakage during transport and installation, the natural option can be costly for you as well. These tiles can be made using concrete and other synthetic materials to create an authentic slate tile look with lower prices and maintenance.

I recommend: Vande Hey Raleigh Architectural Roof Tile offers uniformly cut, smooth surfaced manufactured slate roof tiles that offer the beauty of slate with a clean look. DaVinci Roofscapes offers synthetic slate roof tiles that look like natural slate at much lower costs than natural slate.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Since it is a product of nature, each natural slate tile is unique. The actual tile used will be similar to but will vary in color and pattern from the catalog or sample shown to your customer. While this is a selling point for many customers, make sure you stress this point when helping them to choose their tile.