Today's market offers a wide range of roofing materials. The most common and most aesthetic from a design point of view include soft tiles and metal tiles. But, despite this, many developers choose the third option - slate. This is argued by the fact that this type of roof is the most time-tested and economical. If the owner of the house is not satisfied with the appearance of a gray roof, there is a special paint for slate, which can not only give it an attractive look, but also significantly improve its properties.
Content
Slate Selection: Pros and Cons of Material
When choosing slate as a roofing material, you need to know not only the advantages, but also the disadvantages of this type of roof (and they exist).
The advantages include the following:
- Strength in relation to various weather conditions;
- Long term of operation;
- Easy installation and repair;
- High level of water tightness;
- The ability to withstand winter frosts;
- Low level of thermal conductivity;
- Resistance to burning;
- Ease of handling.
The disadvantages are:
- The lack of an attractive aesthetic appearance of the roof;
- The likelihood of loss of water resistance over time (the coating swells, and the edges crumble);
- Covering the roof with moss on the north side of the building;
- The release of asbestos dust, which can adversely affect health.
The last point is of interest to so many people who decided to choose just such material for their roof.
Is slate really dangerous from an environmental point of view?
To give an exhaustive answer, you first need to dwell on such a question as the production of slate: what it consists of and what elements it can harm the body.
Slate there are several types. And most people often get confused about them. To clarify this issue, we give the following types:
- Classic, asbestos-cement slate (wavy and straight sheets);
- Natural slate or natural slate;
- Bituminous sheets of a wavy profile or, so-called, euro slate.
Of all three species, the largest number of claims in connection with environmental hazard is presented to the first - asbestos-cement slate.
The production of slate of this kind requires only three components:
- Asbestos fiber;
- Water;
- Portland cement.
Sometimes a special paint for slate supplements the composition.
Asbestos fiber is a source of carcinogenic asbestos, and therefore it is the main component that can be harmful to health.
However, here there is a “but”, since not all asbestos is harmful and, before you refuse slate, as a roofing material, you need to know what asbestos is.
Asbestos is a group of natural fibrous substances that belong to it - it is extracted from a mineral such as serpentite - and amphibole asbestos - these are antophyllite, actinolite, etc.
The difference is as follows: amphibole asbestos lends itself to solubility in an alkaline environment and is resistant to acidic effects, and chrysotile asbestos, on the contrary, is alkaline, but lends itself to acidic effects.
From this it follows that only amphibole asbestos can cause significant harm to the human body. Chrysotile asbestos, compared with it, is very weak in terms of harmfulness.
By the way, choosing a slate, you can safely buy domestic material.It is made from harmless chrysotile asbestos, since this type of asbestos is mined in our territory.
You also need to know that the thesis about the safe effects of chrysotile asbestos does not directly apply to the production of slate, because campaigns involved in this minimize the contact of workers with this raw material.
Despite the safety of chrysotile asbestos, personal protective equipment should not be neglected when roofing! When cutting and drilling slate, the formation of asbestos cement dust in large quantities cannot be avoided, therefore, stock up on glasses to protect your eyes, as well as a respirator that will protect your lungs and mucous membranes of the nasopharynx and mouth from dust particles!
Benefits of Asbestos-Free Slate
In case you do not trust the arguments about the safety of asbestos raw materials, there is an alternative - this is aluminum slate or asbestos-free.
The composition includes:
- Water;
- Fibrous material (asbestos free);
- Portland cement;
- Tinting component - slate paint
Its advantages are as follows:
- Strength, high level of noise, waterproofing, frost resistance;
- A light weight. This makes it possible to use it to overlap the roof with small bearing qualities;
- Compliability to coloring, nonflammable property.
The disadvantage of this type of slate is its price - aluminum will cost you significantly more than asbestos-cement slate.
Because asbestos-free slate is significantly inferior in terms of popularity to asbestos.
In any case, slate is always beneficial when compared with other roofing materials.
And disadvantages such as appearance can always be eliminated with paint.
Paint for slate can not only give an aesthetic appearance to the roof, but also increase its hydrophobic qualities, eliminate dust harmful to health.
Types of ink for slate
Paint for slate is produced by both foreign and domestic manufacturers.
Among those (foreign production):
- Eter Akva (production: Finnish-Swedish). Water-soluble, alkali-resistant, its base is modified acrylate. You can paint not only slate, but also concrete;
- Kilpi (production: Finnish) - acrylic paint;
- Polifarb - Akrofarb (manufacturer: Poland) - made on the basis of acrylic dispersion. Quick drying;
- Dachbeschichtung (manufacturer: Germany) - provides the ability to create long-term coverage. The main advantage is a high degree of adhesion;
Products that are produced in the CIS countries include:
- Acrylama-Slate (production: Ukraine) - water-dispersed acrylic paint for slate coatings;
- Unisal (production: Belgorod). The basis is aqueous acrylic dispersions and high-quality pigments;
- Butanite (production: Mostermosteklo). The basis of the paint is a composition of latexes with silicon and mineral additives. Such a paint for slate makes the coatings resistant to frost, ultraviolet and various atmospheric influences.
- Polyphane (production: Kolomna). The main advantage is the ability to preserve color for a long time, weather resistance. It is also used for painting concrete and brick.
The most expensive paint from this list is Finnish paint “Kilpi”, but a paint like “Eter Akva” will reduce your expenses by two or even more times. But the most economical is the paint for slate of domestic production.
The most expensive paint from this list is the Finnish paint “Kilpi”.
But a paint like Eter Akva will cut your expenses in two, or even more times. But the most economical is the paint for slate of domestic production.
Slate roof painting
When repairing a roof, it is more convenient to paint slate on the ground, and then cover the roof with already painted sheets.
If the slate is already on the roof, then it will be more difficult.
It should be borne in mind that over time, the slate is covered with a coating of dark color. It is formed by mushrooms and lichens.Before painting, you need to get rid of them, otherwise the roof will be covered with black-green stains. Moss spoils the appearance of the roof and is a moisture accumulator, which gives its load on the roof support.
Before embarking on a process such as painting an exploited roof, it is necessary to clean and disinfect. Then apply an antiseptic solution.
There are several options for painting slate:
- Brush with metal bristles on a dry surface;
- The same brush, but on a moistened surface;
- With the help of a grinder, a drill having special nozzles in the form of a brush made of metal;
- Using compact car washes with high pressure;
The latter method is the most effective and least time-consuming.
For a more even laying of the paint layer, a primer is also required. Penetrating into the pores of the material, it will increase the level of adhesion of the surface to the paint and strengthen the surface itself.
Painting process
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The paint is applied in two layers. After the soil has dried, the first and main layer is applied, which takes more than two-thirds of the paint norm.
The second layer - the finish - must be applied evenly with a brush or a painting apparatus.
So, the roof of slate refers to the option of "cheap and cheerful." And yet, when choosing a roofing material, do not forget: no matter how cheap it is, the product must be certified!
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