ARDOGRES®  Ceramic Slate vs Slate

ARDOGRES®  Ceramic Slate vs Slate

The differences between natural materials (slate, stone, wood) and porcelain stoneware?

Ceramic Slate VS Slate, Natural Stone and Wood: What we need to evaluate when designing or renovating a roof with unique charm.

Slate, stone and wood roofs continue to bear witness to millenary traditions that can be found in all European countries and beyond.
Below we analyse the main characteristics of natural products compared to those in porcelain stoneware, i.e. Ardogres^® Ceramic Slate.

DESIGN and SURFACE

Until a few years ago, the natural product was unrivalled in terms of graphic appearance and surface. The existing roof tiles on the market, in fact, could not reproduce the characteristics and design of these materials.

With the advent of digital ink-jet technology applied to porcelain stoneware, it is now possible to reproduce in high definition any graphics of natural products like slates, stones, woods and marbles.

This revolution has affected all the different uses of Porcelain Stoneware, from floor coverings to cladding and roofing of buildings, including ventilated façades.

The catalogue of Ardesia Ceramica Ardogres® products has therefore expanded by exploiting this technology: Morzine tiles exactly reproduce a quarry slate while the Cedar shingles are based on the original Canadian cedar wood shingles, natural and aged. Even the latest 2024 novelty, Bianco Ostuni 40X40, has been produced with inkjet technology that includes, for the first time, the apllication of a brilliant and iridescent material in the veins of the graphics.

https://ardogres.it/en/porcelain-stoneware-roof-tiles-and-ardogres-accessories/23-40x40-ostuni-white

DURATION

Natural products can provide different levels of durability due to many factors.

For example, slate is subject to deterioration, more or less marked, depending on the origin of the slate and environmental and climatic conditions. Ligurian slate, over time, flakes and lightens to its characteristic light beige colour, while other imported slates tend to turn different colours such as green.

Wooden shingles also undergo a process of deterioration and discolouration towards light beige and grey shades.

In general, natural products have a limited lifespan compared to porcelain stoneware: for 40 years this has been demonstrated by the use of porcelain stoneware in outdoor flooring, even under extreme conditions related to frost, temperature changes, salt and abrasion.

This characteristic allows Ardogres^® to guarantee the inalterability of its Porcelain Stoneware (or Ceramic Slate) products for a duration of at least 50 years.

RESISTANCE

As mentioned in the previous paragraph, natural materials have different characteristics, both in terms of durability and resistance to external agents, including hail and fire.

Porcelain stoneware, subject to European standard UNI-EN 14411, is resistant to fire, frost, mosses, lichens and acid attacks.

Therefore, in detail, it proves to be better than wood shingles in terms of infimmability and more resistant to frost and acids than other natural products.

LAYING

Ardogres^® products are equipped with slotted holes that guarantee extremely effective and secure double fastening. Natural products cannot meet this level of reliability, especially in high-wind environments.

Another advantage of this installation method is the non-use of adhesives, cement and adhesive products in general. This makes Ardogres a unique product even in the way of other porcelain stoneware products that require glues during installation.

Furthermore, Ardogres roof and tiles do not discolour over time and can be added to a roof already made with Ardogres products. This would be impossible with natural products due to the great colour difference between the various batches and the aptitude of these products to discolour or, in any case, change colour over the years.