Classic Inspire Roof Slate

Inspire "classic" slates or shingles are to the roofing world what poly-carbonate and Kevlar are to ocean racing. This is a prestigious, recyclable roofing product that is lightweight, colourfast and almost indestructible. Inspire slates are manufactured in the USA by Boral (Australia) and in demand in North America, Uk and Europe. They are UV resistant, non-flammable, impermeable to water and unaffected by salt or polluted air. Classic slate has an estimated working life of 40+ years and is covered by a 40 year limited warranty that can be downloaded from the technical page of this website.

Inspire roofing slates are a composite of recyclable plastic and dolomitic limestone. Each tile has a random texture and chamfered edges of natural slate. Matching ridge caps are also available. The plum colour shown in the images below is similar to Welsh slate heather blue and at ground level indistinguishable. Inspire slate is an alternative option - it is lighter, stronger, cheaper and less expensive to install. 

Inspire roof advantages - cheaper + easier to install

The ease and speed of installing Inspire slates is it's great advantage over genuine slate. This is why:

1. No time consuming grading (thick to thin) necessary

2. Lighter, quicker & safer to get on a roof and place in position

3. No loss from onsite chips or breakages

4. Nail gun fixing incredibly fast

5. Cost of freight half that of genuine slate - more pieces/crate

These benefits combine to achieve up to a 30-50% reduction in installation costs when compared to the cost of fixing genuine slate that is heavier and more irregular in shape and requires the use of hammers and nails. The extra time to fix natural slate builds extra costs one slate at a time!

SPECIFICATIONS + WARRANTY

Tiles

• Size - 445 x 305 x 4-7mm

• Weight / tile – 0.7kg nominal

• Weight /m2 roof area - from 12.6 - 15.4kg / m2 depending on pitch

• Density - 1,323kg / m3

• Estimated coverage - 18 - 22 pieces / m2 depending on pitch

• Minimum pitch – 14.5 degrees

• Slates per pallet - 1600

• Pallet weight - 1200kgs

• Pallet dimensions - 1200x900x1080mm

• Cost - approximately $100 - $125/m2 depending on design complexity and roof pitch. Slates cost $5.20 + GST.

Ridge Caps

• Weight – 0.7kg nominal

• Length – 445 x 150mm

• Pieces / lineal metre – 5.5 for ridges to 6.5 for hips

• Cost $5.60 + GST each ex warehouse

CLASSIC SLATE: PRODUCT ATTRIBUTES

• Lighter - easy to lift & fix with less weight on roof structure

• Indistinguishable from authentic slate, once on a roof

• Virtually unbreakable & won’t chip or crack

• Vandal proof – won’t crack when walked on and will withstand abuse or the roughest foot traffic.

• Hail resistant – unlike real slate (lower insurance costs?)

• Roof pitches from 14.5 to 90 degrees

• Easily cut with fine toothed saw or Stanley knife

• Suitable for batten application

• Slates are packed in easy to handle bundles of 25 weighing just 17.5kgs

COLOURS

Inspire's classic slate is available in only one colour:

• Plum (similar blue/plum colour to heather blue Welsh slate). Plenty of stock.

Slate Colour has been shown to be unaffected by UV light (source - US test results. Over time though, the slates are expected to “weather” like all other roofing products.