Blogs

How Slate Roofing Protects Against Hail and Storm Damage: What Homeowners Need to Know

By Samuel B Everett, APR Jun 11th, 2025

It may be counterintuitive to worry about hail damaging a slate roof. After all, anyone who has ever thrown an ice ball at a rock wall knows that the wall remains perfectly intact, while the ice ball shatters to smithereens. But when Mother Nature starts hurling two-inch diameter hailstones from the heavens onto your slate roof, stuff gets real in a hurry.

Shadyside Church Chooses Unfading Black Slate Roof

By Samuel B Everett, APR Apr 3rd, 2025

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, PA., was built in 1890. This remarkable building features a large central ‘lantern tower’ steeple that forms the center of a Greek cross with four arms, each topped with high sloped roofs.

SlateTec by North Country Case Study

By Ncslate User Sep 2nd, 2024

In 2019, North Country Slate was the supplier of choice for a cedar roof replacement in the luxury neighbourhood of Hillsborough, California. The existing cedar shake roof was failing due to several reasons: North Country Unfading Black was selected to provide an ASTM S-1 slate roof with a 75-year warranty by the homeowner.

Historic Stations Get Slate Roof Renovations

By Nathan Medcalf Jul 16th, 2024

The B&O Railroad isn’t just a Monopoly property. The B&O (Baltimore and Ohio) Railroad began operation in the US in 1827. It was the first railroad to offer commercial transportation of both people and freight. Two of teh B & O Railroad Line's most historic stations got slate roof renovations recently.

Create a Custom Color Slate Roof with North Country Slate

By Nathan Medcalf Feb 28th, 2024

Slate roof tiles can be used to create custom patterns by blending colors in order to design a custom color slate roof. North Country Slate offers design suggestions on color, size, thickness and installation techniques, which will produce a spectacular custom roof.

Slate Shingles Bring New Life to Iconic, Historic Building

By Nathan Medcalf Feb 2nd, 2024

The Canary House is the name of the mixed-use condo project that will be adjacent to the former Canary Restaurant (1965-2007) in the Canary District of Toronto (near Don Valley Parkway and the Gardiner Expressway). The Canary Restaurant building was built in 1857 and has been designated a historical landmark.

Unfading Red Slate Chosen for Historic Roof

By Luke Jan 12th, 2024

North Country's Unfading Red Slate has been selected for the restoration of the historic roof of the Deer Park United Church building. Originally constructed in the then-popular Norman-Gothic style in 1912, the building at 129 St. Clair Avenue West in Toronto, Ontario was originally called the Deer Park Presbyterian Mission.

How to Choose Slate Shingle Sizes

By Nathan Medcalf Nov 8th, 2023

Slate shingles are produced in various lengths, widths, and thicknesses. The size of slate shingles you use is ultimately a matter of customer preference, but roofers should be prepared to educate the customer on what sizes are available.

The Many Uses of Slate

By Nathan Medcalf Oct 11th, 2023

Slate rock is regularly used as a building material for slate shingles, but slate has many other uses from kitchenware to backyard items to homebuilding. How many of these life-enhancing slate products could you use? Slate is a metamorphic rock, which means the rock changed from a different type of rock.

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