If a façade, roof or terrace should be able to withstand the ravages of time, you need to choose materials that work with the weather. Time always leaves its mark and materials should not fight nature’s forces and always look new; on the contrary, they need to wear and change.

Natural materials like wood, linen and metals become weathered and bleached and change colour. Some natural materials change a lot, and others not so much.

Scandinavian slate is a group of natural materials that have existed for several hundred million years. In functional terms, these materials do not change, but they will develop a patina. In contrast to most other materials, slate’s protective ability remains the same. Slate remains unchanged, in technical terms, in the same high quality through many generations.

To have a maintenance-free home that you find more beautiful for every year that passes, you need to accept change and that time will leave its mark and have faith that patina gives slate its unique character.

Technical specifications and test results: Datasheet Offerdal slate, Datasheet Oppdal slate

The ageing process begins when the slate is split and its appearance is governed by the surrounding environment.

Our quartzite slate from Oppdal and Offerdal can become lighter over time, sometimes with light blurred spots. This is due to the mica that forms the split surface of the slate becoming bleached, while certain chemical elements in the shiny mica are leached out. When this happens, it is a change that is confined to the outermost surface of the slate.

The above processes are all natural changes that only occur in the uppermost layer of the slate. This means that, as it ages naturally, the slate retains all of its good technical properties. It also gives the slate an incredibly long lifetime in which it can be used over and again.