Tile Materials
Tiles are man-made materials, which are made of strong materials like clay, ceramic materials, and sometimes they can even be made of glass! That being said, by far the most common material used to make shingles is clay. Invariably, tiles made from clay in this way must be treated with a weather resistant glaze coating.
People have been using shingles to build their roofs for hundreds of years and during this time people have designed many different shapes and sizes of shingles. Flat shingles, for example, are just about the most basic type of shingle. In most cases, they are flat and rectangular in shape, making them ideal for layering on a ceiling. Flat shingles are very, very common in roofing applications and the methods used to create these types of roofs have not changed much since the 1970s.
Other types of tiles are Roman tiles and single turn tiles. Roman tiles have a curve on one edge and another on the other edge; this allows them to interlock for added strength when placed on a roof. Single round tiles are in the shape of the letter s and when laid give a very distinct pattern.
Slate roofing materials
Slate roofs are made from slate tiles, which is an ancient sedimentary rock composed mainly of clay and other volcanic materials, and composed in the earth by pressure and heat.
Slate is a very common roofing material because it is very strong and also waterproof. It is very popular because it can be easily molded into the rectangles we see on ceilings today. During the manufacture of roofing slates, large chunks of slate rock break into small sheets quite easily. Again, this makes slate an ideal roofing material.
Slate roofs can last a long time because slate is a very resistant material. The disadvantage of slate as a roofing material is that it is very expensive to purchase and replace. In some areas, roofs must be maintained with specific types of slate to comply with planning laws and to maintain uniform architectural character of buildings in certain areas. Finding specific types of slate in such cases can be very difficult and few roofing contractors do this type of work.
Felt Roofing Materials
Roofing contractors use strong polyurethane type materials to form felt roofing. A felt roof is applied to a base plate that is painted with a preservative coating to make it last longer. Once the base is prepared, the roofing felt is attached with suitable galvanized nails. Roofing felt applications are typically for flat roofs, such as those typically seen on garages and garden sheds. The obvious advantage of using felt as a roofing material on flat roofs is that it is very inexpensive and is therefore commonly used as an inexpensive roofing solution on outbuildings.