PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - Anyone have experience with natural slate tile in a shower?

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Anyone have experience with natural slate tile in a shower?

We're looking at installing natural slate tile in the baths at my place - on the floors and for the shower walls.

Does anyone here have any experience with it? I'm mainly concerned with long term durability - most folks online complain about it getting discolored and wearing over time. I don't mind treating/sealing it every so often if it will keep looking good - but it would seem people online buy a house with it, leave it untreated and complain... :(

I installed out on a patio. Had a few lift up but I think that may have been due to temp expansion. No discoloration that I have noticed over the past 10 years.

I would seal it due to the soaps and stuff but I think you would be OK.

I had a house with a slate roof. 90 years old and still going, last time I passed by. My present house has a black slate floor in the living room. It was protected when new with a clear coating...I think it was called Stonyl. Never stained, but that's not the problem. It's so cold and dark that we've completely covered it with carpeting. So one thing to think about is not to mass too much of it in a poorly lit space.

You might want to get a sample and test it with bleach, but not for color. I believe you'll find that some examples of finished stone become extremely slippery with a wet coat of bleach solution. This may be important if you ever want to clean your bathroom floor.

What is the color name? There are lots of slates and quartzite/sandstones from India and China on the market. All are pretty soft and might discolor from harsher shower cleaning products or even water if not sealed well. They are also fairly heavy in cleft which could effect ability of the pan to drain.

Vermont Slates (black, red, purple and mottled) are much denser in addition to having a finer cleft. Would drain better and you'd probably never stub your toe on them.

Yes.

Slate is a terrific choice - if you can afford it. ;)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mxfrank (Post 3786172)

Pouring bleach on any surface will make the surface extremely slippery.

I probably would not.

Quote:

Originally Posted by davidmash (Post 3786164)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mxfrank (Post 3786172)

I'll check out Stonyl. The stone is only going to be in the bathrooms - and I'm going to add a bunch of recessed lighting as part of the remodel so hopefully it doesn't feel too cold.

We have a piece of the slate in question at home - I'll give it a try tonight. The shower pan is up in the air, we're either going with a dark river rock (what I want) vs slate (what she wants). We also try not to use too many harsh chemicals to clean at home - seems just about anything more powerful than vinegar will give you cancer. :/

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMAllison (Post 3786227)

Slate will be coming from HD: https://www.homedepot.com/p/MSI-Montauk-Black-12-in-x-24-in-Gauged-Slate-Floor-and-Wall-Tile-10-sq-ft-case-SHDMONBLK1224G/202919773

I checked after your comment, and it comes from Brazil.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skid Row Joe (Post 3786230)

Yes.

Slate is a terrific choice - if you can afford it. ;)

It's not that much more expensive than nice tile. Plus, it's really what the lady wants, so I'm just gonna spend the little bit of money to keep her happy (and to avoid an argument). ;)

I dunno. Slate on a roof never has any feet slowly polishing it down. One client has slate in his kitchen. Has been there for about 20 years. All of the edges that give slate it's traction have been polished down. Looks sort of like a cake left out in the rain. Weird analogy, can't think of another.

I'd look into travertine.

Let me add that unpolished travertine is outstanding for outdoor steps. One client has that and even in the rain gives amazing traction. Probably not good in a shower as soap and skin (yech) bits would clog up the pores. Polished and sealed in a shower is good.

Slate is pretty porous. I'd think it would be a bother to maintain in a shower. If you don't care how it looks it probably would give fairly good traction. Its pretty good on a roof but there it floats a bit and can dry out, while getting a nice bath everytime it rains....with no soap scum.

I've never seen it in a shower.....probably for a good reason since it has been around since dirt.

If you ever need to get on the roof and you have slate tiles, serious care must be taken. We had to do much work on such a roof in Palo Alto - maintenance on a fine home we had built several years prior and we made four 2x4 kneeling boards from 1/2 inch ply with 3 inches of foam rubber glued to one side.

Very attractive though.

I have some slate on my home which came off my great grandfather's barn which was torn down at least 30 years ago. I like it very much on a roof or on a floor but would not use in a shower.

That Brazilian slate is on the denser side and has minimal cleft. Just finished installing 2 steam rooms (floors, walls, benches, ceilings) and 2 sauna floors for George Lucas using that same slate.

You'll have to cut it down to something like a 4x4 size if you were to use it on a shower pan, 12x24 won't conform the slope that needs to be present.

Has plenty of slip resistance wet or dry.

Bedrosian's in NorCal sells the same slate under the name Pearl Black.

^ I yield to the big dog. I'm a finish carpenter who has dabbled in tile. I can do it but I'm still a novice.

He does sound informed. I yield too.;) The Brazilian slate sounds more appropriate than what I am used to seeing.

Been a project manager/estimator working on large commercial tile/stone projects for 33 years.

I wouldn't install that material in my home because its really dark and has some texture which could trap soap scum, but the OP can. Its a suitable material, may require more upkeep than something less textured.

They had to increase the wattage of the light blubs in the steam rooms we just did. Black on black on black sucks up all the light.

The guy that complained of his slate coming up outside, probably has no idea of how to install it properly in exterior installations.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMAllison (Post 3786818)

Depends on the particular slate. The Brazilian slate I've seen was all damn near like granite. If he's pouring sealers all over it, he'll have a lot of slipping around. Large format tiles can be used with trough, or linear drains. Aren't you aware of the nuances in shower drains??

Quote:

Originally Posted by iwrock (Post 3786266)

That's good to hear. Someone online said that slate is porous and will show hard water stains, though we have pretty soft water where I'm at.

I've got granite countertops in my kitchen that need a sealant, so I'd just do the bathroom at the same time as the kitchen.

I'll check out Stonyl. The stone is only going to be in the bathrooms - and I'm going to add a bunch of recessed lighting as part of the remodel so hopefully it doesn't feel too cold.

We have a piece of the slate in question at home - I'll give it a try tonight. The shower pan is up in the air, we're either going with a dark river rock (what I want) vs slate (what she wants). We also try not to use too many harsh chemicals to clean at home - seems just about anything more powerful than vinegar will give you cancer. :/

Slate will be coming from HD: https://www.homedepot.com/p/MSI-Montauk-Black-12-in-x-24-in-Gauged-Slate-Floor-and-Wall-Tile-10-sq-ft-case-SHDMONBLK1224G/202919773

I checked after your comment, and it comes from Brazil.

It's not that much more expensive than nice tile. Plus, it's really what the lady wants, so I'm just gonna spend the little bit of money to keep her happy (and to avoid an argument). ;)

Slate is not porous, and does not need to be sealed. Neither does your granite need to be sealed. Vinegar won't hurt any slate, but is better used as a salad dressing.

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Originally Posted by t walgamuth (Post 3786542)

Slate is not porous. All surfaces need to be cleaned. Even slate.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMAllison (Post 3787174)

I've been in the tile and stone business 35 years. I represented the largest importer of International slate for flooring and roofing from around the world and the United States. I've darn near seen it all.

So Joe you saying slate is as impervious to absorbtion as granite?

If you are I'll have to respectfully disagree. And I'd never use slate outside in our vicious freeze cycle winters here. I can show you places here they did and regretted it.

Slate has a dense, non porous surface. That’s why it works as roofing material. It’s vulnerable along the edges, where the cleft is exposed to weather. In the NY area, we see a lot of ‘slate’ walks, but these are almost always bluestone, which is a porous sandstone. If the walk has a proper bed, it can last for years without heaving. But in the snow belt, no pavement lasts as long as you’d like.

Quote:

Originally Posted by t walgamuth (Post 3787336)

Yes, however it depends on that exact piece of slate, as well as the area(s) on that piece of slate you are doing an analysis on. Confusing, isn't it? It doesn't take a lot of training to be able to determine whether any particular slate, or slate piece is suitable for exterior usage.

Granite isn't slate, and slate isn't granite. Apples and oranges.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mxfrank (Post 3787384)

Slate surfaces only, are extremely porous, and will take a sealer, either penetrating or surface sealing. However, slate does not need to be sealed. It is totally the discretion of the owner of the slate installation.

Which is it Joe? In 17 you say it is not porous, and in 19 you say it is VERY porous.

I just tried to find some info about "Brazillian slate". I found that granite is listed at 170#/CF, slate is 168#/CF and BS is listed at about 190#/CF. I believe that the 190#/CF is likely to be less accurate since I calculated it from a slate tile listed as 3/8" T.

I had assumed that density or weight would equate proportionally to porosity. But apparently it does not.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TMAllison (Post 3787174)

I just finished the electrical for the bathroom remodel, there's no shortage of light in the wet room of the master bathroom. I'll snap some pictures later today, but installed 2 4" LED cans over the shower, and installed a single 4" can opposite of the shower in anticipation of dark tiles. It's too bright now, and we actually are considering dimmers for the lights because the light is too intense now. We have a light grey paint for the walls, semi-gloss white roof, and chrome hardware for everything so it's OK if the shower and floor eat light.

We've since changed our minds on the tile choice for the shower walls, and have opted for these black limestone tiles. We're switching to this porcelain slate tile instead of actual slate because it's more hardy. We haven't chosen a floor for the shower pan just yet...

Justin - Those tiles will work. For the pan, smaller size tiles will conform tot he pitch present and drain better than larger tiles. As mentioned above, you could use a slot drain at the back of the shower which would allow you to use larger format material on the pan but doing so has some drawbacks including coordination of multiple trades and how wall tile layouts are then effected.

Sounds like a good solution.;)