Slate as a floor
Slate is a metamorphic stone formed from compressed clay and shale, and it splits along natural layers into flat sheets. That layered structure gives a slate floor its two defining qualities: a textured, slightly uneven face called a cleft surface, and a density that keeps water absorption low. The stone in general, and how it is split and cut, is covered in slate tile.
On a floor, slate is valued for its texture, its toughness in daily use and its deep color. Slate is softer than granite, but it is dense and tough in daily use, and its textured, varied face disguises the light wear and marks that would show on a polished stone.
Gauged and honed slate floor tile
Most slate floor tiles are gauged: the back is ground so every tile has the same thickness, while the face keeps its natural cleft texture. Gauged slate lays like a manufactured tile but looks like split stone, with a gently rippled surface that catches light along its layers.
Montauk Black also comes honed in 12x12 and 16x16; where gauging grinds the back, honing grinds the face smooth and matte. Honed slate gives a calm, almost charcoal floor with a quieter texture, which suits contemporary kitchens and living areas; gauged slate gives the rustic, traditional look most people associate with slate.
Where slate colors come from
Slate's colors come largely from the minerals in the stone. Carbon and graphite give the deep blacks and charcoals; iron oxides give the rust, copper and gold tones of multi-colored slates; chlorite gives green-gray; and fine-grained mica and chlorite with carbon give the blue-grays. Because those minerals settle in layers, a single tile can shift color across its face, and a multi-colored slate shows bands of warm and cool tones side by side.
Blue slate and bluestone
Blue slate and bluestone are often confused. Montauk Blue is a true slate, a layered metamorphic stone with a cleft face. The stone sold as bluestone in North America is usually a dense sandstone, blue-gray as well but with a sandier, more granular face, and it is cut into pavers and treads more often than into thin floor tile. Sandstone pavers in a bluestone color are gathered in sandstone tile.
Montauk Black and Montauk Blue
Montauk Black is a deep charcoal slate with subtle variation, and it is offered here in the widest range of sizes: 12x12, 16x16, 12x24, 24x24 and a 6x24 plank, plus mosaics in 3x6 and 4x12. Montauk Blue is a blue-gray slate with soft shifts toward green and gray, in 12x24, 24x24, 6x24 and a large 18x36.
Both are relatively uniform for slate, with low to medium variation, so they give a consistent dark floor that suits both traditional and modern rooms. Montauk Blue's cooler color pairs well with white cabinetry and stainless steel, and Montauk Black with wood and brass.
Premium Black slate
Premium Black is a gauged black slate in 12x12 and 16x16, the classic dark slate floor. Black slate makes a strong backdrop for light walls and cabinets, hides dirt well, and gives a grounded, timeless look in entries and kitchens. Under light, its cleft face shows faint ridges and sheen across the layers.
California Gold and Rustic Gold
California Gold and Rustic Gold are multi-colored slates, with gold, rust, copper and gray running through the stone. They bring warmth and movement to a floor and suit lodges, Southwestern and farmhouse interiors, sunrooms and kitchens with wood cabinets. California Gold comes in 16x16 and 24x24, a pattern set of mixed sizes and a 12x12 mosaic; Rustic Gold in 12x12 and 16x16. San Rio Rustic adds another multi-colored option in 12x12.
Multi-colored slate varies strongly from tile to tile, which is the appeal. A floor laid from several boxes at once mixes the warm and cool tiles evenly, so the darkest and brightest pieces spread across the room.
Sizes for different rooms
Slate floor tiles here run from 12x12 to 24x24 squares, 12x24 and 18x36 rectangles and a 6x24 plank. 12x12 and 16x16 are the traditional slate sizes and suit kitchens, bathrooms and mudrooms of any size. 24x24 and 18x36 give a large, calm stone floor with fewer joints, which suits open living areas and big entries. The 6x24 plank, in Montauk Black and Montauk Blue, lays like a board in a running bond and gives slate a contemporary, linear look.
Slate pattern sets
The California Gold pattern set combines several rectangle and square sizes that fit together in a repeating, random-looking layout, the slate version of the French or Versailles pattern. A pattern set gives a floor the look of hand-laid flagstone with the convenience of calibrated, gauged tiles, and it suits entries, patios under cover and rustic kitchens.
Is slate slippery
Slate with a natural cleft face is generally less slippery than smooth stone, because its texture gives a foot something to hold, which is one reason it has long been used in entries and mudrooms. Grip changes with the finish and the sealer: honed slate is smoother than cleft slate, and a glossy or film-forming sealer can make any slate more slippery when wet, while a penetrating, matte sealer keeps the natural texture. A measured slip value, where the supplier publishes one, is the reliable guide for a wet area.
Natural surface and flaking
Because slate is made of layers, small thin flakes can come loose from the surface of some tiles. Flaking is a natural characteristic of split slate, not a defect, and it generally lessens once the loose top layer has come away.
Entries, mudrooms and kitchens
Entries and mudrooms are the natural home of slate: they take mud, snow, salt and grit, and a textured, dark or multi-colored stone copes well with that traffic. Large tiles such as 16x16 and 24x24 give fewer joints, and the same slate can continue into a hallway or kitchen. In a kitchen, slate is generally less reactive to acidic food than marble or limestone, since most slate is not a calcium carbonate stone, and it pairs with light cabinets for contrast or with wood for warmth.
Bathrooms, showers and fireplaces
In a bathroom, slate gives a spa-like, natural feel. The Montauk Black mosaics in 3x6 and 4x12 and the California Gold 12x12 mosaic suit shower floors and walls, and a matching slate tile can cover the rest of the room; slate in wet areas is usually sealed. Slate is also a traditional fireplace surround and hearth, noncombustible and dark enough to frame a fire, with the local building code setting the clearances.
Sunrooms and living areas
Slate suits sunrooms, garden rooms and family rooms that open to a patio, where its earthy color sits well with wood furniture, plants and natural fabrics. In a living room, a large-format black or blue slate gives a grounded floor under rugs. A dark slate floor in a small room works best with light walls and good lighting, which keep it from closing the space in.
Slate with radiant heat
Slate can be laid over radiant floor heating, which takes the chill off a stone floor in winter. Stone holds heat once warm, and the heating system's maker sets how the floor is built over it.
Grout and the wet look
Slate floors are usually grouted in a dark color, charcoal, black or a warm brown, so the joints blend with the stone and hide dirt. Many owners choose a color-enhancing sealer, which darkens slate to the deep, saturated color it shows when wet; others keep the natural, matte look. Gauged slate's slight unevenness means the grout joint is often a little wider than with manufactured tile.
Colors that go with a slate floor
Black and charcoal slate pairs with almost anything: crisp white walls for contrast, warm wood for a lodge or farmhouse feel, or brass and copper for a richer look. Blue-gray slate such as Montauk Blue suits white, pale gray and navy cabinetry and the cool tones of stainless steel. Gold and rust slates such as California Gold and Rustic Gold sit best with cream walls, terracotta, natural wood and green plants, which pick up the warm minerals in the stone.
Natural slate or slate look porcelain
Slate look porcelain copies the color and cleft texture of slate on a porcelain body that does not flake and needs no sealing, and it is gathered in slate look tile. Natural slate is the stone itself, with real layers, real variation from tile to tile and a surface that ages with use. The two serve different priorities, natural character or uniform low upkeep, and both make practical floors.
