Superior Welsh Slate
House Signs and Memorials

Welsh Blue Slate Memorials & Signs

Welsh slate is considered by many to be the best slate in the world. It is harder, denser and stronger than other slate and this makes it more durable with a longer lifespan. It is much older than other slates and was actually formed some 600 million years ago.

Another reason it lasts so well is that very little water is able to penetrate into it. It is therefore less susceptible to frost damage, Finally it has the advantage of far fewer minerals such as pyrite which gives it a cleaner finish with fewer markings. All this makes it perfect for top quality slate house signs and slate memorials.

Our welsh slate is normally 20mm thick and we can cut to any size within the price brackets. We can ask the quarry to cut thick late eg 30mm 50mm or 75mm but this will take a couple of months.

LETTERS
The letters are usually painted silver, gold, white or black. For a more gentle natural effect we match Farrow & Ball Lichen - a pale green which looks lovely against the grey slate. Another natural look is F&B Purbeck Stone which is a very light grey. We can however paint in lots of other stock colours @ £5.

We can also blast the background away leaving raised unpainted letters. When leaving letters raised please choose a bold font. For a selection of fonts - CLICK HERE Letter size is not fixed and is normally adjusted to suit the sign. If you have something particular in mind - just let us know.

Images
We can include simple images on any of the slate signs or memorials. We have a selection - CLICK HERE - available for £12.50. Alternatively or you can send in your own artwork, which we can use for £34.50.

Another option is to ask our designer to find you something appropriate or look on Shutterstock and we will buy the download for you @ a cost of £24.50.

PRICES

BORDERS
We can add a line border with indented or square corners at a cost of £9.95. Another interesting technique is the border in relief where the slate around the outside of the sign is blasted away leaving the required shape in the middle. The cost of a border in relief is £.95.  When the letters are raised and unpainted there is no extra cost for surrounding or line borders. Celtic and decorative borders are £15.95

HOLES
It is difficult to drill holes into slate as it requires plenty of water to keep the slate cool. We can drill the holes for you @ £1.10 per standard hole or £1.95 per countersunk hole. We would suggest 2 holes on the 100mm high slate and 4 holes on larger slates. If you do decide to use one of the many adhesives now available we would suggest additional support is used, particularly for the larger signs.

We can use our powerful laser to etch into the surface of the slate.

This technique is ideal where smaller text or detailed images are required, that would not be possible to deep engrave or sandblast into the slate.

We are also able to laser etch good photos into slate. We can make memorials using a combination of the two methods, whereby we deep engraved and paint the lettering and add a laser engraved photo.

Lastly laser etching takes us less time and materials than sand-blasting or deep engraving and therefore it is considerably cheaper.

Click here for more details