Residential · North Shore & NW Chicago Suburbs
Natural Slate Roofing
Quarried stone, fastened to outlast the building beneath it. We work out of Arlington Heights and install, repair and restore natural slate across the North Shore — new stone, single slipped tiles, and period roofs that still have decades left in them.
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Why Natural Slate
Quarried from the Earth. Built to Outlast the Building.
Mike Bartkovjaks has worked in roofing since 2000 and founded Black Square Roofing in 2007. Every slate project gets direct owner oversight — not a subcontract crew you’ve never met.
01
75–150 year lifespan
Hard slate verified on North Shore homes since the 1900s. Still weathertight today.
02
Class 4 impact / Class A fire
03
Architecturally irreplaceable
04
Illinois freeze-thaw compatible
Hard slate handles expansion and contraction without cracking when correctly fastened.
What We Do
Repair, Restoration, and Full Slate Replacement.
We work on existing slate roofs as often as we install new ones. Most aging slate does not need to come off — it needs the right tiles reset and the flashings rebuilt.
Full Slate Replacement
Slate Tile Repair
Slate Roof Restoration
Slate Roof Inspection
A full assessment before anything is proposed — grade of stone, fastener condition, deck integrity, and whether the structure supports the load. You get findings, not a sales pitch.
Copper Flashings & Valleys
Slate and copper are natural companions. We fabricate every copper flashing, counter flashing and valley in-house — a precise fit, not off-the-shelf. Slate rarely fails as stone; it fails at the metal.
Performance
Why Slate on North Shore Homes.
Lasts a lifetime — literally
Hard slate installed before 1930 is still on homes in Winnetka, Lake Forest, and Glencoe today.
No ice dam damage
Hard slate doesn’t crack, lift, or absorb water. Illinois freeze-thaw cycles don’t affect it the way they affect asphalt.
Replace it once
A slate roof installed today won’t need replacement in your lifetime. Total cost compares favorably to 3–4 shingle cycles.
Architecturally expected
On North Shore luxury homes, slate signals permanence. Its absence is often noticed by buyers and appraisers.
A Slate Roofer Based in Arlington Heights.
Our shop is at 221 W University Dr in Arlington Heights — not a call center, not a franchise territory. It’s where the copper gets fabricated and where Mike starts most mornings before heading out to a job.
That matters for slate more than for most trades. Slate work is slow, weather-dependent, and needs the same hands back on the roof a week later to finish a valley properly. A crew based twenty minutes away shows up. One dispatched from another state doesn’t.
Looking at Synthetic Slate Instead?
What Clients Say
Real homeowners. Real completed projects. No paid ratings.
How long does a slate roof last in Illinois?
Natural slate lasts 75–150 years when properly installed. Hard slate varieties like Vermont and Welsh perform best in Illinois freeze-thaw conditions. Improper installation — not the material — is the leading cause of premature failure.
What's the difference between hard slate and soft slate?
Hard slate is dense, low-absorption stone that holds up to a century or more in this climate. Soft slate is more porous, weathers faster, and starts to delaminate — flaking into thin layers — decades sooner. Identifying which one is on your roof is the first thing we do, because it decides whether you’re looking at a repair or a replacement.
Can my roof support natural slate?
Natural slate weighs 700–1,000 lbs per square. Pre-1960 North Shore homes were often framed for slate and can carry it. Homes built for asphalt shingles may need structural reinforcement. We assess this on-site before any proposal is written.
Do you repair existing slate roofs?
Yes — replacing cracked or slipped tiles is one of our most common jobs on North Shore properties. Most aging slate needs targeted repair, not a full tear-off, and we’ll tell you honestly which one applies to your roof.
When does a slate roof need restoration instead of replacement?
When the stone is still sound but the things holding it aren’t. Failed nails, tired valleys, and worn flashings send far more slate roofs to the dumpster than the tile itself ever earns. If the deck is solid and the slate has life left, restoration keeps the original roof working.
Do you work on slate roofs in Arlington Heights?
Yes — Arlington Heights is where we’re based, at 221 W University Dr. There’s less slate here than on the North Shore because most of the housing stock went up after the war, when asphalt had already taken over. But the slate that is here tends to be on the older homes near the historic district, and those roofs are usually worth restoring rather than replacing. If you’ve got slate in Arlington Heights, we’re twenty minutes away.
Slate That Lasts
Generations.
Full replacement, targeted tile repair, or restoring a period roof that still has decades in it — you’ll get an honest assessment of what your roof actually needs, then the work done right. We work out of Arlington Heights and install and restore natural slate on the estate and period homes of Winnetka, Lake Forest, and Highland Park, and across Glencoe, Barrington, and Hinsdale.
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Hours
Mon–Fri 8am–5pm
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