Designing Kitchens and Bathrooms - Slate tiling

What are some drawbacks when using Slate in a shower? Is it worth the money?

Thanks

Slate is fine anywhere. You just have to make sure you have a good substraight (i.e. CBU)

With any natural stone, you just want to spend the extra money on a good stone sealer which is available at big box stores.

Be careful with slate. Some slates are nothing more than compressed mud and will disappear before your eyes in a shower in a short period of time. Take a sample piece of the slate you intend to use and put it in a bucket of water for a day or so. See what it does to the water. If the water gets a muddy look to it then you have shale (compressed mud). Many cheaper slates are not suitable for showers and in my opinion not suited for anything. With slate, you get what you pay for and not a dime more. I wouldnt buy slate in HD or Lowes and expect it to hold up in a shower environment.

You can use a good quality slate in a shower. If thats what you want, then go to a real tile store where you will get a good quality slate suitable for a shower. The drawbacks of slate in a shower over time are maintenance issues. There are really good slate lookalike porcelain tiles out there that will serve you much better. Take a look at them.