Tales about roofing material (5)
I believe the answer is:
slate
'roofing material' is the definition.
(I know that slate is a type of roofing material)
'tales about' is the wordplay.
'about' indicates an anagram.
'tales' anagrammed gives 'SLATE'.
(Other definitions for slate that I've seen before include "Metamorphic rock that can be split into thin layers" , "Stone used for roofing" , "Roof tile or pub credit" , "Roofing plate" , "rock used in building" .)