We use various products supplied to us direct from the manufacturers as well as using second hand materials.
Concrete tiles
Concrete tiles are the most commonly used product where cost is one of the most important factors that you are considering. They are available in many profiles mimicking slate or clay or unique profiles only available in concrete.
Manufacturers used include. Redland, Marley Eternit, Sandtoft and Russells.
Clay tiles
Seen as a more natural product clay is available in a wide range of profiles and colours giving a richer feel to a roof and available in many colours from a plain red to attractive brindle colours. Machine made and hand made products are available though a compromise in price can be gained by using what is known as a `handcrafted' tile giving the attractiveness and feel of a handmade product but nearer a machine made price.
We source these from various companies, both from the UK and imported as noted below.
UK based products are available from Redland, Marley Eternit, Sandtoft, William Blythe, Tudor Roof Tiles, Keymer, and also available from various smaller craft companies.
Imported tiles are obtained from companies such as Koramic (various european factories), Imerys (French) and Heritage Clay Tiles (Polish).
Slates
Slates being millions of years in the making are a commonly used product on a roof giving an attractive and long lasting finish, in fact in most cases if a natural slated roof fails it is more likely to be the fixings that have perished rather than the actual slate (this condition is known as nail sickness). Sources of slates range across the world and are available fairly easily.
The costliest slates are genarally UK sourced from Cumbria or Wales but are of an extremely good quality.
Imported slates generally come from Spain, China, Argentina and Canada. These imported slates are available in differing grades dependant on the quarry from which they are extracted and the buyer should be aware of this as the lifespan of the cheapest slates may be variable.
FLAT ROOF MATERIALS
Single-ply
Single-ply membranes are becoming a lot more prevalent in the flat roofing industry and have a lot of advantages over the old style 3-layer felts that have been more traditionally used. We install Rhepanol EPDM membranes which are adhered to the substrate with adhesive, no heat is used at all in its installation and is therefore safer to install with no risks of fire. Rhepanol is also extremely environmentally friendly and is recyclable at the end of it's life. Whilst being a little more expensive that the traditional felt systems the cost is outweighed by its lifespan of at least 30 years compared to 15 years to 3-layer felt.
GRP
GRP systems offer a very hard wearing and seamless finish that can be formed to many awkward details.
Liquid Applied
Liquid applied coatings are by their nature the most versatile of flat roof coverings but are also used to coat existing coverings either flat or pitched. One of the most useful aplications for this system is the enscapulation of old asbestos roofing sheets negating its costly removal and disposal and is thus more environmentaly friendly than replacment.