Perfectly Pitched THE CASE FOR CLAY TILES: A MODERN OPTION FOR PROJECTS Pitched Roofing Consultant John Mercer, writing on behalf of Edilians, explains why he feels modern production techniques mean clay tiles are a great solution for many projects, but stresses how important it is they are installed correctly... Clay has been a material of choice for our roofscapes for nearly 1,000 years; the Romans are credited with introducing clay roof tiles to Britain during their occupation from 43 AD until their departure in 410 AD, after which the art of clay tile making was lost for a while. Concrete roof tiles were first introduced into Britain in the 1920s, though it was the huge boom in housebuilding after the second World War when they really found favour due to mass production techniques and ease of installation. Concrete quickly became the mass housebuilder choice for roofing, accounting for around 60% of all roofs, with 20% being slate and 10% being clay. However, modern production methods and a wide range of tile shapes and colours mean that clay tile producers, such as Edilians, are now challenging the dominance of the concrete producers. Thriving market Good quality clay roof tiles can last well over 100 years, though it is more likely that other components of the roof will require maintenance or replacement well before the roof tiles, such as battens, fixings and underlay. As we all know, there is a thriving market in the UK for second clay tiles. When specifying roofing products, it is important to choose materials that comply with current British and European Standards to ensure a good quality, durable roof for the client. Clay tiles should comply with EN 1304 and must pass 150 cycles of the European test for frost resistance; EN 539-2, to be deemed suitable for use in the UK. Edilians’ clay roof tiles are produced from high quality French clays that achieve pass results far in excess of the European Standard test requirements. Installation With regards to installation, all tiles and slates must be secured to resist predicted wind loads. The security of a roof tile or slate very much depends upon its fixings; e.g. nails, clips, straps etc. Slates are ‘double lapped’ therefore each slate is afforded some protection to wind up lift by its neighbouring slates. By the same reasoning, double lapped clay plain tiles also provide an extremely secure roof covering through their small size and coverage. So much so, that in many locations in the UK, plain tiles only need mechanical fixing (i.e. nailing) in every fifth course in the local and general roof areas, with the perimeters having each tile mechanically fixed. Of course, wind load calculations must always be carried out to confirm this for each location – contact Edilians Technical Support for a fixing specification for every project. The methodology for calculating roof tile fixings is well documented in BS 5534: the British Standard Code of practice for slating and tiling and pitched roofs should be fixed to withstand wind speeds only likely to be exceeded once in 50 years. If natural slate is beyond a project’s budget, then for an authentic slate appearance, Edilians has developed its Beauvoise Graphite Slate, which is the perfect substitute and it comes with other advantages, such as the speed of installation, no need for sorting and holing, as well as the reduction in cost that only a single lapped roof tile can bring. Being produced from clay, Beauvoise Graphite combines the riven appearance of slate with a natural clay material that will keep its rich slate grey colour for the life of the tile and will never fade. Clay is much more than a great slate substitute; over its 1,000 years’ presence in Britain, clay has introduced many of the great roof tile shapes that are now such a part of our roofscapes; for example, pantile and roman, as well as Mediterranean-influenced bold roll. Indeed, many popular concrete tile shapes are very much influenced by clay tiles. Modern clay tiles are pressed, which means that it is possible to incorporate endless technical features into the upper and lower surfaces of the tiles to improve security and weathertightness. Clay is also twice as strong as concrete, which means that clay tiles can be thinner and therefore lighter in weight than concrete tiles. All this, combined with the fact that clay tiles keep their colour for life, means that they remain a great option, whilst modern production techniques mean that clay is not far behind concrete in terms of cost and ease of installation. Contact Edilians / John Mercer www.imerys-roof-tiles.com @imerys @johnmercer3 46 TC SEPTEMBER <strong>2019</strong>
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