A Low Profile That Is Unique To Metrotile

Darren and Melanie Arnold purchased a 12 acre life style block in Karaka in 2001, with the intention of building a house that they could call a home and which would meet the ongoing and changing demands of their family.

Darren has been involved in the building industry for over 20 years and has been the owner of Crittal Arnold Ltd, a Takanini based manufacturer of steel window frames, for nearly 10 years. He was also actively involved in the build process of his first home. As a result, Darren and Melanie decided to manage the design and build process of their Karaka property themselves.

Their key consideration in the design of the property was to build a house that was in keeping with its rural setting. To this end Darren and Melanie were heavily influenced by the Colonial style houses evident throughout Commonwealth on larger estates. Having settled upon the design of the house Darren and
Melanie undertook a review of a wide range of tile roofing products. Due to the location and style of the house Darren settled on a lightweight Metrotile Shake Textured Greenstone roof because of the structural cost savings and reduced maintenance that it would provide.

Darren and Melanie used a personal friend, Garth Kennedy, who had also been involved in the building of their first house, to draught the 275 square meter, four bedroom Karaka Home to their design specifications.

Ian Cartmer from Auski Homes was brought in to complete the build process, as Darren had dealt with Ian Cartmer on previous projects and was impressed with his professionalism. Ian has been building for over thirty years and has built up a boutique building company that specializes in quality of its workmanship, industry expertise and client relationships.

Unfortunately an electrical fault in February 2010, to one of their upstairs bathroom exhaust fans, resulted in significant fire damage to the top storey of their house. As a result, the Arnold family had to vacate the property for eight months as the house was rebuilt.

VERO, who Darren and Melanie were insured with, showed considerable flexibility in allowing  Darren to personally manage the rebuild process of his fire damaged home. Darren was genuinely appreciative of being able to work with tradesmen he knew and trusted and after some consideration Darren and Melanie settled on the Metrotile Shingle profile which is now available. The low profile of the ridge cappings and trims offered by the Metrotile Shingle is unique in the metal tile market and was more in keeping with the Colonial design of his home.

Peter Hill of Hill Design Engineering Ltd. was engaged to draft up the revised plans for the rebuild of the dwelling. This incorporated minor changes to the layout of the home to accommodate the family’s needs. There were no problems relating to the rebuild and the council were quick to provide an interim consent
so demolition and building works could proceed without any delay.

Scott Harris from SH Roofing, who undertook the installation of the Metrotile Shingle roof, was recommended to Darren by Quentin Ross, one of the Directors of Metrotile. Scott Harris has been roofing for 19 years and has owned his own roofing company for 14 years. Scott has actively worked with Metrotile in the trialing of their new products and profiles and specializes in high end metal tile roof installations. His skills were put to the test in the re-roofing of the Arnold roof, which is a particularly “cut about”, steep and complex highly visible 2 storey roof.