Metrotile CF Slate Provides a New Solution for an Old Problem
Even before the Christchurch earthquakes Paul Ward and his family were having issues with their house, namely a leaky roof. He and his wife, who had design input, had built the house 18 years ago and used an asphalt shingle product imported from Canada for the roofing.
“We had issues with the roof really from day one,” said Paul. “It was leaking around the skylight windows and through the gullies, and we tried some repairs, but they never really worked.”
When the earthquakes hit, their house was damaged and eventually written off by insurers. Rather than let them tear it down, Paul bought it back and decided to rebuild it.
“We’ve got a swimming pool, tennis court and horses here so we weren’t ready to let it go.”
The rebuilding process involved re-levelling the house, and replacing the plaster over polystyrene cladding, which was wrecked by the earthquakes, with Hebel block over cavity battens.
When it came to re-roofing, Paul asked Kevin Crawford, of Canterbury Roofing Contracting Limited, to provide him with some options.
Kevin said, “My initial request from the owner was, ‘I am sick of my roof leaking; I want it taken off and replaced with iron’.
“The roof was only 18 years old, had been leaking for many years and the owner had recently spent a considerable amount on repairs, which had failed.
“As this was a re-roof, water tightness during the works was a big consideration. We also had to consider the height and the pitch of the roof in terms of accessibility, wind lift, extra weight introduced with both purlins and iron, and flashing details with the extra height of a purlin and iron, dormers, parapets, skylights etc.”
Kevin said that after considering all the options, it was agreed with the homeowners that Metrotile’s CF Slate was the standout choice.
He added, “As well as keeping with the current look of the house, it was most certainly going to be the simplest to install. It was able to be direct fixed over the existing asphalt shingles and into the plywood, a synthetic underlay was installed as a barrier between the two roofs.”
The decision was made easier by the fact that Paul and his wife had originally chosen a robust 12mm marine grade ply for their roofing substrate, which the CF Slate could be fixed to.
Kevin said, “As the new tiles were laid across the roof, and from the bottom up, we were able to complete the roof face by face thus keeping watertight the entire time.”
A builder was on hand to replace any bad timber that was found as the re-roof progressed.
Kevin said the Christchurch climate is very testing on roofs, with rain, frost, hot sun, and drying winds.
“Steel roofs are proven to withstand these conditions. The pressed tile roofs can provide the assurance of a steel roof, with the appearance of the shingle.”
And the CF Slate has a 50-year warranty.
Paul, who project-managed the rebuild, said the project took about a year, and the roofing job about a month. He said, “Kevin was great to deal with and really stepped up to the plate. For my part, he was superb and gave us an amazing looking result.
“We’ve got the house back to where it should be, and for the first time in 18 years I can say hand on heart that the roof is not leaking. And it looks brilliant – it looks like a shingle and I love the low profile and the shadows it casts.
“We looked at quite a lot of products and this was the best solution.”
Paul said he can’t wait for the next project, which is to re-roof the barn in the same CF Slate.