Renovating your roof? Which tile should I choose?

The style of the roof is hugely significant in determining the character of a house, but it’s something that few of us really take time to consider.  

There are many different options to consider when renovating your roof and the choice of tiles will make a big difference in the appearance of your home. If you’re stuck for ideas it’s not a bad start to look around the neighbourhood to see what style of tile is commonly used.  It might sound odd, but individual styles tend to be regional: you don’t tend to find pantiles in the north-west, for example, while traditional clay-look plain tiles are common in the south-east. 

What’s your angle of tilt?
Firstly you’ll need to consider the angle of your roof - pitched roofs have traditionally been used in the UK, simply because it rains and it allows rainwater to flow from the roof quickly. The steepness of the pitch will dictate how much headroom there is in the loft and, of course, the aesthetics of the house design will play their part too – the average roof is pitched between 30°and 45°.
 

Your architect, designer or structural engineer will be able to advice on how pitch, design and structure will affect your choice of roof covering.
 

Tiling options – natural slate, reconstituted slate, clay or concrete?
There are a wide range of roof tiles on the market at very different prices.  Hand-made clay and natural slate will be the most expensive, with near-perfect imitations in concrete offering much better value for money.

Modern concrete roof tiles are manufactured to very high standards and offer not only great durability but also the exact look of their natural ancestors.   

Coloured sands are used to imitate clays from different regions and top-of-the range concrete tiles will even imitate the surface irregularities of hand-made clay. Redland Heathland Plain Tiles were developed specifically for this purpose.

Natural slate is obviously expensive, but there are alternatives that use recycled slate material bound with resin that give the same look at a much lower price. The Redland Cambrian Slate is an award winning reconstituted slate that is hard to tell apart from the real thing.
 

Installing the roof

Installing a roof properly is a skilled craft and good roofers will have spent years acquiring the know-how to do a great job for you.  Redland roofers are members of the Scheme and will provide warranties on their workmanship, but you also need to know that the roof system they have installed is going to perform well.
 

Redland is the only manufacturer that provides a guarantee for the whole roofing system; make sure you ask your Redland roofer about the HomeSpec Guarantee when getting your quote.