Sustainable Roofing for Restoration Projects
You’ll likely see a lot of lists of potential candidates for sustainable roof materials, with options like metal sheets and rubber shingles alongside green roof designs. Every one of these lists recommends reclaimed materials, and these are the only materials with no manufacturing or processing involved at all.
Rather than absorbing the carbon footprint of new or recycled roofing, a reclaimed roof adds only the carbon produced during transport. In this blog, we discuss reclaimed roofing, and why these can create the most eco-friendly roof, whether you’re restoring a building or starting from scratch.
Reclaimed Roofing: How does it work?
All reclaimed materials have been used in previous buildings. When the original building was demolished or remodelled, these materials were removed whole to be stored and resold in their original form.
Reclaimed items do not need to be processed before reuse, but it’s possible to cut, clean finish and paint them before adding them to a new or restored building.
Benefits of Using Reclaimed Materials
Rather than sourcing new materials for construction, using reclaimed roof tiles can increase the value of your building.
Eco-Friendly Roofing
The UK construction industry contributes to a large proportion of carbon emissions every year. Mostly this is in the production of new materials, so reusing materials reduces the carbon footprint of your construction project.
If you’re looking for the most sustainable roof materials, reclaimed items should be top of your list. Even recycled materials use more energy to create than the tiles and slates that are gathering moss in reclamation yards up and down the country. Like all clay and concrete tiles, they’re weatherproof, they retain heat well and allow moist air to circulate rather than becoming trapped and condensing.
Durability and Quality
By sourcing reclaimed roof slates and tiles, you get the benefit of a previous generation of building materials. Whether they’re clay or concrete, it is well known that these tiles and slates have a long lifespan that may make them last longer than the underlay, timbers and fixings of the roof.
When replacing a roof, many people opt for new tiles as well, meaning that the original tiles still have a lot of life left in them. Clay tiles are often reused for a whole roof, while concrete tiles are bought piecemeal for spot repairs.
Cost Effective: Saving Money without Compromising Quality
Reusing roofing materials are generally much cheaper than brand new, costing as little as 48p each (including VAT). Unless the tiles are particularly rare, it is almost always a cost-effective decision to use reclaimed roofing materials.
Timeless Beauty for Restoration Projects
Restoring a building is a huge investment, and it’s not always easy to find the materials you want. When restoring a roof on an old building, it’s important to do your research to understand which styles of tiling were popular and would most likely have been used on the particular property.
You can preserve architectural heritage in your roof restoration by searching reclamation yards and for the right match.
Browse Reclaimed Roofing Materials
Tips For Choosing The Right Reclaimed Tiles And Slates for Restoration
At Gardiner’s, we see thousands of tiles and slates every year. We help customers choose the right materials for their eco-friendly roof restoration. Here are our tips for choosing the right roofing tiles.
● Do your research if you want authentic roof tiles for style and period
● Compare a range of tiles to find the right colour and shape for your building
● Consider quantities: reclamation yards only have certain amounts, particularly of rare styles.
To help you find the right reclaimed materials for your roofing job, our website is designed to make it easy to see exactly what you’re getting. All materials can be packaged and delivered to your site, anywhere in the UK.