*This article was featured in the bumper summer issue of HA Magazine

Housing Association Cross Keys Homes manage four blocks of flats between Grove Court and Tower Court in Peterborough. Sporting flat roofs since they were built in the late sixties, it became apparent that significant repairs were required when problems with the internal roof drainage system were causing water ingress and damp problems in the flats and maisonettes. 

Simply patching up the tired roof wouldn’t have been enough to prevent further ingress in the long term so Cross Keys Homes and their contractor Mears decided it would be more financially viable to install a pitched lightweight roofing system.

To achieve this, Mears contracted William Cooper Roofing to install an Ash & Lacy Ashjack steel frame so approx 3000m2/6300 Metrotile Roman roof profiles in Charcoal could be installed over the four blocks. In addition to the roof tiles, a full Metrotile ventilation system was installed using vent tiles and flexible adaptors to connect to the original ventilation from the fat roof beneath.

Thanks to the low weight of Metrotile Lightweight Roofing – just one seventh of traditional roof materials – Mears were able to specify the material safe in the knowledge that the roof would not be too heavy for the supporting structure, yet offer excellent security benefits (not to mention a stunning finish). The residents are happy to see the back of the old roofing system and all of the issues associated with it.

Ricky Glowacki, Contracts Manager for the Mears Group discusses the reasons for choosing a flat to pitch system: 

The flat to pitch roof solution was chosen for a number of reasons, firstly for aesthetics we wanted to create an instant impact with the refurbishment. Secondly there was an existing parapet wall and with the lightweight framing system it was a perfect solution in order to fix and over sail the wall in order to create new soffit’s and guttering to keep the water away from the flat roof. Lastly flat roofs have a limited shelf life and with the structural problems on the building any overlays were always going to be susceptible to movement and leakage in the future.

And regarding the selection of Metrotile Lightweight Roofing, Mr Glowacki continues: 

We were looking at 3 different manufacturers for the lightweight roofing tile, our decision to go with Metrotile was mainly due to the customer experience we had from the outset. Metrotile provided suitable information in a prompt manner and were always on the end of the phone or email if we needed further information or guidance. Metrotile assisted us in our tender by providing us with a mock up that we could showcase to the client as part of the bid, this put a real edge against the competitors who were not prepared to do the same. In my opinion Metrotile offer a competitive all in one solution backed up with passionate and knowledgeable staff.

Metrotile looks forward to working with Mears and William Coopers Roofing again in the future. If you require a roof for your building project, contact us for a free no-obligation estimate or for any other enquiry.

For technical information, visit the Metrotile Knowledge Base

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