Lightweight tiles with heavyweight benefits for church roof

2,500 lightweight steel roof tiles from Decra Roof Systems have been installed on the refurbished roof of St Joseph The Worker Church in Kirkby near Liverpool. The Decra tiles were selected for their lightweight characteristic, aesthetics and speed of installation.

Decra Stratos tiles in charcoal grey were selected for the new roof. Providing an aesthetic to closely resemble slate tiles, the Decra tiles blend traditional appearance with modern convenience.

Manufactured in lightweight steel, Decra roof tiles weigh just one eighth of slate, clay or concrete tiles. This was important in their specification for the roof of St Joseph The Worker Church because of the shape of the building.

The entire roof system was replaced by contractors BBR Roofing: “Previously the roof was covered in old clay tiles,” explains Stephen Morgan, Contracts Manager for BBR Roofing, “Many were broken, due to inclement weather, general wear and tear and vandalism. The new Decra Stratos tiles provide a fresh appearance that will withstand these problems.

“The open aspect of the church’s interior and its wide span means that there is no internal structural support for the roof. Because the new roof is installed on the existing building structure it was important to ensure that a lightweight roofing material was used, to limit the pressure on the structure. Decra was ideal for this application.”

This also means that for the contractor the tiles are easier to handle, making work at height safer. Equally the unique fixing method means that the entire roof can be installed very quickly.

“As a Decra Registered Contractor we are used to installing Decra tiles. Their weight and compact packing means that the tiles are efficiently transported to site, more tiles can be lifted onto the roof at once, and then the fixing method means that large areas can be covered very quickly. This saves us time onsite and for the customer results in a project that can be completed in very short timeframes. The roof of St Joseph The Worker was installed in just four weeks.”

The weight of Decra tiles is a real advantage that translates into both genuine environmental and cost benefits for specifiers, contractors and end users. It is estimated that the equivalent of eight truckloads of clay, concrete or slate tiles can be transported in just one truckload when Decra is used instead, saving on fuel, cutting down CO2 emissions and lessening the impact of delivery lorries in local areas.

Strength is another key benefit that BBR Roofing is well aware of: “The roof of the church has a steep pitch, with implications for the health and safety onsite,” explains Stephen, “However, thanks to the good grip qualities of the Decra tiles combined with their strength, installation was eased because while installing they could take the weight of a contractor.”

A church is a community building that must serve as a sustainable structure for many years. Decra roof tiles were therefore the ideal roofing material because the tiles and the way they are fixed provide a very strong, durable and robustly sustainable roofing solution.