We’re having to replace our concrete tile roof, since our underlayment is giving up the ghost. We’re not able to remove and reinstall the existing tiles, because too many are cracked, and there are no new tiles that match our color and size. Our HOA allows only tile and tile-like roofs, including certain metal roofs, all of which seem to be Gerard (now Boral) or Decra.
In going through your list of recommended metal roof products, we’ve only found a couple which even distribute in the Central Valley of Northern California, and were able to find only one contractor who had worked with one of those products. That contractor did not make a great impression.
The local roofing contractor we’re inclined to use has a very good reputation and good reviews from BBB and other rating agencies. They have specialized crews for asphalt, concrete, metal, and synthetic roofs. However, the metal roofs are stone coated steel, primarily Gerard. They gave us a list of hundreds of these they’ve installed.
Our choice seems to come down to going back with a medium weight concrete, and dealing with broken tiles, or going with stone coated steel. Either would be installed with raised battens for air flow to combat the heat of the valley, though the steel roof would have an additional grid on top of the batten for more air space.
Our main reservation in proceeding with a system that seems more and more prevalent in our area is your negative evaluation of stone coated steel roofs in general. Not being roofing experts, we’re hoping you can elaborate on your areas of concern, specifically the system as a whole and how the valleys aren’t integrated, as well as how difficult it is to repair these roofs. Also, have there been any improvements in either of these areas, and how would you compare Gerard to Decra. We haven’t found a Decra pattern/color that stokes our fancy. Finally, does the Boral acquisition of Gerard bode well or ill for potential purchasers of their products.
Thanks for sharing your expertise.
Hi Archie,
I have personally installed Gerard, and have not installed Decra … mainly because after Gerard job, I got disappointed by the whole idea of stone coated steel…
That said – I do like Decra’s design a little better, on where the tiles overlap horizontally. Also overall, if my choice was between Stone coated steel and concrete/clay, I would go with steel.
The weak areas of stone-coated steel tiles are flashing around skylights/chimneys, hips and valleys, and generally any type of penetration (even stink pipes)… And I mean they are very weak …
Here is a video of how to do a stink pipe flashing with Decra flat shingle (which is much better system than Decra/Gerard tile)
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsq8nWpcgcM) … this pipe flashing will not last a long time 🙁
Also watch this video to get better understanding of how the installation works:
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmJ0TkBEr7s)
Now going through these videos, I noticed that Decra is also butt-nailed, so I take it back – Decra/Gerard are about equal … I was under impression Decra was screwed in…
I would actually suggest to look at Matterhorn Tile (now a CertainTeed product with some other name… but essentially same product)
Good luck
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