Terracotta roof tile companies make many claims to the quality of terracotta roof tiles; however, the claim terracotta roof tiles have been around for thousands of years this being true but that doesn’t relate to the modern terracotta roof tiles made in Australia today.
The strong, beautiful clays of yesterday, the dark manganese, the browns and the reds have all been long plundered much the same as gold has been.
Modern clays do not share the same strength and resilience of the clays of yesteryears. So, forget about terracotta roof tiles lasting 1,000’s of years. However, how does that relate to us when our own lifeline from birth to the max is 100 years which however most of us won’t last anywhere near that figure.
They also claim the inferior clay that is available today is charged with ingredients that make the clay stronger and will not be affected by salt or lamination. This is a porky; salt air will corrode the under laps causing terracotta’s to leak and if you are anywhere in areas that have heavy frosts the tiles could laminate.
To claim the clays that are available today are better than the clays of yesteryear is also a porky however only time will tell, and you don’t want to be reroofing in your twilight years so if you want an impervious resilient roof – use concrete tiles or corrugated colorbond. These types of roof covering will make no difference to your price when you want to sell your home.
After 50 years in the roofing industry take it from me corrugated colorbond is the best all-round roof covering for an all-round cost effective, maintenance free roof, in your lifetime.
I have reroofed many terracotta tiled roofs in my time, due to leaking underlaps that you can’t see until it’s so late and many that have laminated very badly, the higher the glaze the higher the lamination.
So, if you want my advice if you intend living in your home till your twilight years use concrete tiles in preference to terracotta or better still use corrugated colorbond.