Beat the ‘Clad Over Cowboys’ with a SupaLite tiled roof system

With increasing demand for its revolutionary tiled roof systems, SupaLite’s nationwide network of installers are busier than ever. But as Dave Watters, Managing Director of SupaLite, explains, with the number of installers practising ‘Clad overs’ on the increase, just because a tiled roof looks professional, it doesn’t mean that they all are good. 

The conservatory has seen numerous developments and changes throughout the decades, becoming especially popular in the 1990s as a cheap way to add extra space to a home. 

In the past few years, sophisticated designs and better materials are boosting their popularity again and the conservatory is becoming an integral part of the house rather than an afterthought.

Having progressed from functional to social space throughout the course of history, the conservatory is now in its next phase of regeneration thanks to an increase in the number of homeowners expressing interest in replacing their worn-out glass or plastic roofs with new, lightweight tiled conservatory roofs thanks to the increased energy efficiency they offer with homeowners looking for ways to reduce their heating bills and enjoy their conservatories all year round.

But as the popularity of tiled conservatory roofs has increased, so too has the number of cases of installers practising Clad overs.

A Clad over is when an installer tries to pass off by installing a tiled roof onto an existing structure using timbers and tiles/slate and plasterboard for a real tiled roof. Quite often, rather than replacing the whole conservatory roof, which is what is required to pass building regs, the installer will simply take out the old polycarbonate sheets, direct fix timber battens to the pre-existing roof and plaster over to mask any potential issues.

From all appearances it may look almost as good as a professionally fitted, solid tiled roof, however the clad over will create problems for the homeowner. The new roof will add too much weight to the original PVCu or aluminium structure that carried the polycarbonate or glass roof, the new roof will offer no measurable insulation or structural calculations and is susceptible to cracking plaster and leaking at the first sign of rain. 

And considering that it is now a solid tiled roof, the conservatory will now fall under Building Regulations, potentially causing the homeowner issues later down the line when they try to sell their property. 

The only benefit to the consumer for a Clad over has is the cost – a typical job will cost the end user somewhere in the region of £5,000, whereas a solid tiled roof will cost around £9,000 – but when you consider the inevitable problems, they are very much a false economy and will cost you a lot more over time.  We have already seen local councils ordering the removal of clad over roofs and trading standards getting involved as unscrupulous companies offering a Supalite roof only for the consumers to find out when it has been installed it turned out to be a clad over. 

At SupaLite we have always been pushing boundaries in the industry and we find it very distressing when we hear of installers doing a botch job due to the problems that it creates for the homeowner.

But there are ways approved installers can combat unaffiliated installers that do dodgy clad overs so that consumers can be certain the work carried out is of the highest standard.

At SupaLite we provide bespoke marketing material highlighting the fact that Building Regulations apply to tiled conservatory roofs. This ensures that the homeowner is aware and can challenge salespeople who are offering clad overs.

Thanks to the internet, consumers now have access to a wealth of information at their fingertips and are doing their homework online before they buy.

Installers that produce and share valuable online content will build more trust with their audience and position themselves ahead of those installers that try to pass off shoddy work as a leading solid tiled roof brand.

SupaLite 

SupaLite has seen an upsurge in the popularity of its lightweight tiled roofing systems.

As well as saving homeowners potentially thousands of pounds in the long term, tiled roofs also transform the conservatory into a room that can be used all year round, remaining warm in the winter and keeping cool in the hotter summer months. 

SupaLite’s tiled roof systems can also be tailored to fit with a conservatory’s existing window frames, meaning that homeowners won’t have to suffer the expense of an entirely new conservatory to improve their home’s appearance and energy efficiency.  

Conservatories are not renowned for being robust but SupaLite has resolved this problem with the help of aluminium. With this material, the main structure of the system strikes an important balance between sturdiness and lightness: a Supalite roof is not much heavier than a standard glass roof, but aluminium’s inherent strength also means that they are perfectly suited to cope with the UK’s unpredictable weather. The SupaLite Extralight tiles are also tested by the British Research Establishment to ensure that they are secure and weatherproof. 

For more information on Supalite visit www.supaliteroof.co.uk or call 01772 828060.