As the director of housebuilding company Mell Homes, Natalie O’Connor wanted something rather special when she built her own home, so she chose the Fontenelle Interlocking Clay Plain Tile, supplied by Redland, the UK's leading supplier of concrete roof tiles, clay tiles, roof slates, roofing product accessories and fittings.
“This is a one-off house for me and I intend staying in it for a long time and I knew I wanted a flat, neat profile and when I looked at all the tiles Fontenelle really stood out for me,” Natalie explains. “I’m very pleased with the result.”
Roofing with Fontenelle tiles will also distinguish the four bed detached house from other houses that Mell Homes has constructed and is about to construct nearby, as the new house will be in the orchard that used to belong to her father, who started the family business 35 years ago.
All the company’s developments are within the region straddling the borders of South Yorkshire, North Nottinghamshire and North Lincolnshire, where it employs BC Tiling as its roofing contractor.
Director Neil Barron recalls: “I had seen Fontenelle when it was launched and thought it would be ideal for this project but I gave Natalie a number of samples to choose from, including Postel, DuoPlain and Cambrian.”
As well as its attractive appearance, Fontenelle is also a less expensive means of achieving a clay plain tile roof because being an interlocking tile means only 19.6 tiles are needed per square metre, compared to 60 for traditional clay plain tiles.
Launched to meet the increasing demand for clay plain tile appearance roofs, the Fontenelle tile is available in either Black, Red or Brindle and available in main tiles, Tile-and-a-Halves, Left Hand Verge Tiles and Left Hand Verge Tile-and-a-Halves.
The Tile-and-a-Halves are used in alternate courses with main tiles at right hand verges/abutments, while the Left Hand Verge Tiles and Left Hand Verge Tile-and-a-Halves are used in alternate courses at left hand verges/abutments. Tile-and-a-Halves are also used for raking cuts at hips and valleys.
In common with all Redland roofing products, Fontenelle clay plain tiles were rigorously tested in the Group wind tunnel where they were subjected to high wind and driving rain to test the tiles’ performance in terms of weathertightness. These tests demonstrate that the tiles meet all the requirements of BS 5534: 2014 Code of practice for Slating and Tiling (including shingles) if installed in accordance with Redland fixing recommendations.