If you’re in the market for a new roof, you may come across stone-coated steel roofing tiles. Although steel is not the most common roofing material on the market today, it is growing more popular by the day thanks to its high performance and longevity. Stone-coated steel tiles offer the same visual appeal as traditional roofing tiles while providing more protection against the elements.
What is Stone Coated Steel Tile Roofing?
The term “steel” may give a false impression that this is a typical metal roof. Conversely, stone-coated steel tile roofing is designed to provide the durability and longevity of metal roofing with the look of traditional roofing tiles.
Stone-coated metal roofing is made from galvanized steel sheets in gauges 24 and 26. An acrylic primer and a base coat are applied to the sheets during production. The material is then embedded with naturally mined stone granules and coated with a clear acrylic glaze.
Finally, the finished tiles are oven-baked to ensure the stone chips stay permanently fixed to the tiles and to enhance durability.
The result is a lightweight, highly durable, and energy-efficient roofing material ideal for roof replacement, new construction, and storm-damage applications. Stone-coated steel tile roofing is very long-lasting, fire-resistant, and suitable for all climatic conditions.
The steel sheets can easily be “stamped” into various shapes, giving them the design versatility to suit any style. Moreover, the stone coating process allows the tiles to be produced in multiple colors and textures.
History of Stone-Coated Metal Roofing
While it wasn’t until a few years ago that the popularity and usage of stone-coated steel roofing spiked, this roofing material has been around for many decades. It was first produced during World War II in the United Kingdom when the government requested a technique for protecting certain buildings from air raids. A coating of bituminous tar-like emulsion coated in granules proved effective at protecting galvanized steel bunkers and serving as camouflage against aerial bombs.
In 1954, an industrialist from New Zealand noticed how well buildings covered with stone-coated steel stood up to harsh weather and extended their expected lifespan considerably. Back in New Zealand, he experimented with different materials and enhanced the original product using natural stone chips. Instead of the previously used bitumen adhesive, an acrylic resin was used to bind the stone chips to the roofing panels. Stone-coated steel roofing gained wide acceptance and came to the US in the 60s.
Today’s stone-coated steel roofs are manufactured with state-of-the-art technology and materials.
Benefits of Stone-Coated Steel Tile Roofing
Stone-coated steel roofing materials are becoming increasingly popular among homeowners for a variety of reasons, including:
Enhanced Energy Efficiency
Contrary to popular belief, metal can be a part of a cool roof system to reduce your home’s energy consumption. The pigments embedded in the stone coatings increase the material’s natural solar reflectance, reducing heat flow by 15%.
This material will keep your home cool during the summer and allow you to achieve long-term energy savings.
Low Maintenance Requirements
Asphalt shingles and other roofing materials require regular maintenance. Periodic maintenance will cost you money in the long term. On the other hand, steel roofing requires little maintenance apart from the occasional cleaning and debris removal. It provides an impenetrable barrier over your roof without curling, cracking, or falling off it. This saves you money on regular inspections and repairs once the roofing is installed.
Easily Accessible
While traditional clay and concrete are timeless roofing materials, with the current supply chain, the tiles could take about a year before they can be delivered to your home. With stone-coated steel tile, delivery only takes a couple of weeks, making this material much more easily accessible. If your current roof is significantly damaged, you won’t have to wait for months before you can have it replaced. This will help protect your roof and home from further damage.
Highly Durable
With an expected lifespan of 50 years, metal is one of the best all-around roofing materials when it comes to durability and longevity. The stone-coated steel tiles last 2 to 3 times longer than traditional roofing materials such as tile, asphalt, and wood.
Many stone-coated steel tile products have a Class 4 rating for hail impact, which is the best in the industry. This rating speaks to their ability to survive severe storms without hail damage.
What’s more, the material has the highest rating for fire protection. It meets necessary insurance requirements and local building codes in regions prone to wildfire.
High winds pose little threat to stone-coated tiles as they are designed to withstand 120-170 mph winds. This roofing material can withstand Florida’s hurricane-force winds without much damage.
Lightweight
Stone-coated roofing tiles are exceptionally lightweight. The roofing weighs less than 2 pounds per square foot. By comparison, one square foot of clay/concrete tiles weigh between 8 and 12 pounds, while asphalt shingles weigh between 2.3 and 4.5 pounds.
Lightweight roofing materials speed up the installation process. They can reduce the cost because you don’t need to reinforce your roofing structure to support the additional weight, as is the case with traditional tile roofing.
Interested in Stone Coated Steel Tile?
Are you ready to upgrade to stone-coated steel tile roofing? Let the experts at Kelly Roofing help you find the right solution. We’re committed to only the highest quality material and installation processes to provide you with a roofing system you can rely on for decades. Contact us to schedule a consultation and get a free estimate.
