Lightweight tiled roof

[Velvetdragon]

Has anyone done a single storey extension and used lightweight tiles instead of a more traditional roof? If you have, would you recommend it?

We're looking to put an extension on our kitchen diner and trying to keep costs down where possible and our builder has suggested lightweight aluminium tiles - from a distance they look like regular roof tiles. They are typically used by people replacing their conservatory roofs for something more practical. Apparently they are also suitable for regular extensions. I'm a tad dubious about the quality, and lifetime of the product so just wanted to see if anyone has used them, and what they thought.

Do you have the manufacturer and product names? It should be possible to find the technical specification online. Within that should be information on the lifetime, warranty, suitability for conditions, etc.

Yes, so I've had a look at all of that and it all looks fine. I think it's just that I don't know of anyone who has had them on a regular extension, only on a conservatory. I thought if anyone had first hand experience of using them it might help in the decision process. I guess I'm just wondering why, if they are just as good as regular tiles only less expensive, more people aren't using them.

Don’t you want it to marry in with your existing roof tiles? Don’t the council expect you to tell them about roof finish? Are these tiles approved by them? I would think they are noisy when it rains!

There are a range of colours with these tiles and we've found one which does match in pretty well, so I'm not too concerned about that. The council are fairly relaxed in our area - every house has done something and some of the new builds are a sharp contrast to the existing homes, so the tiles aren't a problem in that respect thankfully. But yes! I'm also thinking that they'd be noisy when it rains. My partner reckons not as internally we'll have a normally plastered ceiling.

Has your builder used them anywhere else and can you go and have a look, speak to the householder, etc.?

We've spoken to him now and he has arranged for us to visit a previous job he did. So I'll hopefully put my concerns to rest this weekend after seeing the finished article. I'll report back in case anyone else is in a similar situation.

That's good then - I'd be really interested to hear what it's like.

So I saw an extension with the light weight tiles today and I'm pretty impressed. Although you can tell that they aren't traditional tiles they do blend in nicely with the rest of the house and the original tiles on the roof of the main part of the house. Looks to be a professional job and the house owners were happy with the work and end result.
I asked about the noise when it rains and they said its just like a regular roof so they hadn't heard anything - I think they thought it was an odd question
We'll be going ahead with them

Sounds good. What is it about them that gives away that they aren't traditional tiles then?

Up close they look more like the material you would use on a flat roof - but they are individual tiles rather than one piece of material if that makes sense. Some colours look better than others. We're going for a charcoal as it's the closest to our roof. I don't expect many people will closely scrutinise the roof to spot the difference. They have a decent energy rating, as well as being roughly half the price of traditional tiles.

Thank you @Velvetdragon and I hope your work goes well.

I'm joining this conversation way too late.

Who did you go with for the product?

These guys I know for sure do really good solid combo roofs and lightweight tiled roofs

www.ultraframe-conservatories.co.uk/ultraroof-tiled-conservatory-roof

It's a local building firm and they're using guardian roofing. Thanks for the recommendation though

No worries!

Let us know how it goes :-)