A Guide To Edilians Clay Roof Tiles
From the traditional clay pantile to imaginative clay slate alternatives, Edilians have a clay roof tile for every purpose. Here’s our guide to their wide range of high-quality, natural tiles and the material’s unique features.
In 2018, the French brand leader EDILIANS changed its name from IMERYS Toiture. But ask for Edilian or Imerys, we’ll still know what you mean. Having sold their tiles across our branches for many years, the clay roof tiles range is now available to online customers via our website.
Edilians clay roof tiles have a number of benefits, making them a popular choice nation-wide.
The timeless quality of clay – the natural choice
Suitable for both restorations and new roofs, clay roof tiles not only provide charm but also authenticity to any building, and are available in a variety of colours, profiles and textures to suit your property.
Being lighter than concrete, clay tiles result in a reduction of structural roofing materials required, while also making for easier handling and installation.
An Investment in Quality – Guaranteed!
Edilians expect their high-quality clay roof tiles to maintain their reliability and beautiful appearance for more than a century. A clay tile roof will inevitably contribute to the resale value of any property, but when you buy an Edilians clay tile you have the added assurance of long-term performance from the 30-year guarantee they offer on all correctly installed products.
With so many different tiles in the product range, how do you find the perfect tile to suit your project? Read on as roof tile expert John Mercer guides us through the classic and contemporary clay tile choices in the Edilians range:
- Clay plain tiles
Part of our built heritage and roofscapes for hundreds of years, the standard plain tile dimensions (10 ½“ long by 6 ½” wide) was made a law by King Edward IV in 1477. It prevented unscrupulous manufacturers reducing tile size to maximise their profit. Apart from subtle variations, such as single and double camber, the plain tile has largely remained unchanged for hundreds of years.
Even the safe minimum roof pitches for plain tiles are set in stone, or rather British Standards: 35 degrees for machine-made plain tiles and 40 degrees for handmade tiles.
- Phalempin clay plain tiles
These are produced in the Normandy region of France, with textures and thickness that are normally associated with much more expensive handmade tiles. The Phalempin range of mellow mature colour tones with some pre-mixed blend options look great on any quality new-build or period refurbishment project: providing a sympathetic indigenous solution at an affordable price. Unique anti-capillary channels mean that Phalempin tiles can be used on roof pitches down to 30 degrees.
- Clay interlocking roof tiles
Edilians are the originators of the classic and much copied flat interlocking clay designs such as Beauvoise and the larger HP10 variable gauge flat tile.
The great thing about any of these tiles is that they always come with a full range of accessories as standard: accessories such as clay cloaked verge tiles, a choice of interlocking or non-interlocking ridge and hip tiles and all available as dry fix or mortar bedded options.
The original interlocking clay plain tile! An affordable alternative to traditional double lapped plain tiles. At only 20.5 tiles per square metre, its unique design reduces material and labour costs, including a 50% saving in battens and reduces the overall weight per square metre installed.
The new Beauvoise Graphite has all the advantages of Beauvoise 20, as an original interlocking clay plain tile combined with an authentic riven surface and slate colour to provide a great clay alternative to slate. Each tile has two nail holes for ease and security of fixing. None of the holing and sorting labour associated with natural slating will be required.
HP10
The HP10 is a fully interlocking large format clay roof tile produced at the Edilians St Germer factory in the Beauvais region of France, renowned for the excellence of the local clays. The large format: 10 tiles per square metre; combined with a fully variable gauge, provides economy and ease of installation, makes it the ideal alternative to large format concrete tiles and slates.
This clever tile has a double interlock system means enabling its installation of roofs as low as 17.5 degrees. Its large format, at 9.5 tiles per square metre, offers economy and ease of installation. It still has the appealing aesthetics of a small format tile and a discrete tapered leading edge. The variable gauge aids setting out and installation. It’s laid broken bonded and the double width ensures that cut tiles can always be large enough to mechanically fix.
- HP17
The HP17 is a small format interlocking clay plain tile with an attractive tapered leading edge and can be installed quickly and efficiently due to its adjustable batten gauge from 222mm to 285mm. The HP17 has two nail holes for easier fixing at roof pitches as low as 20 degrees. It’s available in 5 attractive and permanent colours, ideally suited to both renovation and new build projects.
- Monopole No. 1
Monopole No. 1 is a traditional single roman interlocking clay roof tile produced at Edilians’ Wardrecques factory in the north of France. This tile is available in 7 eye-catching colours and its small size makes the Monopole tile an ideal choice for a wide range of refurbishment and new build projects. It even offers impressive cost savings over concrete plain tiles.
- Classic clay pantile
English pantiles date back to 1636 and are based on Dutch design.
Interestingly, the first large scale English pantile factory was built in Tilbury in 1701, founded by the writer Daniel Defoe to provide roofing for the incoming Hugenot refugees to Spitalfields in London. The dimensions of pantiles (13 1/2 by 9 1/2 inches) were standardised by an Act of Parliament in the reign of George 1.
Traditionally, classic pantiles are often used on barns and cowsheds, with slates being reserved for the more affluent farmhouses. Although they overlap, they don’t have the more modern features of interlocks and weather bars and can only be used on roof pitches of 30 degrees and above.
Edilians really understands pantile design, with countless innovations in interlocks and weatherbars, as well as firing techniques to create closer dimensional tolerances.
“Contemporary innovation is not a standard, it is an obsession”
- Single Panne S and Double Panne S
It is always best to talk about these two great tiles together. Both offer the classic English pantile appearance on the roof. Their discrete interlocking features enable minimum roof pitches down to 22.5 degrees and 17.5 degrees respectively. Rather cleverly, the designers have made Single Panne S and Double Panne S perfectly compatible. For example, with Single Panne S, double tiles can be used for cutting into hips and valleys, enabling easy mechanical fixing of the cut tiles. Or for Double Panne S, single tiles can be used in alternate courses to create a broken bond.
Edilians not only expertly manufactures clay tiles in their 13 Tileries, but also fittings and accessories. Angled and round interlocking and non-interlocking clay ridge and hip tiles are available. Along with ornamental ridges and fully interlocking clay cloaked verge systems.
Commitment to sustainable development
Edilians roof tiles are BREEAM certificated with an A+ rating. They are particularly sensitive to the problems of sustainable development. They also have strict standards in place for the manufacturing of the tiles in terms of emissions, water usage and waste management, and are committed to continually improve their industrial processes. Their sites are certified ISO 1400, they respect the standards of the Kyoto Agreement and are constantly reviewing their policies regarding optimising energy consumption.
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