When undertaking a roofing project, you need to ensure you’re using products you can depend on to weather the test of time. A roof is constantly exposed to the elements, so durability and quality are priorities when selecting pressed metal tile roofing.

Contact Tilcor to learn more about our durable, New Zealand made tiles

METALLIC COATED STEEL

Before we get into the specifics about products and make comparisons, we’ll briefly explain the structure of metallic coated steel tiles so we know where each part sits.

Metallic coated steel is (as the name suggests) steel substrate coated with either a layer of zinc, zinc/aluminium alloy, zinc/silicon alloy or pure aluminium and it’s been used for years in construction.

Here are some terms that you may have heard in the industry and their definitions:

• Galvanising – pure zinc coating
• Galfan – zinc (95%) and aluminium (5%) coating
• Zincalume – aluminium, zinc and silicon coating
• Magnelis – zinc, aluminium and magnesium coating

ZINCALUME®

Advanced technology resulted in the introduction of ZINCALUME® to the New Zealand market in 1994 and it’s used in all Tilcor metal tile roofing.

ZINCALUME® composition:

• Aluminium      55%
• Zinc                 43.4%
• Silicon             1.6%

ZINCALUME® combines the corrosion protection of aluminium with the sacrificial protection of zinc, giving it the advantage of both metals.

As a result, ZINCALUME® has a significantly longer service life than a galvanised steel product that uses only zinc – in fact various corrosion tests have shown that the surface corrosion resistance of ZINCALUME® is almost twice as good as Galfan. This is because of the higher proportion of aluminium in the coating which reduces its reactivity.

ZINCALUME® coated steel offers more advantages too. It has good corrosion resistance at high temperatures, it has good abrasion resistance due to the hardness of its surface and excellent thermal and light reflectivity. 

ZINCALUME® is made by New Zealand Steel Limited, New Zealand’s sole steel producer, where they use locally sourced iron-sand and manufacture a range of flat steel products for the building industry. And you can be confident that they’re manufacturing responsibly, with their fully integrated steel mill at Glenbrook gaining approval from Environmental Choice New Zealand.

Many manufacturers are using zinc or galvanised steel sourced from China. It’s comforting to know that there is a respected manufacturer available, offering a higher quality alternative.  

Sound good? Talk to Tilcor today to learn more about our durable, New Zealand made tiles.