| The roofing material otherwise known as corrugated | | | | the manufacturer. |
| iron would have to have been the single material that | | | | - When the base sheeting is coated with the |
| defines the the pioneering days of many countries. | | | | aluminium and zinc alloy only, that is no further |
| Known as tin roofing or galvanised iron it helped | | | | coloured coatings, it does look similar to the old |
| people to settle many of the worlds remote areas in | | | | galvanised iron, but it does not have the spangled |
| the 19th century. From the pampas of South | | | | effect. |
| America to the goldfields of South Africa. It was | | | | So what are the advantages of corrugated tin |
| seen on saloon roofs in the US "wild west" and on | | | | roofing or to use it's correct modern name roll |
| cattle stations in the Australian outback. | | | | formed steel roofing. |
| The term "Tin Roofing" comes from the process of | | | | - As I said previously corrugated tin roofing is not hot |
| tin plating iron sheets which has been around since | | | | any more. The low thermal mass and the highly |
| the 16th century. | | | | reflective coatings combined with modern roofing |
| Combine this with the invention of the rolling machine | | | | insulation materials give steel the edge over most |
| in the 1830's and a unique roofing material was | | | | other roofing products in the energy conservation |
| created. | | | | field, which means less power consumption for |
| Soon after the coating changed to zinc and so we | | | | cooling. |
| got galvanised iron. | | | | - Modern steel roofing profile provide structural |
| So we have phrases that live on in the language and | | | | stiffness along the lengths of the sheets. This means |
| that are still in common use today like Tennessee | | | | that materials like ply sheathing is not required making |
| Williams' "tin roof" and the Aussie "galvanised iron" | | | | roof framing process cheaper. |
| that will be around for years to come. They are of | | | | - Steel mills are huge production factories that are |
| course completely wrong when talking about modern | | | | few an far between, but since the invention of the |
| roofing materials. | | | | roll forming process it is now possible to transport |
| - Tin as in corrugated tin roof has not been used | | | | coils or the sheet material economically to small local |
| since before Tennessee Williams time, but we still use | | | | roll forming businesses. |
| the word in everyday language to talk about many | | | | - Roll forming machine can produce almost any length |
| things that are only remotely connected to the metal | | | | of sheets. The only restriction is the length of the |
| Tin. | | | | available transport. |
| - The word iron as in corrugated iron is still used | | | | - This means that most homes can now have |
| today, but in actual fact the roofing material has | | | | corrugated tin roofing with no unnecessary joints. |
| been steel for well over one hundred years. | | | | - The strength to weight ratio of modern corrugated |
| - The coating of some steel products with zinc in the | | | | tin roofing is second to no other roofing material. I |
| galvanisation process is still alive and well, but in the | | | | live in a house that is a few hundred meters from |
| steel roofing field it just about redundant apart from | | | | the sea in the highest cyclonic terrain category, my |
| heritage work. | | | | family and I have been through intense hurricane |
| - Since 1972 Galvalume ® coated steel has | | | | force winds (cyclone Tracy 1974) and we have no |
| gradually replaced all other methods of protecting | | | | doubts that our steel roofing will protect us in the |
| steel roofing materials. | | | | event of another "big blow". |
| - Galvalume ® is a 55% Al-Zn (aluminium and zinc | | | | So, forget all about cats on hot corrugated tin roofs, |
| alloy)coated sheet steel product, which goes under | | | | and consider modern steel roofing if you want a cost |
| various trade names around the world, depending on | | | | effective, good looking, strong and cool roof. |