There is a growing trend of wood and other design coated steel being used in aesthetic roofing.
Rahul Timbadia
How is steel playing a major role in roofing and cladding applications?
Traditional sloped roofing options like asbestos cement (banned in most developed countries), and Mangalore roofing tiles (clay tiles) are increasingly become passé. Versatility in steel is increasing day by day - be it the bare galvanized & galvalume coated steel or the more aesthetic durable and versatile colour coated galvanized or galvalume steel. These value-added steel roofing and cladding products can be offered in a range of painted options like regular coated, special coated high durable or PVdF coated.
Better technology driven coated products like stone coated steel roofing giving enhanced features of thermal and sound insulation (as compared to plain colour coated steel) as well as lifecycle cost benefits are now becoming increasingly popular, especially in the premium residential and commercial segments.
Designed steel products with patterns of wood, marble, stone, tiles, floral etc. are also being increasingly used for roofing, cladding and false ceiling baffles. Some of the ways in which steel roofing and cladding applications are offering better value are:
- Durability & strength
- Better variety of designs and patterns
- Replacing wood panels with steel panels coated with wood-like patterns saves thousands of trees from being chopped down, hence friendly with the environment
- Replacing marble/granite panels/tiles with steel panels coated with patterns that look like marble and granite can help reduce costs as well as save thousands of acres of mountains from getting destroyed for mining the required stone.
- Stone coated steel roofing sheets available in multiple colours and profile patterns offer better aesthetic appeal, greater durability, better thermal & acoustic insulation (as compared to colour coated steel) lower cost (in total of installation, replacement cycle and maintenance) and faster speed of deployment as compared to traditional clay tiles and asphalt shingles.
- Lower total cost of ownership considering comparison of installation cost, durability and repeated maintenance cost over lifetime.
Steel roofing and cladding solutions are thus redefining how industrial, commercial and residential projects are designed and executed. Today, more than 2/3rd of the sloping roof market is being covered by steel products.
What are your products and solutions in roofing and cladding?
La Tim Metal and Industries Limited offers value added building material in steel in four categories and numerous variants of colours and patterns in the following categories:
- Colour coated steel coils
- Design coated - wood, marble, stone, tile floral - steel coils
- Stone coated steel roofing sheets
- Self-drilling screws for roofing and cladding applications.
Which segments drive the demand for your roofing and cladding solutions?
We are experiencing good demand from industrial construction, commercial projects and also residential construction, especially individual (and gated communities of) farmhouse, bungalow and villa projects, in both, budget and premium range.
With greater awareness among architects, interior designers and roofing contractors, our products are being well received in all of the above segments based on their recommendations.
What is trending in roofing systems and materials?
Traditionally pastel & light colours in blue, green, off-white or terracotta were dominating in the roofing & cladding industry. Nowadays, increasingly dark and bold colours like grey, black, dark blues, greens, reds and even orange are being demanded.
In stone coated roofing, besides individual colour shades of grey, black, green, red, clay etc, the new dual shades like grey black, red black, clay brown etc are being preferred.
For premium residential & commercial segments, newly developed roofing shapes like bamboo, Roman, Spanish and Europa tile profiles are now becoming popular.
There is an increasing trend of wood and other design coated steel being used in aesthetic roofing, wall claddings, ceiling panels and soffits. It was already popular in the US and Europe, and has now started trending in India too.
Another trend in cladding and panelling segment is the growth in concealed fastener system vs the old exposed fasteners systems. We are seeing increasing demand for solar power generation integrated with modern roofing systems. There is also a growing preference for self-drilling screws as against traditional screws.
What are your major development plans in roofing and cladding segments?
We are publicly listed company, so this may please not be considered as a ‘forward looking statement’, but more of our broad growth plan.
Given the growing demand for our products across the country, we may decide to set up an additional manufacturing plant in Maharashtra and at least 10-12 stock points at major nodal locations across the country. We are also exploring a range of allied construction products that go hand-in-hand with our current range. We are of course investing in R&D to ensure greater variety and better quality of products for our customers.
