INFRASET Building Products, which forms part of the Aveng Group, has thrown its hat into the ring and built a multi-million rand state-of-the-art concrete roof tile plant at its Rossway factory in Midrand.
The plant, which will initially serve the Gauteng roofing market, began manufacturing in May and inventories are being built up for a market launch during the final quarter; traditionally the period when demand for roof tiles surges.
South Africa’s two most popular concrete tile profiles are being manufactured at the new plant, a flat shingle tile dubbed Horizon, and a bold roll tile named Sunset. INFRASET has already been awarded SABS approval on both profiles.
INFRASET’s roof tile marketing manager, Grant Uys, says the tiles will be offered in ten through colour options, five of them in the primary colours of amber, brown, terra cotta, slate and dolomite.
“A further five options have been created with the addition of a vintage variant in which the primary colours are streaked with charcoal to lend them a weathered look. We have also installed a separate ridge plant, which is manufacturing ridges either to be sold with our tiles or on their own to contractors requiring ridges only.
“Roofing contractors will be pleased to learn that the Horizon shingle tile offers a substantial advantage in that it is not laid in the usual stretcher bond format but rather in straight lines. This makes for much simpler and quicker tile laying. And, unlike the stretcher bond process, in which tiles must be cut in half at the outset of the laying process, no cutting is necessary with straight-line laying.
“Another advantage offered by our Horizon tile is that it’s cast with additional transversal ribs, which strengthens it considerably. Both Horizon and Sunset are suitable for office park and housing developments and Horizon’s special features will make it unique to the Gauteng region,” notes Uys.
INFRASET has also introduced a new stacking system for the finished product, bundling tiles in batches of five. This will make offloading on site much easier. It will also make the stacking of tiles on the roof prior to laying much simpler and will minimize tile damage considerably.
INFRASET has opted for cutting-edge technology offered by Italy’s Hydro Vortex. It comprises a fully automated production line and batching plant. The stacking of tiles prior to curing is fully automated as is the curing process itself. Uys says that both Horizon and Sunset tiles will be manufactured to a very high standard and each production batch will be subjected to tensile splitting tests and moisture absorption tests.