sympathetic restoration using Dreadnought Tiles

With any restoration project, there are always difficult choices to make about whether to restore the old or replace the new. When designer Max Lamb and his wife bought their listed property in Harrow, they were keen to use authentic materials and had initially thought to sort through the old clay tiles on the roof and reuse as many as they could.

However, after weighing up the scaffolding and labour costs involved, as well as the uncertainty of the remaining useful life of the existing tiles, they felt it more prudent to replace the entire roof.

The couple were delighted to find that the same Dreadnought tiles that had been used on their house over 100 years ago, were still being made in the same factory today and their character, shape and colour has not changed.

In fact the single camber shape and natural clay colour range are a good match for many historic clay tiles that are no longer produced or whose character and appearance have radically changed over time.

Max and Gemma decided on Dreadnought’s Plum Red smooth tile and they ordered matching arris hips and a bespoke end cap to neatly finish off a parapet and the roof has now been restored to its former glory.

The couple were keen to reuse as many of the original materials as they could and they decided to crush all of the old Dreadnought roof tiles and recycle them as a unique cocciopesto flooring solution.

They mixed the crushed tile aggregate with hydraulic lime and laid this new flooring on top of underfloor heating. Now polished, this naturally pigmented floor not only looks great but is extremely practical too. Best of all, it literally encapsulates the building’s long history.

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