Marley Eternit has announced its latest low pitch roofing innovation to offer specifiers and contractors even more design versatility with fibre cement slates. The company’s Thrutone fibre cement slate can now be used on pitches as low as 15°, with reduced rafter length, following extensive testing.

This latest innovation follows increasing demand for a more cost effective traditional slate aesthetic at lower pitches and comes hot on the heels of the successful launch of Marley Eternit’s low pitch Birkdale fibre cement slate.

Sarah Harding, marketing manager at Marley Eternit, explains: “There is increasing demand for low pitch roofing solutions, not only as a cost effective specification alternative to resin slates but also for roofing and building contractors working on the increasing number of ground floor extensions, as a result of the relaxation in planning laws. Thrutone is our most economical fibre cement slate and is now perfect for use in single storey extensions, where a lower pitch roof is often required due to the position of first floor windows. It also offers specifiers a visually striking, yet cost effective, low pitch solution.”

Thrutone is a market leading light weight fibre cement slate offering superb aesthetics with its blue black colour, smooth surface and square cut edges. Intensive testing at Marley Eternit’s research and development centre has proven that with a reduced rafter length of 4m, the Thrutone slate can be used at a lower pitch of 15°. As part of rigorous testing, the Thrutone slates were subjected to wind tunnel testing for driving rain and deluge conditions, equivalent to a once in 50 year extreme weather event, following the test methods stipulated in CEN/TR 15601: 2012.*

Sarah Harding continues: “The weather tightness of roof tiles and slates decreases as the roof pitch gets lower and rafter length increases because it takes longer for water to drain from the roof. That’s why we invest so much time in extreme weather testing to ensure our low pitch products have guaranteed performance and why a reduced rafter length of 4m should be used with Thrutone slate at the lower pitch of 15°. Together with the recent launch of our low pitch Birkdale, this now offers specifiers and contractors much greater design flexibility with fibre cement slate and demonstrates Marley Eternit’s commitment to fibre cement innovation.”

As part of Marley Eternit’s fibre cement range, Thrutone boasts industry leading sustainability credentials, including a low carbon footprint of just 13 CO2e /m2 (based on 600 x 300 slate at 100mm lap) and the ability to achieve the lowest environmental rating (A+) in the BRE Green Guide. Fibre cement also offers sustainability benefits throughout its whole life cycle, as it can be fully recycled at the end of its use. Waste fibre cement can be ground down and used to replace limestone and shale in clinker production, the essential ingredients for Portland cement.

For contractors looking to fix fibre cement slates such as Thrutone, Marley Eternit has launched a new edition of its Fibre Cement Slates Fixing Guide. It offers detailed advice to roofers on good site practice to comply with the requirements of Building Regulations and covers everything from site working and setting out, through to fixing methods. The guide is an easy on site reference tool for both experienced and novice roofers.