How to Overcome the Coastal Challenges of Metal

By Cass Jacoby. 

No more troubles in paradise when it comes to this Hilton Head apartment building’s roof thanks to DuPont™ Tedlar®’s new PVC film.

In Season 4, Episode 42 of the Roofing Road Trips podcast, Heidi J. Ellsworth heads to Florida for a conversation with DuPont™ Tedlar®’s Corynn Sheridan and Ted Deaton of RPI Roofing about coastal challenges with roofing.  

Any roofer knows that a dream beach house is bound to have a couple of roofing nightmares due to the degradation of roofing materials from the environment. The same sea breeze that is enjoyed on the beach is not enjoyed by any roofs. However, homeowners can keep the beach a paradise by making strong product choices that can overcome coastal challenges. 

Ted knows better than anyone else just how tricky it is to deliver a high-performing roof when sea spray and seawater threaten corrosion. His roofing company RPI Roofing recently installed a metal roof for a condominium complex in Hilton Head that was right on the beach. The company chose aluminum laminated with Tedlar® PVF film sold by Metal Alliance for its long warranty and ability to withstand salt spray and seawater.  

“Hilton Head is built right on the ocean for the view, and this project was directly on the beach. Only a pool separated the building from the dunes. So, that was somewhat of a challenge to find a metal roof solution for the coast,” says Ted. “We had just been introduced to this Tedlar film product, and it seemed like a natural fit for this project because of the hostile environment of the building.” 

Ted says that before, even with three coats of PVDF finish to maintain the finish warranty there was a lot of maintenance involved on a yearly basis by the owner. However, with the Tedlar film, that regular maintenance became more of a casual observation of the product, rather than having someone fresh wash the roof every year and maintain the documentation throughout the life of the finish warranty.  

“It's going to look brand new for a long time and doesn't require that fresh water rinse. So those warranties are good for up to 50 years with no coastal restrictions,” adds Corynn. “We're really excited about this installation. It looks amazing and it's right on the water, so it's a great testament to the performance of Tedlar.” 

Listen to the podcast to learn more about the technology behind this revolutionary new product that is taking metal to the beach.  

Learn more about DuPont™ Tedlar® in their RoofersCoffeeShop® Directory or visit tedlar.com. 

About Cass  

Cass works as a reporter/writer for RoofersCoffeeShop, AskARoofer and MetalCoffeeShop. When she isn’t writing about roofs, she is putting her Master degree to work writing about movies and dancing with her plants.