Making Metal by the Beach Low Maintenance

By Cass Jacoby. 

RPI Roofing’s Ted Deaton talks about a special project in Hilton Head, SC, where his team was challenged to install a metal roof on a large vacation villa resort by the coastline. Learn how they accomplished this feat! 

Heidi J. Ellsworth joins DuPont™ Tedlar®’s Corynn Sheridan and Ted Deaton of RPI Roofing to discuss coastal challenges with roofing. In this Roofing Road Trips podcast, Ted and Corynn take RoofersCoffeeShop® (RCS) inside a project at Hilton Head that defied the corrosion of the seaside.  

Coastal roofing can be a bit of a nightmare because the salty air is so degrading to roofing projects. While the sea breeze is lovely to beachgoers, beach homeowners have discovered that these elements are less than ideal for a roof.  

Ted and his company, RPI Roofing, know this better than anyone. That is why they knew they were in for a challenge when they were asked to install 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. 

“Speaking with my metal roofing distributor and Metal Alliance's fabricator, Construction Metal Products, they 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,” says Ted. “Even the with a three coat system of PVDF, there was a lot of maintenance involved on a yearly basis by the owner to maintain the finish warranty. But with Tedlar film, that maintenance was just a casual observation of the product, rather than having someone go up and fresh wash the roof every year and maintain the documentation throughout the life of the finish warranty.” 

Ted says that the owners were ecstatic to hear about a product that would ease the maintenance of metal by the oceanside and retain its color while being protected from corrosion. With Tedlar there are no maintenance requirements like a fresh water wash every year or maintaining the documentation, which was a prime selling point in the owners switching from PVDF paint to Tedlar. Ted noted that the installers also commented on how hardy the Tedlar product seemed, with less scratching and scuffing than PVDF panels typically experience during install. 

“It's right on the water, so it's a great testament to the performance of Tedlar,” says Corynn. "We're really happy working with RPI Roofing and Construction Metal Products, Metal Alliance. We're excited about all the opportunities along the coast in the Carolinas and Florida and Georgia, and working with our partners to do more of these.” 

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

Listen to the podcast to learn more about the technology behind this revolutionary new product that is making metal by the beach a no brainer. 

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.