Roof for the Russian climate

The Russian buyer was and remains a conservative. Not all materials entering the domestic market immediately win his sympathy. However, he also gets used to good things. Therefore, metal tiles, which have long been considered the “queen of Russian roofs,” are gradually losing ground, giving way to flexible tiles. It is this material that today has significantly expanded its consumer niche in Russia, every year more and more persistently winning market share from other types of roofing materials.

Here is what Olga Prokofieva, sales manager, has to say about this:

– We have been selling Finnish flexible tiles for a long time, because we know how Finnish quality is valued in Russia. The best performance characteristics, in my opinion, still have the Ruflex brand roofing material. Its durability has already been tested by time in Russian conditions. It is calculated easily, it has all the necessary special components. Many interesting color combinations. That is, this is the golden mean for the domestic developer.

Ruflex today presents 4 different collections in 26 colors. Today, no other Finnish manufacturer can offer such a variety of products. I personally really like the Jazzy collection: it has a hexagonal shape of petals and a rich color of granules, which creates an iridescent pattern along the entire roof slope, which gives the roof an absolutely luxurious look.

The middle class should know

The cost of shingles ranges from 8 to 10 euros per square meter. Its unique characteristics combine the reliability of a ceramic roof, the lightness of metal tiles and the environmental friendliness of wooden shingles. Ruflex shingles weigh about 8-10 kg per square meter of installed roofing and have good flexibility, which allows them to be used for any roof configuration. Metal roofing also belongs to light roofs. But unlike her, bituminous shingles are not subject to corrosion and decay.

When laying a soft roof, there is practically no waste (no more than 11%, which is much less than when installing metal tiles). This is especially important when an architecturally complex multi-pitched roof is being assembled. In addition, the soft roof does not require additional maintenance during the entire service life. This is probably why in the West, where people love and know how to save money, over the past 4 years, soft bitumen roofing has the best rating among other types of roofing materials..

A rich variety of shapes and colors plus high quality at an affordable price make the Finnish soft roofing Ruflex manufactured by Katepal OY the most demanded product on the Russian construction market. This roofing material practically does not have defects, and there are no complaints about it. And Ruflex bitumen shingles are liked by the Russian consumer because of the optimal ratio of funds spent on it and the result. Even with renovations – if needed – there is no need to change a large roof area. It is enough just to replace a few tiles.

Roof for all time

Experts have made sure: bituminous tiles are the ideal coating for pitched roofs with a slope of 11.5? up to 90 ?. Ruflex bituminous shingles are made specifically taking into account Russian climatic conditions and are ideal for the construction of summer cottages and cottages. Finnish soft roofing tiles are a high quality material that meets the strictest European quality standards. It pleases the eye with its color palette and excellent performance characteristics, is hermetic, and, which is important for our northern climate, it is frost-resistant. However, the manufacturers of Ruflex decided not to be satisfied with what has already been achieved, and already in 2004 they released on the Russian market an excellent composition of flexible tiles with higher strength and elasticity, which makes it possible to install the roof even at very low temperatures. And added a written 25-year warranty to the new products – an unprecedented case in the soft roof market!

Architectural constructor

All over the world, bituminous shingles are the most popular material for pitched roofs in private housing construction. The architectural possibilities of a flexible roof are so great that they allow even the most modest design solution of a house to make its appearance expressive and memorable. It is ideal for both rural and urban architecture and reliably protects against precipitation. Convenient sizes, low weight of tiles, different colors attract architects and designers. More than 60 percent of architects know the Ruflex brand very well and like to work with it, since the ready-made elements of the Ruflex architectural designer allow not to be distracted by technical nuances (Finnish manufacturers have already taken care of their minimization), but allow designers to pay maximum attention to creativity. Ruflex very successfully shapes and complements the look of country houses in a variety of styles: from neo-gothic to hi-tech.

Vladimir Bindeman, architect:

– Recently architects have been choosing soft roofing much more often than metal or ceramic tiles. This is primarily due to the fact that bituminous shingles are lighter, they require a rafter system that is smaller in cross-sections and at the same time have good aesthetic qualities. Ruflex shingles manufactured by Katepal are one of four Finnish brands on the Russian market today. Its performance is often compared to Icopal soft roofing. However, Ruflex has a wider color gamut, which provides more room for creativity. In addition, it is soft, elastic, allows you to easily bypass complex roofing shapes and has more than a hard roof, a guarantee for waterproofing.

It all depends on the imagination of the author, which is proved by architectural and design competitions regularly held in Moscow, where projects of houses using this roofing material are presented. I would also like to add that personally, as an architect, I would be interested in the possibility of individual color selection by mixing different colors of slate and basalt fractions, and maybe other types of stone. Last year we tried a similar experiment with one of the Russian tile manufacturers, but they didn’t succeed. Maybe Ruflex will be interested in such things?

No need to prepare for long and difficult work

Almost a third of builders almost unconditionally give the palm to Ruflex bitumen shingles because of their excellent performance, ease and ease of installation. All you need to install a Ruflex roof is a roof hammer, roof knife, tape measure and pencil. There is still an important nuance: one of the difficult nodes when laying a roof is the internal bends of the roof (valleys), which experience most (almost 10 times more than the rest of the roof surface!) Rain and snow loads. To protect the valleys, Katepal has created a special elastic material Ruflex, which is similar in color to flexible tiles, which is highly resistant to adverse climatic conditions..

Sergey Komyshnyuk, civil engineer:

– Compared to other European bitumen tiles, Finnish soft roofs consistently demonstrate ideal material quality, dimensional stability, thickness and shape stability. The installation principle for all types of soft roofs is identical, the sprinkling is of high quality, the tiles do not crumble, the color does not change and does not fade. If, nevertheless, it fades from dust, it can be easily washed off with water, and it will immediately take on its original bright appearance. But I prefer to work with Ruflex shingles because this quality has been confirmed by many years of production experience. Secondly, Ruflex bituminous tiles were one of the first in Finland to enter the Russian market, and during the entire time of working with this flexible roof, the builders never had any complaints. It is very pleasant to know that the Ruflex brand was specially created for Russian conditions, that this type of soft roof is ideally adapted to the climatic characteristics of our country.

Your new roof

How to choose the right soft roof? First of all, of course, pay attention to the Finnish quality of Ruflex shingles. Then, together with the architect, discuss the style of your future roof and choose the shape and color of the petals. The color and shape of the soft tiles depend on the color and shape of the facade of the house and on the architectural features of the building itself. However, one important point must be considered. When choosing the color of shingles, it is imperative to look at them in daylight, and in cloudy weather, and on a sunny day, in order to understand how the selected tile will look at different times of the year and under different lighting angles..

If a house is being built in the south of Russia, then in the choice of flexible tiles, the main characteristics should be heat resistance indicators. Ruflex roofing materials do not fade and withstand slope temperatures up to +110 C. In addition, under the influence of the sun, the bitumen mass heats up, and the soft roof tiles are glued “forever”, providing excellent multi-layer waterproofing. For the northern regions, the indicators of flexibility on a bar at negative temperatures will already be important. This characteristic is of great importance when installing shingles in the cold season..

The quality of shingles should be such that after 2-3 years bends and cracks do not appear on the edges of the petals. Only high-quality technologies and the manufacturer’s proven experience will help to avoid these problems. What, of course, can guarantee the Finnish soft roofing Ruflex manufactured by Katepal.