Reclaim yard recommendations, West Midlands, please

[eezageeza]

Hi guys, newbie here... I've been lurking for some time, and have seen several discussions about reclaim yards; I was even able to recognise one from the not-too-cryptic description ("expensive!!!" seemed to sum it up) but don't remember any specific recommendations for alternatives (I assume that would be allowed?).

We're gradually repairing our roof, but are now running short of the tile-and-a-halfs we need to finish the gable ends, so are looking for supplies of (ideally handmade) staffordshire blue tile-and-a-half roof tiles. We've bought from the "really expensive" yard before (the one with the Farrow and Ball showroom, and the Range Rovers in the car park!) but are wondering if any of you fine people can suggest alternate sources for roof tiles in Staffordshire/Shropshire/Cheshire/West Midlands?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Feltwell]

Did you get a good view of a power station from the very long driveway to the "expensive one you recognised" then? :wink: :lol:

Tile and a halves are like the proverbial rocking horse *@#£ to find as reclaims, as generally they are on the verge of the roof and so are mortared in place on their edge - and so break when they come off the roof.

I did manage to find some reclaims, but it took a while, and that was for rosemary reds which are quite a common tile. The best salvage place for roofing materials I found was at Hay Hall Road in Tyseley in Birmingham, B11. Sorry, I don't know their name, and there is no trace online - which if you saw the place is not surprising, it's properly grotty even by salvage yard standards! He just dealt in roofing materials and had a really good stock. If you go down there, they were on Hay Hall Road right at the entrance to a huge wood recycling place that shreds pallets. Sorry I can't be more specific than that. Take cash! I was last there about 2 years ago.

Otherwise, try Gardiner's in Stoke, they are a friendly bunch and not over-priced. They didn't have much roofing last time I went there but their stock is ever-changing.

http://www.gardinersreclaims.co.uk/

There is a specific roofing salvage place to the north of J2 of the M54, I think it's called Midlands Reclamation - it's on Station Road at Four Ashes, right next to the railway bridge if I remember rightly. No website but this turned up on a directory:-

Midlands Reclamation Ltd
Address: Station RoadPostcode: WV10 7DGCity/Town: Four Ashes, Wolverhampton (West Midlands)Main phone: 01902 790473

Don't know if they are still trading. That's the thing with salvage yards - many of the decent ones in the West Midlands (i.e. not posh & over-priced) have no advertising at all and just seem to live on word of mouth in the building trade.

Be prepared for a long hunt, and possibly having to accept using new tiles. http://www.clayroof.co.uk/member-companies.htm

Good reclaimed tile-and-a-halves are very hard to come by. If none of the above come up trumps, it's Google and Yell.com and a long series of phone calls. There are some good yards out there but it's just pot luck as to who has got what - I'd almost given up on getting ridge tiles for my garage to match the house, and on finding anyone with enough matching imperial size airbricks. I then found a tiny yard near Cannock and they had all the ridge tiles I needed (and they allowed me to pick the best), plus I spotted a pile of suitable airbricks. It really is pot luck.

Hope that helps!

 

[skier-hughes]

www.raysonreclamation.com penkridge, great chap, not massive yard, but lots of tiles, check out his ebay shop for some examples and he is very reasonably priced.

 

[eezageeza]

Thanks very much guys - that's really useful.

You obviously recognised my not-too-cryptic description then Feltwell! Lovely place, and we've always found them responsive to negotiation, but still blooming expensive!

I know what you're saying about tile and a halfs - we got really lucky a few years ago and happened upon a batch in a roofing suppliers yard in Telford (Shropshire Roofing - not even a reclaim yard, dunno why they had them really) so we bought the lot, but are still a few short... I know Midland Slate and Tile (that's what they were called last time we were there anyway, the Four Ashes place), but have never tried Gardiners, or Raysons, so we'll check them out. Might also go and explore deepest Birmingham 11...

Thanks again.

 

[AMc]

also take a look on www.salvo.co.uk and be prepared to make calls and travel.
My hunt for wide duchess roof slates too a lot of calls and a 3 hour trip to a field in Lincolnshire!

 

[Feltwell]

Hi guys, newbie here

I'm just surprised that no one has started asking for pictures of your house yet. Always goes down well - well, except perhaps if you've just put in new UPVC windows :wink:

 

[Feltwell]

My hunt for wide duchess

Does this qualify as a wide duchess?



(Cruel, I know. And those in glass houses shouldn't throw stones either).

 

[Penners]

My hunt for wide duchess

Does this qualify as a wide duchess?

Dammit, Feltwell! Will you kindly not get to the wisecrack opportunities before I do? :evil:

 

[Penners]

I'm just surprised that no one has started asking for pictures of your house yet.

Can we see some pictures of your house, please eezageeza?

 

[Feltwell]

happened upon a batch in a roofing suppliers yard in Telford (Shropshire Roofing - not even a reclaim yard, dunno why they had them really)

That reminds me - try Sharps in Shrewsbury as well, they are a small independent merchant and carry some reclaims, I got a load of eaves tiles off them.

http://sharpsroofing.co.uk/

Also DJ Walker in Great Bridge - they do their own demolition and seem to mostly sell onto other yards (the posh ones!), I've had a few bits off them.

DJ Walker

Bridge Rd, Great Bridge , DY4 0HR
10.3 miles S

Tel: 07813 313979Mob: 07813 313 97

 

[eezageeza]

except perhaps if you've just put in new UPVC windows

Ha ha; you can't imagine the passion with which I hate Upvc - well, you probably can, so lets just say we have replaced 22 windows in the last 15 years here, and every one is wood - and I'll be painting them for the rest of my life, but rather that than Upvc....

As for pictures - well,I'd heard you guys were into property porn, but blimey, you're very forward too aren't you!? Maybe I will get some photos sometime.....our house is period in concept rather than in reality - its heart is a pair of 1890's farm workers cottages, but some years of dereliction in the 1950's, followed by ghastly "renovations/extensions" in the 60's wiped out all semblance of period style or features, so we're just doing what we can to make it sit more comfortably in its surroundings, and trying to soften the harsh 60's additions with some older, more mellow styling....if we ever get anywhere near the result we're hoping for, I'll get the camera out!

 

[Feltwell]

If it's 1890 then it's much more likely to have had machine rather than hand made roof tiles. Easier to find & cheaper. They still have "character", albeit not quite as much - Victorian production methods gave considerably larger tolerances than new machine made tiles.

I wouldn't worry to much about the house being finished if you wanted to put pictures up - no one on here has a finished house as far as I can recall, and plenty of us have houses that have had previous unsympathetic modifications / extensions.

 

[Feltwell]

Ebay search reveals this, they reckon they have tiles and halves:-

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/STAFFORDS...785?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item23178e8df9

Yes, I'm bored, killing a few minutes before going to pick one of the kids up.......

 

[eezageeza]

If it's 1890 then it's much more likely to have had machine rather than hand made roof tiles. Easier to find & cheaper. They still have "character", albeit not quite as much - Victorian production methods gave considerably larger tolerances than new machine made tiles.

That's interesting - we'd always assumed that they were so wobbly that they couldn't possibly have been machine made - they curve and warp in pretty much every direction. It's difficult to imagine that the Victorian machines were that bad - but perhaps they were, and were just faster than doing it by hand? Or perhaps our Victorian builders used reclaims?!

 

[Feltwell]

That's interesting - we'd always assumed that they were so wobbly that they couldn't possibly have been machine made - they curve and warp in pretty much every direction. It's difficult to imagine that the Victorian machines were that bad - but perhaps they were, and were just faster than doing it by hand? Or perhaps our Victorian builders used reclaims?!

Anything's possible, your builders may have used reclaims or they may have been a local manufacturer who was behind the times and still making by hand. Victorian machine made tiles can be pretty wobbly though - I suspect it's to do with the uneven temperatures in the kilns they used (compared to modern "tunnel kilns") and the way they handled them causing them to be warped before and during firing. Only my guess, I'm no expert. Don't forget of course that "plain" roof tiles are meant to be curved along their long dimension, they are not supposed to be flat.

Dennis Ruabon were a very large manufacturer of roof tiles, roof fittings, bricks, floor tiles, wall copings, chimney pots - pretty much any building material made from clay. Nearly everything in my house came from them. They are still going, in a much smaller way producing floor tiles only, but the link below tells you a bit about how the kilns have changed. The quarry tiles they produce now are nothing at all like the ones they made in Victorian times, which I have in parts of my house - new ones are flat, even in finish and equal in size. My old ones vary in finish and size quite a lot, despite being machine made.

http://www.ruabonsales.co.uk/company-history.htm

 

[plasticpigeon]

Hello

The guy in Tyseley might be Dean Burton roofing, 0121 707 5959. I live about a mile from there and popped down to see if he had any other stuff (I am after 9" quarry tiles), or knew anywhere local that might. There were lots of used roof tiles around and although they were clay I think they looked newish.

Hope this helps

Jerome

 

[eezageeza]

Feltwell - thanks for the ebay link; bizarrely I'd never thought of looking there! Sadly however, that trader didn't have any used tile and a halfs, just new ones, so my search continues....

Jerome - thanks, I'll check that out; he seems to be a bit of an anonymous trader - you can see the yard on Google maps satellite view, and on Street View, but I can't find any reference to him anywhere!

 

[plasticpigeon]

Ah, ok I might have sent the wrong details as this guy was in the business park next to the pallet place. I shall have a look on google maps and try again!!!!!

 

[plasticpigeon]

Sorry Guys I got the wrong place.

The details for the yard is Steve Forde 07976 902498, he seems to have mostly roofing tiles and chimney pots. it's a very industrial looking yard so wear strong shoes, but the guys working there are friendly and helpful.

 

[Feltwell]

Sorry Guys I got the wrong place.

The details for the yard is Steve Forde

That name rings a bell - I think he's the one, and yes it's all roofing stuff there, nothing else - at least it was that way a couple of years ago. Thanks Jerome!