THE ROOFING PROBLEM

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 87, 5 January 1918, Page 8

THE ROOFING PROBLEM

SPUR TO LOCAL INDUSTRIES,

Tho roofing problem is one that; is causing considerable anxiety m building circles. In years gone by Uie houses used to be roofed either with shingles or slate. The former used to he imported from Tasmania, and made good' and lasting roofs, but were, a likelv medium for spreading fires, -axi were great dust accumulators, there was, however, no question as to i.heir wearing capacity;, a single roof Das been known to keep sound for from thirtv to forty rj-ars if attended to now and again. The slates had tote imported from England by sailing vessel, and were a. fine permanent rooting, if they were on the heavy side. Ih.cse two e'arlv forms of roofing wero complrtelT knocked out by the invention of'corrugated iron, by which a house, could lie roofed in a few days instead of so many weeks under the older systoros, and' the -row was light m comparison'to the slates, and almost as impervious to the influence of fire a* slates. Good corrugated iron, if well painted with oxide paint, had a long life, but the original standards were not adhered to, and lignter weights have taken the place of .the more solvl and durable forms of corrugated iron during the last, ton years, and consequently tho hfe of an iron roof of tho lighter weight or gauge is not what it was. People with premises roofer: with corrupted iron find tho upkeep < such "roofs more expensive than use; to be thp case when the sheet-iron used as the basis of corrugated roonng was thicker. The price of corrugated iron has -oared since the war m.common with all other imported buildine waterials. despite competition with the asbestos tiki or slate, which has had to be imported from England and America. The good ashe?tos slate is light and durable, anJ many nave speculated from time' to time whv such goods could not bo mnnufactuied 'in this country. ' It will bo news to many to know that the industry is being started in the vicinitv of Wellington, and samples of locally-made asbestos slates have already been shown in Wellington, ? nd pronounced unite satisfactory, tho slate is a composition of ? sbe3to *J' cement, mixed according to a certain formula, and pressed into sheets h> powerful hvdraulio pressure, which consolidates the ingredients into a rocUliko substance, which hardens on exposure to the air and is no™ h «>™ e "*j 1 Another effort to meet the demand for a reasonably-priced roofing is bung ' made in Wellington by a smal conv panv that is turning nut a solid picturesque tile made o cement and sand-reallv a cement tilo with a noi absorbent face and shaped so that n can be readily -attached to longitudinal lathes. These tiles aro made in moulds and are solidified under pressure by a machine imported from America. It is also said that a company with a capital of £100.000 has been floated in Sydney to make asbestos tiles rnd sheets. At present most of the world s supply of asbestos comes from Canada, but supplied are believed to be procurable in Tasmania and South Australia. There are also deposits of u!»te» New Zealand, namely, m the ISelson and West Coast districts, producing samples equal to the best Canadian, but it yet remains to be proved whether those deposits can be worked commercially in competition with the asbestos imported from Canada. , From the foregoing it will bo gather, od that New Zealand only needs; ho . spur of necessity to develop and buim up industries of her own. That » precisely what high freights and he ■ necessities of- war in England and elsewhere is thrusting upon us.