Oak tiles
6 September 2019
An ancestral roofing material resolutely turned towards the future and sustainable development
Always concerned with the optimization of using oak raw material as much as possible, the Charlois group values staves that are too short for the cooperage into oak tiles* for roofing buildings.
Formerly used in countries where there was a lot of wood, wooden tiles gave way to terracotta and slate tiles which became widely used in the 19th century. The wooden roof, often made with conifers, and sometimes with oak and chestnut, are still used in certain mountainous regions and in particular in Switzerland where there is an Association of French-speaking tavillonneurs. The members of this association undertake to respect a charter which specifies, for example, the origin of the trees, the thicknesses of the tiles and the number of horizontal and vertical covers for laying on the roof. It should also be noted that some buildings in the Nièvre region are still covered with shingles today, like the church of Champvoux and part of the buildings of the Château de Vésigneux in Saint-Martin-du-Puy.
It is MAISON CHARLOIS, based in Murlin in the Nièvre, which shapes, with respect for the tradition of tiles, from hundred-year-old oak trees of stave quality. These tiles, marketed by the company ATRIUM, directed by Romain Charlois, are therefore made from oak split along the wood fiber to guarantee watertightness and follow the same manufacturing process as the staves. Once split and edged, the oak tiles are sawn through the thickness of the piece of wood. A staple is then placed on each tile to facilitate the installation on a batten by the roofer.
Lightweight, waterproof, insulating and insensitive to frost, hail and rain, oak tile is an ecological and efficient material that has nothing to envy of other roofing materials. Over the years, tiles left in their natural state will take on a gray tint under the action of U.V. and weathering. This natural evolution in no way alters the physical and mechanical characteristics of the wood and gives the roofs of buildings a natural and warm appearance.
* Oak tiles can be called tavaillons, shingles, aissiaumes, essentes or even tavillons depending on the region.
