Transform your roof with recycled tires: EnDur Roofing System
Re-shingle your roof and help the environment at the same time. That’s what you can do if you choose the EnDur Roofing System.
“EnDur uses one hundred per cent of the crumb rubber from a recycled tire and that makes up 93 per cent of the EnDur shingle,” explains Oen Foord, owner of the Saskatoon based company. “The other seven per cent is binder, so that means there’s a really high content of recycled material.”
It also means that a home with a roof of about 3,000 square feet of area will use 1,000 recycled tires – 1,000 tires that don’t go to the land fill.
While many may not be aware of the product, Foord has been re-treading roofs for some time. “I started researching the product in 1997 while I was in Calgary but moved to Saskatchewan just before I launched the company. It took a couple of years to perfect the product but we shingled our first roof in Saskatoon in 2000.”
EnDur, which has manufacturing facilities in Alberta and Taiwan, has roofed homes all across western Canada and the northwest United States. “The product didn’t really take off here until the boom hit. Now, people can really see the value the tiles provide because their homes are worth so much more.”
Since 2000, Foord estimates he’s shingled one thousand homes – saving about one million tires from going to the landfill.
The shingles – or tiles as EnDur’s are called – come in a standard field tile with two different pitch tiles available, 90 or 120 per cent, meaning the product is easily adaptable to most roofs.
Foord notes the tiles are a bit more expensive than standard asphalt shingle – about $4.50 per tile compared to $3.00 for conventional shingles – but the return is far greater. “You get the satisfaction of reducing waste and pollution but you also get an aesthetically appealing product that’s highly durable.”
They’re so durable that EnDur warranties its shingles for 50 years.
For people building new homes, Foord agrees it’s better to start with the EnDur. The extra cost can then be amortized over a number of years rather than added in one payment. “On a million dollar home, the difference is only a couple thousand dollars more than asphalt – a small percentage when you look at the overall value of your home.”
While black is the natural colour and choice of about 99 per cent of home owners, Foord says the product is readily available in grey, brown and hunter green. Custom colours are also available – it’s just a matter of adding an iron oxide power during the manufacturing process.
An inch thick, the EnDur tiles perform well in all types of weather. “We did compliance testing at the National Research Council and, after testing the shingles with their jet engine blower at maximum, they rated the EnDur tiles hurricane proof. The tiles are also hail proof.”
The weight and thickness adds insulation value while providing more privacy, he adds. “I’ve had letters from many customers saying how sound proof their homes are because of the EnDur system.”
After showing the product to home builders, Foord added an indentation in the front centre of the tiles. “Many people ask about it and it doesn’t change the structure or durability of the product. Builders requested that because they felt it gave the tiles and then the roofs more depth and character.”
The EnDur system can be installed by developers, builders, contractors, roofing companies and also by EnDur itself. Foord says his next step is to market the product to retailers so that do-it-yourselfers can buy it.
“People have installed it themselves – there’s a manual available explaining how it’s done because it is trickier than the standard asphalt.” For more information, visit endurroofingsystems.com .