Historic Cuban Barrel Tile
by: Ines.Hegedus-Garcia on June 12, 2007 02:01:56 19 comments »
A lot of you will be reading this thinking its a bit boring (at least Rick thinks so), but I wanted to address this because a lot of our customers are constantly asking us about certain elements of historic homes¦¦so here it is¦¦proceed with CAUTION.
Historic Cuban Barrel Tile is one of the key elements found in Mediterranean Revival Architecture. Key because it is one of the most visible elements and because without it, a
historic house can seem stripped from its roots. It is the one single element that has a history of its own. It is a handmade or hand processed barrel natural clay tile, either made in Cuba prior to the imposition of the U.S. Embargo, or manufactured in 18th Century Spain, salvaged from buildings in Cuba and imported to the United States during the 1920s and 30s. (hence the name ‘Historic Cuban Tile’).
When buying historic real estate it is important ot identify the original elements of a structure in order to know how well preserved the property has been through the years. Most buyers of historic properties will look for properties that have maintained its historic integrity or properties that have the potential to be restored. Historic Cuban tile is one of those elements that are cherished by the ‘historic community’, but dont be surprised if finding a home with Cuban tile may mean that the roof is not water tight and a new roof may be necessary. There are several steps that must be taken to replace a roof with Historic Cuban Tile.
- Identify that a property does in fact have Hictoric Cuban Tile. A lot of these tiles have an embossed identification mark usually located on the convex side at the wide taper end of the tile.
- Once tile is identified as historic and property needs to be re-roofed, all means should be taken to salvage the tile.
- Historic Cuban tile can then be mixed with modern hand made tile, where the historic tile is used in caps, rather than pans to take full advantage of the visible portion of the new roof.
Please note that if Historic Cuban Tile was not found on the property, there are many ways of building a historically appropriate roof. Historic Cuban Tile can be purchased, or when that is not finantially possible, there are manufacturers of hand-made barrel tile that can be used to achieve the original look of the roof. There are also roofers that specialize in historic roofs, not only in salvaging original historic barrel tile, but doing installations that are historically appropriate like reapplying the tile correctly, and using double caps and/or pans on the edge of the roof line.
The overall look of a roof with Historic Cuban Tile is that of an ‘aged’ or ‘informal’ nature. These tiles, because of their porous clay material will accumulate mold and pressure cleaning is not recommended. There was a problem recently in Miami Shores with Code Enforcement requiring historic homes to pressure clean their roofs and every time I think of it I shake my head in disbelief. In order to be able to appreciate our historic homes and architecture, it is important to educate ourselves on the materials, the process of construction as well as the history behind these.
The response I have gotten from this article has been amazing. I am happy to see people interested in historic materials and more so, being interested in restoring the historic relevance of their homes.
Related Posts
Stiltsville - a Miami LandmarkThe Pink House - Miami Shores, Florida
Oppenheim's Ten Museum Park shines through
North Miami's MoCa - Museum of Contemporary Art
Green does not have to mean unfashionable and scruffy
· http://www.rocklandhomestaging.comRick - these roofs are georgous. I've only seen them on TV they do not have them where I live at all. Thanks for the info.
Permalink June 12, 2007 15:34:50 · http://www.rocklandhomestaging.comSorry Ines - Thought Rick wrote the post for a minute there.
Permalink June 12, 2007 15:36:24 · http://www.miamism.com/Permalink June 12, 2007 16:09:20 · http://www.LiveInLosGatos.comInes this is a very helpful post, even for those of us in California, as we also have Spanish Revival homes here. (I am not sure about the mold, though - it's less humid here but sometimes moss does grow on our tile roofs.) Can you suggest the right way to clean these?
I am going to bookmark this entry - thank you for the great info!
Permalink June 12, 2007 22:13:46 · http://www.miamism.com/Permalink June 12, 2007 22:27:43 · http://www.ssimms.comInes - You mention the taper of the tiles. I've heard this is because the tiles were formed on the upper legs of the tilemakers - do you know if this is true?
Permalink June 12, 2007 22:40:51 · http://www.miamism.com/Permalink June 12, 2007 22:59:05 · http://SpringsRealtyScoop.comWow! All the things that I learn about Miami! I think that there are (MAYBE) a handfull of homes that do NOT have composite shingles, here in high country. These roof tiles that you are talking about are GORGEOUS!
Permalink June 13, 2007 11:49:25 · http://www.miamism.com/Mariana - I'm glad you're learning, that way when you come to Miami, you'll be able to point a roof out and say..."wow! that's looks like Historic Cuban Barrel tile! " : )
Permalink June 13, 2007 12:02:29 · http://SacramentoRealEstateVoice.comI had no idea about this tile and obvious was not aware that they should not be pressure washed. You did a service here for all of us. Great job.
Permalink June 13, 2007 20:18:41 · http://www.miamism.com/Permalink June 13, 2007 23:31:24 I have to re-roof a house with Cuban Tiles...I would like to sell these tiles and salvage them for a better home...do you know who I can contact?
Regards
Joe
Permalink June 25, 2007 15:34:13 · http://www.miamism.com/Joe, I would contact local roofers and ask if they are interested in purchasing the tiles. A lot of times roofers have historic roof projects lined up and would be willing to purchase these from you. The other thing you can do is drive around and look at historic homes that already have Cuban tile and offer the tile to the home owners. I know that when I lived in a historic home, I would have wanted extra tiles in case my roof needed repairs. I will also ask around and will let you know if I hear of anything - do you know how many tiles you have and are these stamped and dated?
Permalink June 25, 2007 18:06:14 Could the guy with the salvaged cuban roof tile email me, I need to re roof my historic home, thanks Danny
Permalink August 28, 2007 12:27:43 · http://www.miamism.com/Permalink August 28, 2007 13:31:22 Great site. I am restoring Walter De Garmo's original home he built for his family in 1921.
we have added a separate garage and pool cabana and need to find barrel tile that can be stacked in large arched openings in an alternating way. Any good sources before ewe go with a new half moon tile that looks very new. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Permalink February 05, 2008 10:19:41 · http://www.miamism.comCheck the link I included in the article which is a company that manufactures hand-made tile. There are also plenty of home owners who sell historic tile that they have salvaged from their own homes - different roofers deal with historic tile and may be able to help you.
It's a matter of getting enough to use only on the caps and the rest will be the newer hand made tiles.
feel free to e-mail me also if you'd like.
Permalink February 05, 2008 14:01:03 · http://www.dmcimportsinc.comI have worked with Artezanos for ovor 15 years and I was thier first inhouse sales Rep. I am also a LICENSED ROOFING CONTRACTOR. I know the proper way to salvage,prep and reinstall the Handmade Cuban Tile and New Handmade tile. I currently live on the west coast in Naples but if anyone needs help please dont hesitiate to visit our website and contact me. If done properly, this is Architecturally correct for period styled homes and able to withstand major Hurricanes. It is also fire proof and that is very important.Cost isnt really more than other common machine made clay tiles. These tiles offer unsurpassed aesthetics and performance.I have held these cuban tiles in my hands and removed thousands of them from homes in Miami Beach, the Gables, Shores and Palm Beach after Hurrican Andrew hit in 1992, they are woth saving in many cases, in some they are not.Thanks to the manufacturing of new Handmade roof tile they can be incorporated with the original cuban tile of the 1920's to complete the roof in it's correct apportionmant.
Permalink June 20, 2008 21:46:41 · http://www.miamism.com/Permalink June 21, 2008 11:13:35This post has no comments awaiting moderation.
