Since few months – without visible success – we are trying to get proper roof tile for the house. The trick is, what “proper” means.

Aesthetically, it is at least similar to what we see in the neighbourhood. With Chlomos – probably the second oldest village on the island – just around the corner, the correct tile would be the classic type (canal type / coppa / monk-nun), yellowish, mounted on cement.

But from a technical point of view, this is not the best solution. The classic roof is heavy (30 tiles per square metre + cement + more solid carpentry), expensive (more material + more labour) and technically inferior to pantiles.

Pantile (tegola) is much more effective – no cement is needed, the number of tiles is half of the classical ones (14-15 vs. 28-32), each tile is lighter – so is carpentry, while work is more than twice as fast. Repairs easy, without tools. We’ve been told that the cost of the work is 30% less, while the material is only half as much. We know that there are tiles that look so much like classic tiles that only the experts can tell the difference.

But…

What is really pity, greek, local pantiles are not available in yellow, rustic versions. Most (all?) of these are nice, smooth and ideal, orange pantiles. For us this is no go, since our roof will be visible to all people passing by the road above the house. We have found two manufacturers in Italy, and one looks really promising – however the cost of transportation could be ridicoulus…many doubts, no decision yet.

Meanwhile, our engineer sent us photo of other property he is building. More expensive, worse – but we like it.

So, after 3 months of deliberation we decided to have recycled, local roof tile.