Eurofast launches innovative roofing screws set to make roofers lives easier
Feature
Jonathon Harker
Four years in the making, Eurofast has developed an innovative screw for tapered insulation on concrete, set to make the lives of roofers easier. Eurofast fills us in on the details of their mechanical fixing development...
Screw and fastener manufacturer Eurofast has introduced an adjustable screw. Although this new screw does not turn the entire industry upside down, it does show that even the smallest innovations (it is hardly visible to the naked eye) can provide a major advantage.
So while you might think that every possible innovation for a screw has already been designed and produced, this is actually far from the case, says Eurofast.
Jonathon Harker
“The Eurofast Adjustable Screw (EAS) is combined with the Eurofast tube for an alternative to mechanically fixing roofing systems with tapered insulation on flat roofs with concrete surfaces,” explains Product & Marketing Manager Frank van Kalkeren. “Using the standard fasteners means that a different screw is required for each row. As a result, you need many different screw lengths – a puzzle that increases the chance of mistakes. In addition – and as every roofer will agree ‐ the screws do not always grab into the concrete substructure and they have to be drilled again and deeper.
“This leads to uncertainty about the calculation value, needed to keep the roofing membrane in place during windload, and loss of time. The roofer is also not always certain whether the screw is clamping the roofing membrane properly.
“A few years ago, we thought we should be able to do that better and, above all, more efficiently.”
Removing the uncertainty around fixing
Eurofast tells Torque that it spent approximately four years developing the EAS, producing various prototypes: “We have tested a lot of other solutions and variations, prior to the finished application.”
Frank van Kalkeren added: “We listened carefully to the market, to the objections to the usual mechanical fastening methods and we set a number of conditions that the new screw had to meet. For example, we wanted to offer the roofer certainty of a good fixation in the substrate and clamping of the roof covering. Moreover, it had to be possible to assemble with standard tools; basically just with a screw drill and a bit. Ultimately, this resulted in the EAS from our lab.”
Steeper pitch
The EAS, which is already on the market in Benelux, Germany and the UK, has a pitch that actually consists of two parts. The bottom of the pitch, the last 25 millimeters, is steeper than the top. As a result, the bottom is pulled into the concrete faster than the tube is pulled on. And the roofer can feel precisely when the bottom is in the concrete.
As with the standard screws, the roofer must pre‐drill. Then he presses the screw with the tube onto the roof covering and fastens the screw. The tube is pulled along and automatically clamps the roof covering.
Jonathon Harker
“The screw is also distinguished by the fact that it has a spring instead of a nut,” says van Kalkeren.
The packaging features a useful QR code that links to an online manual – handy for a roofer who can check how it works on their smartphone on the spot. The most important thing is that the roofer has more control, can work faster and more efficiently and that the margin of error is minimised.
The EAS has the similar coating to all Eurofast’s other roofing screws; Magni Silver. The coating resists the 15 cycli Kesternich test that’s needed, according the EAD‐030351‐00‐0402 Systems of mechanically fastened flexible roof waterproofing sheets.
With EAS, roofers need fewer different combinations of screws and tubes, so he or she can get more done, and faster. Eurofast has an extensive database of wind box tests with calculation values available and can even provide a laying plan if required. Making every effort to make things as easy as possible for roofers, Eurofast supplies boxes with colour codes for the right roof area.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the reaction to the launch has been positive, the firm tells Torque: “Roofers are enthusiastic. They like the easy application without any additional tools. We expect that more roofers will discover our solution soon.”
