This article appeared in Western Roofing magazine January/February 2002.
The Turret King
Northern California Roofing Contractor Makes His Mark With Clay Tile Turrets
by Marc Dodson, editor
Nothing seems to set a custom home apart more than a spectacular roof, and nothing makes a roof more spectacular than turrets, especially ones that have a beautifully finished custom look without any hips. One roofing contractor in Northern California has made a mark for his company by installing turrets. In fact, with over 40 turrets to his credit in the last few years alone, he could rightfully be described as the “Turret King.”
Mike Creeden, owner of Marco Roofing, Fremont, Calif., has made a name for his company installing clay tile turrets. The turrets Marco Roofing has installed run the gamut from large to small, steep to relatively lowslope, and partial to full-circle.
Chad Creeden, project manager, discussed the three recent turret projects featured in this article: “The Palisades Terrace project involved 80 squares of ‘S’ tile in the field and 16 squares of tapered tile on the three turrets using a single piece clay tile. The color selection was 60% Brick Red and 40% Mahogany. The Vineyard project was a little smaller and involved 30 squares in the field and four squares for the single turret using a two-piece Classic Tapered clay tile that was Sea Green in color. Bjork Construction, Fremont, Calif., built both of these projects. The Monte Vista Apartment Recreation Center was built by Pinn Brothers Construction, San Jose, Calif., and featured 30 squares of clay tile in the field and a single 360° turret of four squares. The color selected was 50% Tobacco, 34% Cinnamon and 16% Canyon Red.” Glesby Wholesale, Inc. of Oakland was the distributor for the projects.
All of these turret projects have a common thread… they all used MCA’s Turret Tile®. MCA has developed a system to custom fit any size turret, regardless of pitch. Mike Creeden states, “Working with MCA is great. We fax them a copy of the dimensions of the turret and they figure it out. They fax us back the number of pieces and sizes needed along with layout instructions. When we get the material, each course is numbered and we just stick to the instructions. It’s like putting together a big jigsaw puzzle.”
As a precaution against leaks, Mike Creeden states that they use a bituthene-type self-adhesive product as an underlayment, “especially at the top of the turret, where the pieces are small.” He added that, “MCA has put together a foolproof system. We’ve done over 15 turrets using their Turret Tile system this year alone.”
Joe Murphy, MCA’s representative in Northern California says that, “MCA’s process and Turret Tile is unique to the industry. It uses varying sizes of tile to custom fit the turret. Yoshi Suzuki, general manager of MCA, invented the process at our computerized state-of-the-art Corona plant. The Turret Tile system offers the architect, builder and roofing contractor the opportunity to finish off the roof easily. The alternative to this system is to cut and piece together the turret with a series of hips. The MCA Turret Tile is much less labor intensive and has a more custom look. The contractor likes it because he’s selling a completely finished custom job.”
Chad Creeden added that, “MCA has this down to a science. It’s pretty amazing. Everything is precut, so there’s no cutting at all on our part. We work closely with MCA and they’re very helpful. I’ve toured their plant, and I was very impressed.” Suzuki states, “MCA has sold over 5,000 turrets since the Turret Tile system was developed. We continue to improve this system and offer this niche business to the roofing industry.”