Choosing the Right Roofing Materials

There are many different types of roofing materials that homeowners may choose to put on their roof. Usually the material you choose depends on budget, HOA and/or insurance requirements, climate, and aesthetics. We offer our homeowners asphalt, formed resin, concrete tile and stone-coated steel roofs.

We sell roofing materials from a variety of manufacturers so that our homeowners have access to the highest quality products. Read below for more information on different roofing materials and to learn more about the brands we carry. If you would like to talk to one of our roofing experts or receive a free in-home consultation and evaluation of your roof, please contact us.

Asphalt

Asphalt roofs are among the most popular roofing materials in the country. They come in a wide variety of colors, thicknesses, and are an affordable choice. The asphalt shingles we have chosen to offer our homeowners are anywhere from 30-50 year shingles, depending on the brand and type. These shingles are very resistant to wind and severe weather and can stand up to most storms. Asphalt roofs are offered in standard shingles, impact resistant (IR) singles, or triple laminate (TL) shingles.

Asphalt roofs offer fast installation. They are usually finished within 2 days. Installation however, does rely on the weather. If an asphalt shingle is installed in temperatures too cold, you run the risk of the self-sealing adhesive strips not adhering completely. This could cause shingles to come off of your roof during high winds and severe storms and possibly leak.

We believe installation should only take place when the temperatures will be warm enough to allow the adhesive to adhere to your roof. The exact temperatures can depend on the manufacturer and product, but we typically like to see forecasted temperatures in the 40’s or warmer.

We offer our homeowners the following brands of asphalt roofs:

• GAF
• CertainTeed
• Tamko
• Owens Corning

Formed Resin

We love installing formed resin roofs for our homeowners. We feel this is the best product with the highest quality shingle, best warranty, and beautiful look. This roofing material is impact resistant (IR) and is among the top in wind speed ratings.

We’ve chosen to offer DaVinci brand formed resin roofs for the look, style, durability, and ease of installation. We can offer our homeowners a wide variety of colors and styles to fit with your home and area.   These shingles are made to resist fading so they look wonderful years after you install your new roof.

When installing formed resin roof, there is no additional structural support required like there is when installing a concrete tile roof. The shingles are nailed down in a similar way to wood shake roofs; there is no self-sealing adhesive strip as there is with asphalt roofs. Because of this, we can install this roof in lower temperatures than asphalt roofs without compromising the quality of the install.

When choosing your formed resin roof style and color, you may want to consider adding snow anchors. These roofs can be slippery when wet, allowing snow to slide off your roof in sheets before it has a chance to melt. You may end up with a large pile of snow on your walkways and in front of your entrances with every snow storm. Installing snow anchors, at least over your walkways and entrances, keeps the snow on your roof until it melts. We highly recommend this in our region.

We offer our homeowners the following brands of formed resin roofs:

• DaVinci Bellaforte
• DaVinci Single-Width/Multi-Width

Stone-Coated Steel

Stone-coated steel roofs are durable and long-lasting. They are impact resistant (IR) roofs and are resistant to hail, wind, and severe storms. They are made to resemble wood shake roofs and are offered in a wide variety of styles and colors to fit the look of your home and neighborhood. The stone coating that makes these roofs so durable also provides a layer of resistance to fading and UV penetration, ensuring that your roof looks great years after you put it up.

Depending on which product you choose, installation can vary. If you’d like your roof to more closely resemble a wood shake roof and have more dimension, a batten system will need to be installed first. Our installation team will use 2×2’s to create a batten on your roof. Once that is installed on your roof, the shingles will be layered.

This not only provides a beautiful look, but also reduces energy consumption in your home. If you don’t mind a look that has less dimension, the stone-coated steel shingles can be installed directly to your roof without the batten system. This will result in a look that lays more flat on your roof, but is still very attractive.

You do have to be sure to be careful when walking on your stone-coated steel roof. The shingles can be easily dented if walked on improperly. It doesn’t sound like such a big deal, who goes up on their roof very often? But make sure that anytime you or another contractor goes up on your roof to paint, clean your gutters, or put up Christmas Lights, that you follow the manufacturer directions for walking on the shingles.

We offer our homeowners the following brands of stone-coated steel roofs:

• Decra
• Decra XD

Concrete Tile

Concrete tiles can be wonderful roofing materials for your home. Once installed, it’s virtually maintenance-free and provides wonderful insulation for your home. Concrete tile roofs are fire, rot and insect resistant. The color choices aren’t as plentiful as asphalt or formed resin, but the look and feel it can give to your home is unique and full of character.

While this product is awesome and can last a lifetime, there are some issues that can make it seem less desirable. This will depend on how your home was built and the climate. Concrete tiles are a very heavy material, weighing roughly 9 lbs/sqft.; as compared to asphalt shingles at 2 lbs/sqft or formed resin at about 3 lbs/sqft. If you take your average size home which needs approximately 30 squares of roofing materials and multiply this by 9 lbs, you end up with a roof weighing around 27,000 lbs – that’s equivalent to 4 Ford F-150 pick-up trucks!

This added weight requires an engineer to spec out your attic and your contractors to build a support system strong enough to hold the weight of this roof. Once installed, these roofs look fantastic, but prepare for a more involved and expensive installation process.

Concrete tile roofs are not considered Impact Resistant (IR) and do tend to crack during severe hail storms or if walked on improperly. In this case, individual tiles can be replaced, but there could be a color difference because of fading over time. Be sure when you or other contractors are walking on your roof to paint, clean gutters, put up Christmas lights, or retrieve a baseball, that you follow the manufacturer’s instructions so that tiles aren’t broken.

We offer our homeowners the following brand of concrete tile roofs:

• Boral