The choices vary from asphalt shingles to wooden shakes and clay tiles, from steel panels to rubber lookalike slate. Crucial trend to note, nevertheless, is that as with dwelling-building materials basically, there's an increasing move in the direction of engineered roofing materials. This transformation is being pushed by just a few different factors. One is solely the excessive cost of wood. The second is that in many cases, codes now mandate using fireproof building materials. And third, people understandably need to build with supplies that not solely look good but in addition are very lengthy-lived.

Asphalt Shingles

The roofing materials all of us see probably the most of lately — the one which covers the roofs of an important majority of houses throughout America — is the standard three-tab asphalt shingle. One of many least-costly roofing options, asphalt shingles are available in a dozen or so completely different colors both strong and blended. The shingle merchandise being made right this moment are often assured for 20, or in some cases 30 years, making them a superb value. Worth is the principal advantage of this roofing material, which explains it's commonality. The disadvantage, however, if there could possibly be said to be one, is the truth that it is so common.

The next improve from an ordinary three-tab is a thicker variation known as an architectural shingle. These shingles are built as much as be about twice as thick as a standard shingle with the layers staggered to present them a heavier, more substantial or "architectural" look. In some colors they resemble slate, and in other colors wooden shakes. We used architectural shingles on the Lexington ranch house. With only a modest improve in price and up to a 30-12 months assure, architectural shingles additionally signify an excellent value with an added touch of style.

Shingles, Shakes...

For seems to be, it's laborious to beat a wooden shingle roof. Over time it weathers out to a gray or mushy silver that seems to root the home to the landscape. A number of species are used: Western Crimson Cedar, Alaskan Yellow Cedar and Jap White Cedar. Shingles are relatively smooth and minimize to a uniform thickness, although they vary in width. Wood shakes are thicker and rougher, being split fairly than sawn from the logs. Wood roofs are supposed to breathe and should be laid over a substrate that allows air to flow into behind them: skip sheathing — wooden strips or battens nailed directly to the roof rafters — is the normal methodology of putting in a wooden shingle roof. About 10 years ago we began using a plastic matrix product that is something like a scrubby pad, which allows air to flow into behind the shingles. This product might be laid on top of a constructing-paper-coated plywood roof deck, making it best for a retrofit. One other methodology of getting air circulation behind the shingles is to lay them on stress-handled lattice.

For all their nice appears, shingles and shakes are costly to put in and do require some periodic upkeep, sometimes in the type of washing to remove any mildew or moss, and then re-oiling with a clear wood ending product. On our present Shingle-type undertaking here in Manchester, Massachusetts, we're utilizing a wood shingle that's new to us: strain-treated Southern Yellow Pine, which grays out in a few years to resemble cedar and is said to require no maintenance at all.

A correctly installed and maintained wood roof ought to last a minimum of 30 to 50 years. In reality, now we have seen roofs on which the shingles had been still good after 25 years or so, however the galvanized nails had been finally rusting, so remember to use a excessive-high quality stainless-steel nail!

...And Fakes

Initially, our Craftsman-model bungalow in Santa Barbara, California, would have been clad in a combination of wooden shingles and shakes, as a result of the constructing wanted that shaggy tough-hewn appearance to look authentic. Nonetheless, due to fireplace danger, native codes now require all roofing supplies to be fireproof. Accordingly, we used a heavy architectural asphalt shingle on the roof, and a cementitious shingle manufactured to look like a wood shake for the side walls -- although they are suitable for use on the roof as well. Use of those "pretend" shakes is rapidly rising, each as a result of they fulfill the strict hearth codes in the West and since they're lengthy lived and require no maintenance.

Slate and Fake Slate

Within the Northeast slate was a standard roofing materials for top-finish homes and municipal buildings. It is lovely, lasts for generations, sheds ice and snow, and may be very expensive. Because of its price and weight, which requires a beefier roof construction to assist, slate shouldn't be usually used these days. Yet on our Billerica mission, rebuilding Dick Silva's burnt-out household residence, we wanted the slate look. Once more we turned to an "engineered" product, this time a slate lookalike fabricated from recycled rubber and plastic. At only about one-third the weight and price of slate, these shingles will be put in using normal tools and techniques. From the street, the discerning eye would possibly have the ability to inform the difference between engineered and the real McCoy, but most of us would be very house-proud with considered one of these roofs on our homes. Plus, these shingles are assured to final for as long as 50 years.

Steel

Steel roofs, within the form of corrugated, galvanized sheets, have been a normal feature of barns, sheds and different agricultural and utility buildings for years. This kind of roof is cheap, rugged, long-lasting and easy to put in — good for a utility application. On the opposite end of the spectrum is a copper roof, elegant enough to grace the country's most interesting mansions and public buildings. Graceful bay and bow home windows are sometimes roofed with sheet copper soldered on the seams. We used such roofson both the Billerica and the Lexington houses. Larger expanses of roof are covered utilizing the "standing-seam" technique, during which one sheet joins with its parallel mate by way of an interlocking, water-tight seam.

Metal is a great alternative for a home in snow country, in addition to in agricultural country. Fortuitously, by way of products out there, there's much to choose from between the galvanized low-end and the copper high-end. On our Milton undertaking, we used a shaped-in-place, standing-seam steel roof on the workshop addition to the barn. Whereas not as expensive as copper, this roof was costly — and beautiful. There are a number of powder-coated metal roof "systems" available on the market, some very price-effective variations on the galvanized sheet-steel theme. Others are manufacturing unit-built standing-seam roofs, custom made to your home or barn and put in by a roofing contractor. The benefit of those systems is that they require no particular fabricating equipment and could be put in by any qualified contractor. (I am even contemplating using one on the shed I have to build in Maine.)

Along with standing-seam roofs, several sorts of metallic shingles are also available. One, an interlocking tin shingle we used on the roof at our Key West venture I have never seen anyplace aside from the Keys. One other variation commercially out there nationwide is an interlocking copper shingle.

Whatever the type you choose, generally, a correctly installed metal roof ought to final you at the least 50 years.

Ceramic

Ceramic tile roofs are discovered all through the Mediterranean and Levant — and of course in the Mediterranean-Revival-influenced architecture of Florida and California. Barrel tiles, the commonest type of ceramic tile, resemble half cylinders about sixteen inches long. Within the previous days they had been individually made by hand, their tapered shape achieved by forming the clay excessive of the thigh. We really used some of these handmade tiles on our renovation of a hurricane-broken Mediterranean-Revival home in Miami. And more not too long ago, we used high-quality replica barrel tiles on our West Palm Seaside project.

Tile roofs are fairly heavy, so the roof framing have to be stout sufficient to assist the load. Waterproofing is achieved through a water-proof membrane laid straight on the roof sheathing. Then the clay tiles are laid one by one in a pad of mortar. Tiles turned the wrong way up type a trough, which is then covered by tiles laid right aspect up. The whole process is kind of labor intensive, which makes an genuine tile roof quite expensive -- about $1,000 per 10x10-foot sq., or about 3 times the cost of a normal three-tab shingle job.

Along with barrel tiles there are a selection of variations of clay roof tiles. Some are shaped like thick shingles, some like slates. A high-quality tile shall be laborious-fired and won't take up moisture that might fracture the tile when frozen. Thus such tiles are appropriate for northern climates. All excessive-high quality tile roofs are costly, each in terms of the fabric and the installation, and so clay tile roofs are fairly rare.

Yet in the long term the most costly could be essentially the most value efficient, since you can expect to get 60 to 80 years or even more out of a properly installed tile roof. I know of a hard-fired clay shingle roof on a seaside mansion not far from our present mission in Manchester.