Roofing Material

If you are choosing new roofing for your new or existing house, aesthetics are vital, but the cost, installation requirements, and weight are important too. Whether you plan to change your current roof or you are building from scratch, a wide range of roofing materials are readily available in the market and much worthy of consideration. These roofing types include composite shingles, wood, asphalt, concrete, clay tiles, as well as slate. Style is a very important factor, yet it is not the only one. Material weight, installation requirements, and product costs should also be considered and should also affect your selection. Here are the most important things you need to know when planning to build a new roof or change your current home’s roof.

The Square

Before talking about the materials, let us talk about terminology first. Most of the time, roofers do not use the square feet measure. Instead, they measure the space needed to be roofed in squares. Roofers’ basic unit of measurement is square – one square is about 100 square feet in area, which is an equivalent of a 10×10 foot square. The typical 2,000 square feet two story home with a gable roof usually consist of less than one thousand five hundred square feet of the area of roofing, or about 15 squares.

Cost

A lot of considerations can affect a new roof’s cost. The material’s cost is the starting point. However, there are still other factors that should be considered. One is the existing roof’s condition if you are remodeling a home especially if its old material has to be stripped off and if repair is needed for the supporting structure, it will cost you money added on top of your supposed to be roofing costs. The roof’s shape is also a contributing factor to the cost. A gable roof with no or few breaks in its planes such as vent pipes, dormers or chimneys, makes the roofing job simpler. On the other hand, a house with more than one chimney, skylights, turrets, intersecting rooflines, valleys, and any other elements will cost more to roof.

Materials 

It’s important to remember that not all materials for roofing can be used on all roofs. A roof with slow slope or flat roof may demand a different surface than the roof with a steeper pitch. Other roofing materials such as tile and slate are very heavy. Therefore, the structures of most houses are inadequate to carry its heaviness. Consider these options when choosing the right roofing material for your home, then talk with your anchorage roofing companies so you can get estimates for the project.

1. Asphalt Shingle

This is considered as one of the most used roof materials because it only requires minimum skill for the entire installation process and it is the least expensive. Asphalt shingle is made of a fiberglass medium, which has been impregnated with asphalt to give a sand-like granules surface. Two basic configurations of asphalt shingles are sold: the thicker laminated products, and the standard variety that has single thickness. Prices for these usually begin at around $50 per square, but it also depends upon the kind of your chosen shingle and then the installation can be costly. This material can last up to 25 years.

2. Wood

This roof material was the primary choice of many homeowners for centuries. And today, it is still a good roofing option. However, fire codes do not permit its use in some areas. Usually made of redwood, southern pine, or cedar, shingles are split or sawn. They can last up to 25 years (just like asphalt shingles), but more costly as its price starts from $100 per square.

3. Metal

Steel, aluminum, lead, copper and asphalt, and copper are all expensive but highly durable roofing surfaces. The copper/asphalt and lead varieties are basically installed as shingles. On the other hand, other metal materials are manufactured for seamed roofs that usually consist of metal’s vertical lengths and are joined with solder. These roofing materials have a costly price that starts from $250 per square, yet often costs 2 or 3 times as much.

4. Cement and Tile

The tile roofing’s half cylinders are popular on Mission and Spanish Colonial styles. The wavy effect of the tiles is imitated by some metal roofs and cement. All are very durable, expensive, and its weight tends to be very heavy.

5. Slate

This is considered the most durable among all roofing materials. However, slate is not all the same as some of it come from Pennsylvania, Vermont, and other states. Slate is highly durable that it can even outlast the fasteners that hold the slate roof in place. As a matter of fact, a hundred years old slate is usually recycled to be installed again, with an expectation in mind that it can last another century. However, slate is very expensive as it price usually start at $800 per square.