As suppliers of the best roofing material you can buy, maybe we're a little biased. But it still boggles our minds when we see projects in the midst of construction - beautiful, impressive custom homes - topped with composition roofing material rather than something long-lasting and eco-friendly.
It happened again just the other day, and what struck us most was that the walls and windows of this imposing custom home were made of premium materials, yet the roof - the largest single architectural element in the entire project - was being subject to the cheapest possible material choice. If this was a low-end tract home, we wouldn't have even noticed. But the logic of cladding this spectacular home with brick - certain to last a century or more - and choosing insulated, premium windows with outstanding hardware - certain to last just as long - but then protecting the whole thing with a petroleum asphalt-soaked mixture of fiber strands and dirt that is guaranteed to wear away in just a decade or two is murky at best. It's backwards, in fact. Far cheaper to re-clad the walls of a home, or even replace windows, than it is to replace a roof. Yet here are owners, architects and builders making a choice that everyone knows is temporary to protect all of those "permanent" choices below.
So here, in no particular order, are five reasons not to do this - five reasons it's imperative that you not cheap out on the roof material for your beautiful, detail-oriented new home:
1. The roof cladding takes the most abuse from weather and the elements, so it needs the best possible design and materials.
2. Walls and windows are much easier to re-hab or replace in a few years than a roof.
3. Roofs are one of the most visible and important architectural elements, and they affect the value of the exterior more than any other feature.
4. Roofs are often the biggest single exterior surface of most single story buildings and so are often the most expensive to replace when the time comes.
5. It will cost much less to upgrade the roof to something like metal, and save on the cost of fancy exterior walls and windows - which are much less expensive to upgrade later.
Want to learn more about why metal roofing is a far better choice for your project? Download our free Metal vs Comp comparison sheet and our free re-roofing booklet now.
