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| Roofing Materials |
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| Asphalt Shingle Roofing |
| Composite (asphalt) or fiberglass shingles is the most common roofing now in
use. It is composed of asphalt impregnated paper with mineral granules coating
the exposed surface. Numerous colors and styles are available to enhance the
design of your garage. Shingles are easy to install, require little maintenance
and are easy to repair. Wind sealed shingles have an added dab of roofing cement
under the bottom edge of each shingle. After these are installed and the roof is
heated by the sun, the cement melts and sticks to the shingle below, increasing
their effectiveness in high wind areas or on shallow sloped roofs. |
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| Wood Shake |
Wood shakes offer a natural look with a lot of character. Because of variations like color, width, thickness, or cut of the wood, no two shake roofs will ever be the same.
Wood offers some energy benefits, too: it helps to insulate the attic, and it allows the house to breathe, circulating air through the small openings under the felt rows on which wooden shingles are laid.
A wood shake roof, however demands proper maintenance and repair, or it will not last as long as other products. Mold, rot, and insects can be a problem. The lifecycle cost of a shake roof may be high, and old shakes can't be recycled.
Most wood shakes are unrated by fire safety codes. Many use wipe or spray-on fire retardants which offer less protection and are only effective for a few years. There are pressure-treated shakes, however, that are impregnated with fire retardant and meet national and California fire safety standards. Made by companies like Chemco, this pressure treating extends the life of wood shingles and provides better fire safety performance.
Installing wood shakes is more complicated than roofing with composite shingles, and the quality of finished roof depends on the experience of the contractor as well as the caliber of the shakes you use. The best shakes come from the heartwood of large old cedar trees, difficult to find any more. Some contractors maintain that shakes made from the outer wood of smaller cedars - the usual source today - are less uniform, more subject to twisting and warping, and don't last as long.
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| Metal Roofing |
Metal roofs are coming back into vogue. In the late 1700s, zinc, copper, and lead were the most popular materials used for roofing - such famous historic buildings as the Washington Monument and Thomas Jefferson's Monticello have metal roofs.
Standing-seam steel roofing is the most popular residential metal roofing today. (The term standing-seam describes the upturned edge of one metal panel that connects it to adjacent sections, creating distinctive vertical lines and a trendy historical look.) But metal roofs can also be made to resemble wood shakes, clay tiles, shingles, and Victorian metal tiles. Aluminum or coated steel is formed into individual shingles or tiles, or into modular panels four feet long that mimic a row of shingles or tiles.
Metal roofs are durable, fire retardant and almost maintenance-free. They are also energy efficient; metal reflects heat and blocks its transfer into the attic. Research by the Florida Solar Energy Center in 1985 showed that metal absorbed 34 percent less heat than asphalt shingles, and homeowners switching to metal roofing reported saving up to 20 percent on their energy bills.
Steel roofs offer other environmental benefits as well. They are made from between 60 percent to 65 percent recyclable material. Because they weigh very little, metal roofing can be installed over existing roofs, eliminating the need to dispose of excess material in a landfill.
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