Slate

Hurricanes are a real concern for anyone who lives near the ocean in the Southeast United States. Those massive, churning storms can cause flooding, create tragedies, and literally tear down structures with their powerful, gale force winds. When a hurricane hits your area, you are at the mercy of the elements. Nevertheless, you can up the odds in your favor if you have a strong, solid roof. The reason for this is because the roof acts like armor in helping to protect the structure of your home or business from high winds that hurl debris and threaten to peel off roof tiles. Of course, you have to use the right sort of roofing materials to keep the armor intact.

DaVinci composite roofing tiles do a great job protecting your home against hurrican force winds. On many roof  types, tiles engineered by DaVinci Roofscapes are rated to withstand Class 5 Hurricane Zone Force winds and a Class 4 impact rating. The importance of having a roof that can withstand high winds is especially important because it only takes a few tiles getting blown off to dramatically weaken the rest of the roof. Those holes provide routes for high winds to enter and possibly tear off the rest of the roof.

Contact DaVinci Roofscapes by email or calling 1-800-328-4624 to learn more about the durability and beauty of DaVinci roof tiles.

Social media has been the latest "big thing" in Internet technology for a few years now. Before the advent of these user driven sites, interaction with websites was mostly limited to clicking on links to other pages or signing up for a news feed. However, once social media hit the scene, Internet users were encouraged to contribute, share, and comment rather than merely observe. In fact, social sites thrive and depend on the activities of the people who frequent them and this has made social media websites some of the most popular websites in the world.

DaVinci Roofscapes also participates in many of the same social sites that are popular with our customers. They are a fantastic means of getting direct feedback from people who use our polymer roof tiles and also give us the chance to share helpful articles and information about roof-related topics. It's also a great and easy way to stay in touch with our favorite people (you) so we love social sites like Twitter and Facebook. If you would like to get updates on the best roofing materials around and see helpful information about roofs, just include DaVinci Roofscapes as one of your contacts or friends. To connect with us on Facebook and Twiter (@davinciroof), all you have to do is click on the icons for these social sites located on the right hand side of the blog or the bottom left hand side of each DaVinci Roofscapes web page.

To learn more about how DaVinci Roofscapes products can beautify and protect your home, contact DaVinci Roofscapes by email or calling 1-800-328-4624 today.

Last week I was doing some research a stumbled upon a great resource on Angie's List. It’s National Home Improvement month – the perfect time to learn about preventative maintenance and the 5 most common roofing problems.

Click here to learn about DaVinci's low maintenace, durable polymer roof tiles.

From Saint Louis Catholic Church to the Cynthiana Baptist Church, church members nationwide are giving thanks for the sturdy polymer roofing products over their heads. Whether replaced due to old age or storm damage, replacement lightweight roofing systems are becoming popular in churches across America.

"Within the past few years we've been blessed to see a significant increase of our roofing products used for church projects,"  says Ray Rosewall, president and CEO of DaVinci Roofscapes. "The biggest trend we've witnessed is for simulated shake and slate roofing products to be used on historic churches to replicate the original look of a slate or shake roof."

Churches Coast-to-Coast

In Ohio, the 140+ year old chapel at the Dayton Veterans Administration Medical Center recently had its roof replaced. The new DaVinci plastic slate roof replicates the original large cross design with a star-studded border in medium tan slate polymer tiles on a background of black slate polymer tiles.

Another historic religious center, St. Patrick's Church in Terra Haute, Indiana, was created in 1881. A new Bellaforté slate roof was recently installed to replicate the structure's original roof. Aging copper gutters blend with the blend of greens on the lightweight roofing solution for the parishioners.

For visitors to the Sacred Heart Ukrainian Catholic Church in Johnson City, New York, it's the three 80-foot tall domes capping the massive structure that captures immediate attention. A re-roofing job done in 2011 features 90 squares of Valoré polymer shake tiles in a Tuscano color blend of light, medium light, medium and dark autumn colors. The simulated shake roofing on the church accents the wood exterior, creating a stunning structure.

Other churches featuring lightweight roofing systems from DaVinci include St. Clement Eucharist Shrine in Boston, Unitarian Universalists Church in Muncie, Indiana and the Self-Realization Fellowship in Los Angeles.

"The appeal of polymer roofing's longevity, aesthetics and durability are greatly appreciated by many church congregations," says Rosewall. "These low-maintenance products bring peace-of-mind to many churches and are truly an answer to their prayers."

A big thank you to Mark of Northrup Remodeling for letting us interview him for our blog!

How'd you first discover DaVinci?

A local rep contacted us about the DaVinci product back in 2006 and we were intrigued immediately by it’s looks and it’s longevity.

What do you like about DaVinci? Color blends? Shape of tiles? Performance? Which DaVinci products do you like? Do you have a favorite color blend?

We do a lot of high end roofing and exterior projects and DaVinci has been a great way to provide a slate look without having to have the roofing structure re-engineered.  I prefer the multi-width slate in the “brownstone classic” because these colors feel more natural and subtle. We also get a fair amount of hail in Minneapolis and we love that DaVinci has a Class 4 impact rating as well as a lifetime warranty.

What's the biggest thing that homeowners say to you about DaVinci?

Homeowners love the look of DaVinci and that it will be the last roof that they will ever have to put on their home. It’s a classic look that will last a lifetime.

Why do you like DaVinci?

I like that DaVinci has come up with a solution in providing an impeccable look with outstanding durability, this is a product that we can install with complete confidence.  When we walk away from a DaVinci job we understand that we have just provided our homeowner with a roofing solution that will provide a beautiful classic look with a lifetime warranty that we can stand behind.

Are there homeowners that you wouldn't recommend DaVinci to?

I believe that there’s a DaVinci roof that can be complimentary to any style of home. With the options that are available, DaVinci can be affordable to just about everyone.

What DaVinci products have you worked with?

We have worked with all of the DaVinci products, from the multi-width slate to the shake.  We love the versatility that comes with DaVinci

What other roofing products do you install?

We install Slate, Cedar, Spanish tile, concrete tile, standing seam and asphalt. DaVinci has been a great addition to the products that we offer.

How long have you been in the roofing  business?

I personally have been in the roofing business for 26 years and started Northrup Roofing and Exteriors 11 years ago. I was pleased to see a product like DaVinci come into our market so we could provide our homeowners with an alternative to a costly and very heavy slate roof.

Do you have a favorite DaVinci job?  In other words, a favorite house or building where you installed DaVinci?  Why is it your favorite?  Could you send photos so we can include them in the post?

One of the better looking jobs that we completed was in Minneapolis. It was a multi-width slate black that we installed with copper accessories and snow guards. This job came out looking beautiful and the homeowner was ecstatic with the results.
      

A simple response to the title of this post would be "50 years of course", but that doesn't reflect the complex realities of roofing materials, installation, and mother nature. Depending on these factors, you might need to make repairs less than ten years after the "birth" of your roof. That's not likely but can happen if your home or business has the misfortune of being hit by gale force winds, an unbelievably bad hailstorm, or if the roof wasn't properly installed. If none of those factors apply, then your roof will probably be good for decades.

Whether or not a roof can be simply repaired (or needs to be replaced) may also depend upon damage to support structures or substrate materials. However, even if support material need to be replaced, as long as roof tiles are handled with care, you might be able to reuse them and thus lower the overall repair costs. Speaking of costs, this should determine whether or not the roof should just be replaced instead of repaired. For example, if it's going to cost just as much to repair the roof over the course of ten years, it would be more cost-effective to replace the roof with newer, better materials such as polymer roof tiles that will last much longer and increase the overall value of the structure.

To learn more about the benefits of polymer roofing, contact DaVinci Roofscapes by email or calling 1-800-328-4624 today.

Some buildings and houses stand out for their historic value. Built during nearly forgotten times, their architecture bears witness to the past. It gives communities a glimpse into life from another time and the rich history that surrounds a place. With good reason, such structures need to be preserved and showcased for their historical merit. However, one of the main difficulties in preserving and maintaining such homes and buildings stems from the same main reason for keeping them around. Those structures are old and, like most things that have been around for more than a century, they need repairs.

The roofs of such historic structures are particularly susceptible to damage, and the materials that were originally used can present challenges to their preservation. Wooden shingles might be difficult to come by, or could even be illegal according to present day fire codes. The same goes for shake. And the same type of slate that was used on the original roof might cost a fortune to acquire and install. Fortunately, improvements in polymer roofing materials have made them a viable option for maintaining historical roofs. All efforts should be made to preserve the authenticity of historical roofs but if the materials are impossible to acquire, it's better to replace them with extremely similar composite tiles than not fixing the roof at all.

To learn more about how DaVinci Roofscapes products can be used on historical structures, contact DaVinci Roofscapes by email or calling 1-800-328-4624 today.    

Springtime has arrived and it’s time to dust off the “to do” list. But, how does a homeowner decide which projects should take priority? According to Mark Clement, host of MyFixItUpLife home improvement radio show, start by selecting those projects that are the most important for enhancing the functionality of the home.

“National Home Improvement Month in May is the ideal time to shine the spotlight on annual home projects that should never be overlooked,” says Clement, a professional contractor in Pennsylvania. “A home’s curb appeal is important, but working on the structural aspects of the home should always take priority.”

According to Clement, one of the top five items that homeowners should review every year during National Home Improvement Month is their roof.

“Using either a ladder or binoculars from across the street, look for problem areas, such as missing or broken shingles, along with roofing tiles that may be ‘flapping’ in the wind,” says Clement. “These are all indications that a new roof may be in your future.

"If that’s the case, research the newer products on the market, such as polymer shake and slate roofing tiles. These impact-resistant tiles are man-made in a wide variety of colors. Some roofing tiles, like those from DaVinci Roofscapes® that Clement chose for his home, are fire- and hail-resistant. They also have a 50-year limited warranty to give you peace-of-mind."

CMR Construction and Roofing, LLC knows roofs. The company is licensed in 20 states and has installed 29 DaVinci roofs nationwide in recent years.

"The DaVinci Roofscapes product has the beauty of natural slate, but with less cost and less weight, so it's extremely popular," says Kevin Smith, project leader for CMR Construction & Roofing, LLC out of Tulsa, Oklahoma. "Of all the synthetic slate products that have entered the market, DaVinci is the only one that has withstood the test and lived up to expectations."

"Many of its competitors fake slate and shake products exit within just a few short years in the market. It's the only product I recommend if a customer is looking for polymer slate products."

Smith believes the DaVinci lightweight roofing solutions are an especially good option for areas of the country subjected to hail and severe weather conditions. In 2010 he replaced the roof on the Imel home in Nichols Hills, Oklahoma after hail devastated the roof.

"The crew from CMR made our re-roofing experience a breeze," says homeowner Dean Imel. "I've personally been in the construction business for more than 30 years and know the difference between a good job and a mediocre one."

"Since I was at home during the steep slope roofing installation, I got to see them working every day. What impressed me was their attention to detail. CMR is a truly professional team that provided us with a top-rated roof that is unmatched in the marketplace. There simply is not another product out there that provides the durability, hail resistance and appearance that can touch the DaVinci roofing product."

There are hundreds of technical terms related to the construction process. When looking for a new, improved roof for your home or business, you don't need to memorize the entire construction lexicon. However, it is important to learn at least a few of the terms that you will see the most. Some additional words and terminologies associated with roofing include:

• Fascia: As with several roofing terms, this one reflects building processes that were developed in Italy during the Italian Renaissance. Despite its fancy sounding name, the fascia is just the edge of the cornice. It is usually a band of metal found just below the edge of the roof.
• Gable: This is one of the more commonly encountered words when talking about roofs. It refers to a simple triangular roof.
• Rafter: This refers to the sloped, parallel beams used to support a roof.
• Soffit: This term comes from the word "soffite", a French word for a formed ceiling and is the underside of an eave.
• Truss: Used for supporting a roof (usually a triangular one), a truss is a "ribbed" framework of beams.

To learn more about the benefits and beauty of Polymer roofing and slate roof alternatives, contact DaVinci Roofscapes by email or calling 1-800-328-4624 today.

Roofs come in a wide variety of shapes that have been designed to effectively shelter structures, easily funnel off rain and snow, or help with a building's energy efficiency. Some of the most common roof shapes include:

• Gambrel: A type of roof commonly used in the Netherlands, it has two slopes on each side of the house. The lower slope is steeper while the upper slope allows for more storage space in the top part of the structure. It's very similar to the "Mansard" roof but it hangs over the facade and has vertical gable ends.

• Pyramid: As befits the name of this roof, it has four equal sides and is thus shaped like a pyramid. It's typically found on small structures such as a garage or one or two parts of a large house.

• Hip: Much more common than the pyramid roof, it also has four sides but instead of them coming to the same point at the top of the roof, they slope up to a central ridge or flat area.

• Arched roof: This type of roof forms a rounded arch and is usually seen on garages or entranceways.

What type of roof do you have? Does it use DaVinci Roofscapes polymer roof tiles? Please tell about your roof in the comments!

To learn more about slate roof alternatives that can beautify and protect your home, contact DaVinci Roofscapes by email or calling 1-800-328-4624 today.

There is nothing like a very steep roof (at least in my opinion!), and churches have some of the steepest slopes around! The St. John's Church in Akron, OH is getting a new Bellaforté slate roof by DaVinci Roofscapes. I have been following the installation progress as posted on Coppersmith Roofing's website on this church project and find this roof, in the Milano color blend, is coming along great!

Click here to view the progress, the pictures get updated twice a week!

You can't go wrong with using high quality polymer roof tiles. Engineered with carefully tested resins that have the best impact rating against hail and are designed to withstand winds up to 110 mph, such modern day materials are truly built to last while adding a beautiful touch to every structure. Before the development of polymer tiles, the following materials were used on many American buildings:

• Clay tile: Tiles made with hardened clay were one of the first types of roofing materials used by European colonists in North America. They were a popular material for structures during the seventeenth century due to their fire-resistant nature.
• Slate: This was used on structures that date back to the seventeenth century but wasn't as popular as clay due to high costs associated with transporting slate from Wales. After railways were developed in the nineteenth century, domestic slate could be used because the price quickly dropped. Slate became a principle roofing material within the United States until cheaper asphalt shingles mostly replaced slate during the early twentieth century.
• Wooden shingles: This was the most popular roofing material for most areas of the country until the late nineteenth century due to their low cost. Although they were considered to be a fire hazard in urban areas, they weren't viewed as such for rural structures.

To learn about the benefits of slate and shake engineered with polymer resins, contact DaVinci Roofscapes by email or calling 1-800-328-4624 today.

Natural slate used to be one of the most common roofing materials until the early twentieth century when asphalt shingles were developed and popularized. Lighter in weight, easier to install, and cheaper than slate, asphalt tiles quickly replaced the flat stone as a roofing material. In more modern times, composite roof tiles may be slowly but steadily replacing asphalt shingles as a roofing material. The reasons for this include:

• Durability: Tiles made from polymer resins tend to be stronger and withstand wind better than asphalt shingles. This is especially true when dealing with asphalt tiles made with paper. Asphalt tiles fabricated with fiberglass are stronger than those made from paper, but probably don't match up to the strength of carefully engineered resins.

• Life span: Most asphalt roofs need to be replaced in as little as 15 years time due to damage caused by wind and water but can last 30. On the other hand, the strength and design of polymer products results in roofs that are routinely guaranteed for 50 years and are expected to last much longer.

• Green roof systems: The oils and hydrocarbons used to make asphalt tiles gives them a large carbon footprint and unsuitable for green roofs.

• Cost: In general, asphalt tiles cost less than roofing materials made with resins. However, this cost is probably offset in the long run by higher maintenance and decreased lifespan associated with asphalt shingles.

To learn more about the benefits of DaVinci Roofscapes products, email or call 1-800-328-4624 today.

When building a new house or building, it's worth knowing some of the terms that are involved to give you a better understanding of various aspects of the construction process. Some of the words associated with roofs that are good to know include such terminology as:

• Barge Board: Timbers may be an important part of roof structures, but roofs don't look as nice when timbers are visible. The barge board is put into place to hide any beams or timbers that project over a triangular roof.
• Beam: Just as you may have suspected, a beam can be made of wood or steel and is used to support the roof. More than one beam can be used and they help to hold up the roof.
• Cornice: This is the term used for those parts of the roof that stick out over the walls. Mountain climbers will be familiar with this term as it is also used to indicate ice or snow that hangs over a cliff.
• Eave: This refers to the beams that form a cornice. One of the main reasons for using eaves is to help make water drip away from the walls of the structure.

To learn about the benefits of using polymer roof tiles and composite shake for every roof, contact DaVinci Roofscapes by email or calling 1-800-328-4624 today.

There are two main types of roofing materials used on homes and buildings in North America. If you look hard enough, you will find a home here and there that is roofed with a zinc metal sheet or clay tiles but, in general, most houses and businesses use either shingles or shakes. Both serve the same purpose and the main difference lies with the materials they are made of. Shingles refer to overlapping roof tiles that are made of slate, asphalt, polymer resins, or other materials. Shakes can be described as a type of wooden shingle that are made from split logs.

Both shingles and shakes make for excellent roofing tiles but, once again, the quality of the roof is more a function of the materials that the tiles are made of. Asphalt shingles are cheaper but tend to be less resistant to wind, water damage, and even fire (although more flammable paper-based shingles are being phased out and replaced with more fire resistant fiberglass-based shingles). Cedar shakes look beautiful and are naturally resistant to insects but have a low resistance to fire. On the other hand, both imitation slate shingles and fake cedar shakes made with resins have the highest fire resistance rating, are resistant to winds up to 110 mph, and come in a variety of beautiful color blends.

To learn more about how DaVinci Roofscapes products can beautify and protect your home, contact DaVinci Roofscapes by email or calling 1-800-328-4624 today.

When businesses or home owners are deciding which materials to use for their new roof, one of their many concerns is if the roof will be susceptible to damage caused by insects and other pests. People often ask questions such as, "Can bugs make a home in roof tiles and slowly but surely destroy them? Are natural or composite tiles better for keeping insects from chewing a roof to pieces?"

In actuality, the potential for insects to cause damage to natural or composite roofs depends less upon the materials used and more on whether or not the roof leaks. Natural materials such as cedar shake became popular for roofs due to their inherent resistance to pests and insects who likewise avoid chewing on composite materials. That said, it would be highly unusual to have a roof that ended up being damaged by insects. Perhaps the one time when insects could end up causing damage is when the roof in question is leaking or falling apart. Water that accumulates under the tiles of a damaged natural roof can provide habitat for and attract Carpenter Ants on account of the soft, wet rotting wood. A building properly roofed in polymer tiles isn't going to have leaks but even if it did, it still wouldn't be attacked by insects that bore into and eat wood.

To learn more about how products by DaVinci beautify your home or office, email or call DaVinci at 1-800-328-4624.

Fire resistance, wherever you live, is always an important thing to consider when it comes to the roofing product that you are going to choose for your home or building. However, there are certain areas of the United States (and all around the world for that matter) where wild fires can pose a serious problem.

As a result, while others might be searching for wind resistance or impact resistance,  you might be curious about the fire resistance in our shingles.

Here's a breakdown of the fire resistance certifications for both our polymer slate roof systems and cedar shake alternative roof systems:

SLATE

• Multi-Width - Class A - ASTM E 108 with one layer 30# ASTM D 226
• Single-Width Valoré - Class A - ASTM E 108 with one layer 30# ASTM D 226
• Bellaforté - Class A - ASTM E 108 with two layers Fontana VulcaSeal G-40

SHAKE

• Multi-Width - Class A - ASTM E 108 with one layer Fontana VulcaSeal G-40
• Single-Width Valoré - Class A - ASTM E 108 with one layer Fontana VulcaSeal G-40
• Fancy Shake - Class A - ASTM E 108 with one layer of Fontana VulcaSeal G-40

Below is a photo of the burning brand test done on our synthetic slate shingles, you can see a photo of the burning brand test done on our cedar roof shingles and learn more about the burning brand test on this blog -  Class A Fire Rating by Tim Gentry.

You can see more videos that display the longevity and durability of our products on our YouTube channel.

* See DaVinci Installation Instructions for details.

In Week 1 I discussed how to overcome a price objection by pointing out not only the overall value of our products, but also telling you about Bellaforté. Sometimes when you tell people something costs less they automatically assume it is "cheaper." This simply isn't true. In the case of Bellaforté, a plastic slate roof option, it isn't the formula that is different it is the design.

The same technology used to create our slate and shake steep slope roofing material is also used to create Bellaforté, but unless you have held a sample piece in your hand, what you might not know is that Bellaforté tiles have a 3 inch headlap, leaving 12 inches exposed "to the weather" when installed. This shorter tile, which also features a built in rain gutter and a self aligning system for a weather proof installation, allows there to have only 100 pieces to fulfill a square, rather than 250 pieces or more. The result is a lower material price, a lower installed price and a lower shipping price.

This information was featured in our quarterly newsletter which went out this month. If you did not receive the newsletter, email me at mstone@davinciroofscapes.com and I will get you signed up for our mailing list.

Have a great weekend!