Sep 27 2011
Roofing : A Look At The Main Types
As building techniques and engineering methods evolve, we are able to choose a continuously increasing range of materials to use on our homes. In the modern day, we have a vast range of options available to us. We can choose the exact style we want to get our houses not only looking the way we want, but also lasting for as long as possible.
The budget is usually the main priority of homeowners when they are considering the roofing options available to them, but actually there are a few more important points to bear in mind that tie into the budget. Some examples of these are the projected maintenance costs, the life expectancy of the material and any possible benefits that could be associated to installing a certain roofing material such as reduced energy bills or an increased house value.
There are different types of roofing available depending on the style of roof that you have. Flat roofs can be finished with gravel and tar, modified bitumen, rubber, foam, PVC or even soil with grass (more commonly known as eco-roofing). Pitched roofing can be fitted with wood shingles, clay or concrete tiles, slate or synthetic slate, or even metals such as aluminum.
The material you decide on for pitched roofs depends on the considerations mentioned above, but to go into more detail, while some types such as wood shingles are cheap and easy to install, they are only expected to last for a maximum of fifteen to twenty years depending on the grade. This means you may have to replace the roofing at some point as it begins to deteriorate. This is one of the reasons, along with aesthetic beauty, some people choose longer lasting and much more expensive materials such as slate, which has an estimated lifespan of over one hundred years.
Different metals such as steel, aluminum or copper can be used for both pitched roofs and also flat roofs. Recently many home owners and builders are beginning to use foam roofing, also more technically known as spray polyurethane foam, or SPF. This type of roofing material provides extremely good heat insulation, is easy to apply and is relatively affordable. Another very common type of roofing material is tar and gravel and modified bitumen roofing. Both of these types are applied in layers and normally finished with a mineral such as gravel. The problem with these types of roofing is that extreme cold weather can cause them to become brittle and crack. They are, however, cheap to install, if a little messy.
More : www.myredlandroof.co.uk