When it comes to taking care of your roof, there are a lot of services available out there. Unless you built your nest from the ground up, you likely have no idea how roof building goes because it was done by the time you acquired the home – and this is okay.
Whether you built the house or not, as a homeowner you will be responsible for its maintenance and repair over the course of time. You will need to do regular checkups (most contracting companies will be happy to offer you a free roof inspection), fix the broken and damaged, and replace the problematic bits. However, all of these various services can be roughly categorized by the universal factor – relative cost.
The costs of roofing services can be grouped into low (for rolled and asphalt roofing), medium (for metal, clay, synthetic), and high (for copper, slate, and green roofing). Since the latter are pretty specialized, they are beyond the scope of this basic guide, but check back in a bit – we might do a guide on high-end roofing too!
Budget-friendly
Rolled roofing is properly known as the MSR – Mineral Surfaced Roll roofing approach. These types of roofs have skyrocketed in popularity because they are affordable, and easy to install in place as well. If you are a do-it-yourself kind of person, this will be the perfect option for you!
MSR roofing is a good choice for a roof that has a low pitch but is not entirely flat. It tends to last around five to eight years and is, generally speaking, considered not to be all that durable. It does not respond well to fluctuations in temperature nor to mechanical stress. Many homeowners, therefore, skip it when it comes to their main roofs, and instead pick this option for auxiliary buildings like tool sheds, garages, storage and such, or use it in short term, first-aid type of roofing.
Asphalt shingles can be found crowning around eighty percent of the homes in the United States. This material is not all that expensive, is widely available, and easy to handle and install. Check out this article to see how it works. The installation process itself is also cheaper. These shingles can also be removed quickly and replaced easily, or you can just add a new layer over them. This makes stop-gap measures or full-blown repairs a lot easier to execute in a timely fashion.
For those people concerned with the minutia of aesthetics, asphalt shingles come in a wide variety of styles beyond the default ugly gray rectangles. Their greatest downside is that they have basically zero impact resistance. If there is hail, strong wind, or a branch or tree falls on your roof, you will inevitably be faced with cracks and leaks. The average asphalt roof holds out for around twenty to thirty years.
The middle road
In the medium-value area of the cost spectrum, metal roofs are arguably the most popular. Choices of material include aluminum, zinc, tin, copper, and even galvanized steel if you are willing to spring a bit.
While they are significantly more expensive than asphalt, they are much more durable, boast higher longevity, and are much more efficient energy-wise. The average “life expectancy” of a metal roof ranges from forty to seventy years, and they are famous for outstanding performance in strong winds.
Another major perk is that insects and other pests are not able to eat into a metal roof. Moreover, they reflect more light than most other roofing options, and they can bring your energy bills down by about a quarter of your average total. Perhaps their greatest selling point is eco-friendliness – a metal roof is recyclable, unlike an asphalt one. To learn more about metal recycling, follow this link: https://www.thebalancesmb.com/an-introduction-to-metal-recycling-4057469
Of the alternatives, clay roofing is wanted for the balance of durability, temperature resistance, and aesthetics, not to mention self-cleaning, but is shirked for its cost. Installation prices are high because it has to be handled by experts. Synthetic slate is usually plastic, rubber, or steel. It has the look of natural slate, while being more durable, fire-resistant and easier to install.
