by Kathy Ziprik, Staff Writer
Choosing the right roof for a home is more than just an aesthetic decision. A roof has to protect a home and its occupants.
Decades ago, a roofing choice was somewhat simple because Mother Nature was fairly predictable. Fast forward to recent years and you’ll find that weather conditions are now anything but predictable.
Lightning-sparked wildfires that we used to think were isolated to California are now common in Texas, Oklahoma and the Carolinas. Microbursts and severe hail storms can be found in almost every state in the nation. And hurricane-force winds are no longer restricted to Florida… they can be found in dozens of states each year.
Before automatically selecting your roofing product, research the options related to synthetic roofing products. Crafted to resemble real slate and authentic cedar roofing shingles, polymer tiles laugh at whatever Mother Nature throws their way.
Hail and Roofs
Need convincing? Think about the increase in recent years of hail storms cropping up in different areas of the country. During a hail event, the most vulnerable place on the home is the roof. Whether pea-sized or baseball-sized, hail falling from the sky can cause major damage to asphalt shingles, cement and concrete roofs, and even ceramic and metal roofs.
“Imagine a baseball being dropped from an airplane at about 30,000 feet,” says Ray Rosewall, president and CEO of DaVinci Roofscapes. “As it falls to the ground it gains speed and can hit a roof at about 120 mph. That’s the kind of impact some hail storms can have on roofs. One of the best ways to protect a home from those conditions is to install an impact-resistant polymer roof.”
DaVinci roofing tiles replicate slate and shingle style roofs but are manufactured from a proprietary engineered polymer. The company’s manmade roof tiles are made of this engineered polymer in addition to organic fire retardants, state-of-the-art colors and UV stabilizers, and inorganic pigments that are safe for the environment. Made to withstand hail and other severe weather, the roofing tiles are Class 4 impact rated, meeting the UL 2218 Impact Test, and they’re backed by a lifetime limited materials warranty.
When the Wind Blows
What kind of damage can wind cause? It can lead to catastrophic collapse of a roof by uplifting shingles and creating openings that allow rain and debris into a home.
Synthetic roofing tiles are known for their resistance to high winds. DaVinci tiles have successfully been independently tested to resist straight line winds at 110 mph. The products have also passed the TAS-125 certification test for wind uplift resistance in High Velocity Hurricane Zones and the TAS-100 certification test for wind-driven rain.
Homeowners Jeff Lord and Karen Hudson received the surprise of a lifetime in 2008 when an F4 tornado thundered overhead. Despite the intense hail and 180-mph winds of the tornado, their home received just minor damage, thanks in large part to their DaVinci slate roof.
The destructive force of the tornado was evident in the decimation of the large lot that Lord and Hudson’s house rests on. All of the trees around the house were either ripped from the ground or sheared off by the severity of the winds.
“The insurance adjuster couldn’t believe that there was no damage whatsoever to our roof,” said Hudson, whose neighborhood had more than 40 homes destroyed. “It took him and his crew an entire morning to remove a big tree off the top of the garage, but the roof was completely intact. He was so impressed that he asked what kind of roof we had, because he wanted one for his house!”
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Christine Cooney
Christine has over a decade of experience as a house plan and floor plan expert. Outside of providing her expertise to customers to help them find and build their dream homes, her passion and knowledge of the home building industry allows Christine to guide families and builders through all of the important steps from finding plans to building custom homes that meet the expectations of today’s new home owner. Christine’s years of knowledge of the diverse trends and needs of the modern homeowner has made her into an authoritative and trusted voice in the online house plan community.