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Wednesday, March 2, 2011

How to Pick A Roof Style

In college a mate told me "taste is a matter of taste." This might be true for a shirt or shoe style but when you pick a roof, resale and architectural truths become determining forces. If you let the ex-con roofer pick your $15,000.00 roof and have decided that a well trained professional cannot do a better job, then just hang up now, because that's what you do when you terminate the Internet connection. Maybe you should let let your yard man or your waiter purvey your furniture for you too.

 But if you decide to make your home reach it's full potential, with cost in mind of course, then you might want to read the next few paragraphs. Otherwise buzz off and quit using electricity, unless you have renewable wind or solar.

The Frank Lloyd Wright homes to the Cap Cod with dormers have different needs. We've already discussed color and the old hag won, but today I shall come out on top. I'm King of the World Ma! Oops, Cagney died in that scene. Never saw the movie but I've seen that clip many times.

In the beginning, right after mud huts and log cabins, in New England, there was the Colonial or Early American style. Later the old Red Coat style called Tudor Style came into fashion. Here we go slate, slate slate. A wood look is okay, but slate or stone is best. Just think New England. So if you don't go real slate or TrueSlate, you can go with Certainteed's Symphony or the asphaltic Slateline, Country Mansion, Camelot, Grand Manor, Highland Slate, or Carriage House.The Capstone reminds one of cut stone, almost a slate.

If you have a lower slope, the face of the shingle becomes less important and the butt end becomes prominent. Here comes the heavy wood look like the Certainteed Presidential or GAF Sequoia. Both of these have big brothers that are really massive.

French Colonial is right their with a slate look but I believe tile looks bad here. Tile like Gerard or the less impressive Decra look good on French Colonial, Spanish, or even Ranch.

Ranch looks good with the wood look products right down to the good old Timberline, America's favorite roof. If you budget does not allow for the designer shingles, Timberline is a great second choice, but be sure to get the High Definition version and not the lame Natural Shadow. Think of it as a builder grade.

Most manufacturers have virtual remodelers on their websites that allow you to select a style of home close to yours and then modify the brick, paint, roof style and color. The better ones allow you to download a picture of your home, or any random home you want, and then manipulate it to your heart's content.

Remember that if you choose the wrong color and style, it may be up their for a long time. But other hot buttons exist like energy efficient high emissivity roofs and impact resistant roof that can help lower your premiums and even keep you from going through the reroof process after a hail storm.

Color trumps style but a cheap roof looks cheap. On many homes the roof makes the first impression and that is the one that lasts.

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