We've got big environmentally-friendly news to share!

In honor of Earth Day on April 22nd, we're letting everyone know that DaVinci Roofscapes almost tripled the amount of processed polymer the company recycled in 2015 over the previous year. Improved processes allowed us to recycle more than 800,000 pounds of polymer materials in 2015.

"Earth Day 2016 is a significant time for our company to share the good news about our enhanced recycling efforts," says Bryan Ward, vice president of operations at DaVinci Roofscapes in Lenexa, Kansas. "We're grinding down materials and reusing them in starter shingles.

"Our overall operation procedures and commitment to the environment has permitted DaVinci Roofscapes to recycle more than two million pounds of processed polymer in the past five years. That's a tremendous amount of material re-use that would otherwise have gone to landfills."

DaVinci Roofscapes produces polymer slate and shake roofing tiles in 50 standard colors, plus custom colors. Each time our manufacturing operation changes color runs, there is a transitioning between colors. Those transition tiles are off spec and are recycled. These tiles are segregated by color and then ground up and molded into starter shingles, which are generally unseen on the roof.

"Because every roofing tile we create is 100 percent recyclable, our operations are extremely environmentally-friendly," says Ward. "In 2016 we'll take our commitment to recycling a step further by investing in a new grinding recycling system that handles purge (melted chunks of polymer that can weigh approximately 50 pounds) as well as off spec product. With this new piece of equipment, we anticipate recycling more than a million pounds of polymer a year going forward!"

Want more GREEN DaVinci news? See DaVinci Roofscapes Supports Recycling Effortsand Return Those DaVinci Scraps!

The Aberdeen Blend is one of our more colorful options in our Multi-Width Slate line. The blend is comprised of 5 individual colors - Dark Gray, Light Brown, Dark Purple, Green Stone, and Dark Stone and 5 widths - 12", 10", 9", 7" and 6" and pre-mixed for size and for color before shipping out to the jobsite. The bundles are pre-blended so the blending doesn't have to happen on the ground or driveway of the homeowner during installation. 

This colorful roof was installed by a loyal DaVinci Roofscapes contractor, Advanced Exteriors, out of Denver. Their crews don't shy away from any DaVinci product including Bellaforté Shake , Single-Width Shake, and other colorful blends in the Multi-Width Slate. 

Interested in shaking up the exterior of your home with a little color? Contact your local contractor, like Advanced Exteriors, for samples, or contact us and we'll be happy to get some information out to you. 

Advanced Exteriors
303-756-7663
www.advancedexteriors.com

We have worked hard to change our 40 year old home into a "Florida look" home. We first painted the brown brick with a Niagara product called Niagara Coatings, and then found a similar color shingle roof. We wanted to blend our home and make it look bigger. Now it's time to re-roof and when we looked for a similar color product, we found you. We are open to new ideas as well.

Michelle Myers
St. Catharines, Ontario
Product: DaVinci

********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Dear Ms. Myers,

Your home does show the "Florida look" influence you were going after. To keep that same look in the future you will want to stay with a light roof.

Although not shown on the website we do have a few whites/lights that are available to you - Katie can let you know about the specific options available to you. I think we have a custom color that has been done and is close to the color of your existing roof however it is difficult for me to get a good read on the exact color from your photograph.

Alternately, you could go with a pale to light gray. There are several that you can see in the Color Designer Tool and again Katie can help you with colors.

As you consider your roof color, don't be afraid to go away from a true gray. As long as you stick to a light or pale color you can carry off the same look. Light Gray, Light Weathered Gray or even Light Chesapeake. Sometimes a slight change instead of an exact replacement can be just enough to make you feel like you've updated your entire look if that is what you are hoping for with the new roof.

I hope that gives you the insight you are looking for as you choose a new roof for your "sunny" home.

Sincerely,

Kate Smith
DaVinci Roofscapes Color Expert

Ask 10 people what's the best thing about real cedar shake roofing and you'll probably get the same answer from each person: the appearance.

Then, ask those same 10 people what's the worst thing about cedar roof shingles. You may get 10 different answers. Insect infestations. Decay. Fire. Splitting. Termites. Curling. Rotting. You get the idea.

The solution is actually fairly simple. Find a roofing product with the natural look of real cedar shake but with none of the inherent problems. That's how we created our synthetic shake roofing material.

At DaVinci Roofscapes, we've taken real pieces of cedar to create the molds for our simulated shake roofing. There are different grain patterns and sizes to replicate natural hand-split real cedar, complete with slanted sawn edges and staggered lengths. And, we offer our Multi-Width, Single-Width and Bellaforté Shake composite roofing in a wide variety of color options ... so you can get everything from varying shades of Weathered Gray to Autumn to Chesapeake.

Best of all, you can say fair riddance to that lengthy list of problems that are sure to crop up with real cedar shingles. (See No Sissy Shakes)

Each DaVinci Shake roofing tile is made of virgin resins that include fire retardants, state-of-the-art color and ultraviolet stabilizers and inorganic pigments that are safe for the environment. The synthetic shakes resist insects, decay and weathering. And, each tile is completely recyclable. 

What to learn more? See how DaVinci Shakes Up Cedar Shake Roofing Options

If you're planning a trip to Richmond, Va. in the future, make sure to include a "tour of DaVinci Roofscapes polymer roofs."

It's easy to do. Just visit Lewis Ginter Botanical Gardens and make sure to pass by the Evelyn D. Reinhart House at St. Mary's Hospital. Both these locations have sustainable roofing from DaVinci.

When you're at the botanical gardens, visit the Bloemendaal House, built in 1884. With views of Lakeside Lake, the historic home hosts wedding receptions, small events and unique functions. And, atop the two-story house you'll find Bellaforté Slate roofing tiles in Castle Gray --- the perfect accent for the lovely setting.

On the campus of St. Mary's Hospital you'll find the spacious new 14,000-square-foot Evelyn D. Reinhart House. The structure includes 16 guest rooms and is used for guests of the hospital as a "home away from home." On top of this beautiful building you'll find Single-Width DaVinci roofing tiles in Slate Gray.

It's no surprise that shades of gray are so popular on these Richmond roofs. According to color expert Kate Smith with Sensational Color, gray is a classic, timeless color. (See The Power of Gray)

"Gray is a color with historic roots that is at home on a beach bungalow or a stately mansion," says Smith. "Shades of gray continue to increase in popularity because of the color's widespread appeal.

"The color gray reflects the finer things in life, a respect for history, and a love of colors that are as complex as we are. Gray tones are mysterious in many ways ... especially in how they can both 'carry' a color scheme or sit back and serve as a bolster to other colors."

Selecting a new roof for your home can seem like a challenging task ... but what about when you're involved in selecting roofs for 35 homes?

That's the scenario Jim Packard found himself in when hail damaged the roofs of all 35 condos in the Catawba Shores community back in 2013. The damage was so bad to the roofs on the homes located on Lake Erie that the insurance company subsidized the cost of replacing all of them.
 
That's the good news. But the community was constructed in 1985 and the homeowners expected to get more "life" out of their real cedar shakes. (SeeLakeside Condo Community Relies on Bellaforté Shake Roofing Tile) 

“The hail damage caught us by surprise," says Packard, president of the Catawba Shores Homeowners Association in Port Clinton, Ohio. "We quickly learned that real wood shakes just don’t hold up against Mother Nature.”

After researching the community’s options and meeting with a contractor from Industrial Tech Construction and a representative a DaVinci Roofscapes, the Catawba Shores community committed to the man-made Bellaforté Shake roofing tiles.

“We’re all extremely pleased with the authentic appearance of these synthetic shake tiles and how they’ve given a fresh, new look to our condos,” says Packard. “More importantly, we feel we made the right selection with DaVinci since these roofing tiles are impact-, hail-, insect-, algae- and fire-resistant.

"We estimate that we’re saving more than $10,000 per year on the ongoing maintenance costs from our old roof, and we’ve got the peace-of-mind that these roofs will help protect our units from fire and hail."

With 50 individual colors and 7 product lines to choose from, we'll admit that we offer a lot of choices to our customers. Spending my days working with architects and other design professionals, I see the work that goes into making sure you choose not only the right product for your clients, but also the right color for their homes or projects. We offer a variety of tools to help, any of which we'd love for you to take advantage of:

1. The Project Specialist - at DaVinci Roofscapes, everybody who is interested in learning more about our products is a customer, not just somebody who works in the building material field. We have folks here at the plant who are dedicated to talking exclusively to homeowners. They can attest, the majority of their days are spent on the phone with folks who are ready to roof, but need assistance in choosing a color. They are happy to take a look at photos of the house (or future house), paint samples, siding samples, or brick/stone samples, and make suggestions on what product and color may look best. To get in touch with a Project Specialist click here. 

2. Color Expert Advice - for several years now we've been working with Kate Smith, a Color Expert and owner of Sensational Color. Kate has written two books for us, the most popular outlining her F.R.E.S.H. Approach, which guides homeowners and designers on a simple and methodical way at choosing exterior color. You can download these books for free by clicking here, or, if you are in need of some credit hours, you can take the continuing education course that is online and based off this book. Click here and you will jump over to AEC Daily for this free online learning course. 

3. Samples - This is probably the most important thing in choosing color. You can't decide until you see it in person, and we offer samples of any product in any standard color for free. While we can do the best we can with good photography of our blends on our website, blogs, and literature, seeing the samples outside, in the sun, next to the building's other major fixed features is the only way to choose a color. We offer color chips, individual tiles, and sample boards in every product in every color blend, and we're happy to send as many as you need for your project. 

Also, we will always stress the importance of putting your samples outside (even nailing them up on your roof, if you can) and watching them for several days in all lighting. This is recommended as a photo is just a snapshot of a color at one moment in time. The color of a roof can shift throughout the day, all due to lighting, so it is important that a color is approved after seeing it at all times of the day. See below. These photos show the same product and color blend, but they look pretty different because of the lighting at the time of day the photo was taken, as well as other factors, like the direction of the house, the cloud cast, and the time of year. One photo shows the Mountain Blend looking pretty brown and the other shows it looking more gray. Same product and color, different lighting.

Happy Friday, Architects! 

When you look at a roof, your attention mainly goes to the field tiles, which are the tiles that make the majority of a roof. Sometimes, though, it is all in the details. For our polymer slate and shake roof systems we offer all the accessories including starter tiles, one piece hip/ridge tiles, two piece hip/ridge tiles, transition tiles, and turret tiles. All of these components, combined with the field tiles, makes up all the parts that a contractor would need to complete your roof. 

Ramon Roofing out of Fort Worth, TX recently completed a job in Single-Width Slate in the Castle Gray Blend and sent over some great pictures of the details of the roof, including one with a custom made cap to top a turret. Recently, the Dallas/Fort Worth area experienced a bit of hail and we're thinking these homeowners are glad they put on a DaVinci Roofscapes' impact resistant roof!

Ramon Roofing
817-924-1645
www.ramonroofing.com

May is a month of many strange celebrations. There's Lumpy Rug Day on the 3rd, Dance Like a Chicken Day on the 14th and Tuba Day on the 6th. Those are nothing special compared to World Naked Gardening Day on the 7th and International Tiara Day on the 24th!

While some people may be excited about No Socks Day on the 8th, at DaVinci Roofscapes we're more likely to circle the dates of May 15-21 on our calendar. That's National Hurricane Preparedness Week --- an event we take very seriously. This is a time families and businesses should take to assess their daily locations, get updated on tips to handle hurricane situations, and prepare emergency plans.

Mother Nature hits us with all her fury when a hurricane strikes. High winds, hail and severe flooding are all part of her calling card.

In a hurricane, there are four vital areas of a structure that need to securely stay in place to keep a home or business standing --- the windows, entry doors, garage door and the roof. If one of these elements is breached, then Mother Nature comes inside to cause massive damage. (See 2015 Hurricane Season: Are You Ready?)

If you're in an area prone to hurricane situations, make sure you take time now, before Hurricane Season starts on June 1st, to evaluate the condition of your roof. We offer advice for how to do this, along with the benefits of having composite roofing, at Prepare Your Home for 2013 Hurricane Season.

This month, get serious about preparing for the 2016 Hurricane Season. After you've taken the necessary precautions to safeguard your home, then go ahead and celebrate Put a Pillow on Your Fridge Day on May 29th. It's an old tradition started in the 1930s to bring good luck to a household!

By Matt Webster
Extreme "How-To" Magazine

The actual technique of attaching shingles to a roof is not especially difficult. Assuming you’re working on a sound roof foundation, then careful shingle alignment and proper fastener location are the keys to success.

However, installing an entire roof can be grueling work. Stacks of shingles are very heavy. The blazing sun can be merciless. If you plan to remove old shingles, you’ll also be faced with the big job of cleanup and disposal. And, stabilizing yourself for hours at a time on a sloped surface can tax muscles that you forgot you had.

If you’re not a fan of heights, then avoid terrifying yourself by working on a roof. And even if you’re fearless, always tether yourself to a securely anchored fall-restraint harness when working above a ladder.

Roofing contractors show up to the jobsite with multi-man crews for several good reasons. Think twice—no, three times—before attempting your own DIY roof project. With no one to help load and unload the roofing material, you’ll have a long slog ahead of you, to say the least. Take a week off work. Estimate the number of trips you’ll make up and down a ladder then multiply that by ten to arrive at a realistic figure.

Here’s a Pro Tip: Begin the job by carrying all the shingles onto the roof and storing them at the ridge line, rather than toting them up one at a time as needed. Doing so will complete that phase of hard labor early in the day, leaving the lighter work of nailing shingles for later (when you’re tired).

After tackling my own project, I would recommend DIY roof installation only to the most die-hard of handy homeowners, and even then for only small roofs with simple designs. I’m glad to say I did the work and learned from the experience, but I don’t want to do it again. It’s a large-scale job that requires more hands and strong backs than I was born with.

Need more polymer roofing installation insights? Click HERE for a story I created for Extreme How-To magazine last year! 

Spring storms come fast and hard in the Midwest. This is the time of year when Midwesterners have to hunker down and prepare for the worst.

That's exactly what happened last year to homeowners Thomas and Tammy Ritchie in Wichita, Kansas.

"Our house was hit last Spring by 100mph winds, or possibly a small twister," says Tammy Ritchie. "We lost a good chunk of our concrete roof and ended up getting replacement roof appraisals from three different companies.

"We decided to invest in a Bellaforté Shake synthetic roof from DaVinci Roofscapes. We were impressed by how well this shake alternative roof tested against 100+ mph winds and it looked truly authentic. The added bonus is that our insurance company, Farm Bureau, offers us a yearly discount on our homeowners insurance with this fake cedar shake roof."

Bellaforté Shake polymer roofing tiles feature a leading edge tab that secures every tile to drastically improve wind performance. The composite shake tiles have passed the ASTM D 3161 test for 110 mph wind resistance, along with the UL 2218 testing for Class 4 impact resistance. (SeeHuff and Puff ... and DON'T Blow Composite Roofing Away) The designer roof has a lifetime limited material warranty and a Class A fire rating.

The Ritchies relied on Heiland Roofing and Exteriors to install their new synthetic shake roof. "Heiland did an amazing job," says Ritchie. "We wouldn't change one thing about our decision to hire them.

"The team cleaned up the entire work area every night and left things neat and tidy. The workers were polite and professional, and Mike Heiland kept us informed throughout the entire job of his progress."

According to Ritchie, the entire experience turned from a windy, bad mess to a positive move for the homeowners. "The roof looks great and I love knowing that it has passed the test to resist the crazy winds we get here in Kansas," says Ritchie. "Now we have a reliable roof overhead and we're saving on our insurance premiums!"

Have you ever wanted to be bolder with your color choices? Try something that really stands out or shouts "wow"? If so, I say, 

"Go for it!"

The only caveat I'll add is that you make wise choices about where, when and how you get adventurous with color.

If you want to top off your look with bright blue strands like Katy Perry or rainbow highlights like Selena Gomez give it a try. It would be best to wait until after an important job interview or big day to dye your hair but other than that, why not? You can take that color risk. If you don't love your unconventional hair color no problem. Your hair will grow out or you can recolor it or maybe it was only temporary to begin with. It is a color risk but one without big consequences if it goes wrong.

The time not to take a color risk is when you are topping off your home with a new roof. A roof with a lifetime warranty last a long time so you are going to live with that decision for many years. That doesn't mean you only have to go with black or gray although those are often great choices. All of DaVinci Roofscapes 50 colors are inspired by nature what I consider "can't go wrong" colors. Still if you need some guidance we are here to help. Start by going to the Color Studio where you will find lots of great guidance. If you still need help you can get in touch by going to "Get Advice From Our Color Expert"

Multi-Width Slate in Aberdeen was a wise not risky choice for this home.

In fashion mixing prints and patterns is often said to be one of the riskiest trends. However, when you get it right, it can give you a show stopping look. For mixing patterns in fashion you may hear that the way to go is to stick with the same color families in the prints. That can work but you don't have to use all of the same colors. The real key is to make sure that one of the patterns, regardless of the colors, acts as a neutral. Not necessarily that it is a neutral color but neutral because the pattern doesn't call too much attention to itself. So go ahead and combine patterns with many colors. Just keep in mind that all of the prints can be different but only one or two can really stand out. 

When choosing a roof or other materials with texture or pattern for your home you need to keep that same advice in mind. For example, when choosing roofing tiles, you can choose a single color with soft variation, several similar colors or multi colors. The same is true in materials such as stone or brick. It is the variation between the colors that accentuates the pattern. When you mix these different colors, textures and patterns on a home exterior they cannot all compete for attention. If your home is a solid color brick that can act as your neutral when adding a patterned roof such as DaVinci Slate in Aberdeen, Vineyard or European blends. If you brick has lots of variation of colors in it then the roof should not include lots of color or pattern variations or it will compete with the brick pattern. A roof that is more solid in color will allow the brick to stand out and the two elements will work together to create a cohesive look.

As Michael Kors says, "I've always thought of accessories as the exclamation point of a woman's outfit." I couldn't agree more and encourage to take risks with color and style when it comes to accessorizing your style. Personally, I follow the "more is better" philosophy of Iris Apfel. Take risks with your accessories and accent colors. And if you aren't sure it works take this bit of advice from Coco Chanel, who gave this advice about dressing with accessories, “Before you leave the house, look in the mirror and take one thing off.”

The way I think about accents and accessories for you home exterior is almost the opposite of the way I think about these things in fashion. On your exterior more is not always better. A few well-placed color and accent pieces are going to give your home the best look. Too many will keep your eye jumping from place to place never allowing it to focus on any one spot. Figure out the one or two things about the front of you home that make a statement. Then you can find ways to use embellish or call attention to these features. Color is a great way to have those elements grab the spotlight. Painting your front an eye-catching color calls attention to your entrance. An accent roof can highlight an attractive bay window. The colors on your patio that link to the colors inside can fool the eye and make the interior space feel larger.

Once you understand where, when and how it makes sense to take risks with color and when it doesn't you can make choices that work well for you. So go on and get a bit bolder with your color choices. Sometimes risks are worth taking.

When shopping for products for a residential project, showing your clients homes similar to theirs may help get some decisions made. With the help of our loyal contractors we're lucky enough to get plenty of projects to feature here on the DaVinci Roofscapes Blog! Check out below for some recently featured projects, all residential, but all very different.

Featured Project - Fort Worth, TX

Historic properties look great with a maintenance free shake! Click here to read more. 

Featured Project - Chicago, IL

"Can your products be installed over a curve?" Click here to find out. 

Featured Project - Englewood, CO

Multi-Width impact resistant slate tiles + snow guards = amazing! Click here to read more about this project. 

Featured Project - Fort Worth, TX

It really is just all in the details. Click here to read about this Single-Width Slate project in Texas.

Happy Friday, Architects! 

Wow! It is like our luxury roof tiles were made for the mansard on this apartment complex located in Mentor, OH. The Deepwoods North Apartments met their steep slope roofing match with Bellaforté Shake in the Tahoe color blend when Runyon & Sons Roofing installed the material on the project last year. Using our imitation shake products enables apartment complexes and other multi-family living structures to have the aesthetic quality that brings renters in, but overall will save them on wear and tear that happens to shakes. 

When I was preparing to write this blog, I showed this photo to our VP of Technical Services, Tim Gentry. He liked the way Runyon & Sons Roofing (also out of Mentor, OH) did the flashing detail around the windows and up top where the flat roof meets the Bellaforté Shake tiles. Thank you for sharing your photos with us Runyon & Sons!

Runyon & Sons Roofing
440-974-6810
www.runyonroofing.com

May is Home Improvement Month ... and what could possibly improve a home more than a new designer roof?

For the Kellerman family in Kansas, their decision to invest in a new composite slate roof came after their old cedar shake roof "ran out of life."

"We shopped for our roof for about three years, talking to contractors and looking at different types of roofs, before deciding on DaVinci Roofscapes," says Kevin Kellerman. "We felt the DaVinci composite roofing met our desire for an upgraded look that would complement our home's architectural style. It also has the superior durability ratings and long-term warranty that are important to us."

When deciding to invest in a new roof, the Kellermans also made a switch --- from real cedar shake to composite slate --- giving their home a fresher, more updated look.

"The appearance is everything we hoped it would be," according to Margaret Kellerman. "We've received many compliments from passersby and our neighbor thinks it's magnificent. Actually, we still admire this gorgeous roof ourselves every time we drive down our street!

"From a practicality standpoint, we have greater peace of mind knowing that this polymer slate roof can stand up to all types of weather conditions. When weather conditions are inclement, we know we are dry, safe and sound under this durable roof."

Part of what made the new roof experience so pleasant for the Kellermans was working with a quality roofing team. The couple hired Epic Exteriors in Kansas City to tackle the project.

"Shawn Bellis and his team worked hard, were respectful of our property and made sure to clean up after themselves during every stage of the project," says Kevin Kellerman. "In addition to getting the new roof, we also had new skylights, roof vents and gutters installed, plus we added insulation to our attic. It was a big project and they tackled it with skill.

"Shawn took care of our home as if it was his own. That level of personal commitment and professionalism helped make this a tremendous home improvement project for us."

Need more space for your lawnmower, gardening tools and snow blower? Consider building a backyard shed. It's not as difficult as you may think.

Home improvement expert Joseph Truini has just come out with his third shed-building book for active DIYers. Building Sheds includes step-by-step instructions for constructing five different styles of sheds plus an introduction to shed-building methods and materials.

Don't be surprised to see composite roofing from DaVinci Roofscapes make a guest appearance in the book. Truini, who has worked with DaVinci's imitation slate shingles in the past, used our synthetic slate roofing tiles to cover a 10-foot by 10-foot board-and-batten style shed he constructed for the book.

"The faux-slate roofing from DaVinci is incredibly durable so it's ideal for a shed," says Truini. "For this project we installed the polymer slate tiles in a one-inch staggered pattern, but they can also be nailed in a straight line. I think the staggered pattern produces a much more interesting-looking roof, but it does take quite a bit longer than running the roofing courses in straight lines." (see also Installing DaVinci Lightweight Tiles With a Staggered Pattern)

Several pages in the Building Sheds book (which is published by The Taunton Press and can be found at Lowe's stores and on Amazon.com and Taunton.com) are dedicated to the step-by-step installation of the imitation slate roof.

"Most shed-building books are filled with pretty pictures of finished sheds, but they give very little advice on how to actually build a shed," says Truini. "From the onset, I wanted to take a decidedly different and very DIY-friendly approach by showing how to build backyard buildings, starting quite literally from the ground up and topping off with some great roofs."

This is National Historic Preservation Week ... a great time to reflect on the older structures that grace our country and how we take care of them.

From coast to coast, when it's time to refurbish the roofs of historic churches, museums, courthouses and other structures, industry professionals turn to DaVinci Roofscapes.

"Our synthetic slate roof shingles and composite shake tiles look so realistic that historical groups eagerly move from authentic slate and real cedar shakes to our polymer roofing products," says Mark Hansen, vice president of sales and marketing with DaVinci Roofscapes. "Even the most die-hard historian appreciates the beauty of our synthetic roofing material along with its attributes of resistancy to fire, insects and impact."

If you're traveling around the country and want to check out our durable roofing materials on historic projects, make sure to visit these renovated sites featuring DaVinci roofs:

            - DuSable Museum in Chicago - Happy National Museum Day!

            - Olde Liberty Station Restaurant in Virginia -Historical Sites Rely on Polymer Roofing

            - St. Clement Eucharist Shrine in Boston - DaVinci Roofs: An Answer to Many Prayers

            - Animas Museum in Colorado - Museum Rooftops

            - Dayton Veteran's Administration Chapel in Ohio - Churches Thankful for Roofs Overhead

            - First Presbyterian Church in Jacksonville, Oregon - History Repeats Itself --- With DaVinci Composite Roofing

Are you planning on heading to Philadelphia May 19-21st for the 2016 American Institute of Architects Convention & Expo? We'll be there too! Swing by Booth # 2523 and check out what's new with our environmentally friendly roof systems.  

Want to get a head start on your continuing education? Jump over to AEC Daily and take one or both of our online learning courses! 

See you next week! 

Some roofs are pretty simple, but some are full of hips, valleys, and dramatic pitch changes. This week's featured project is of the complicated variety, and Twin Metals, out of Billerica, MA, was kind enough to send some aerial photos of a project that they completed last fall in Winchester. 

For this roof, the homeowner's chose DaVinci Roofscapes' Multi-Width Slate polymer roof tiles for the field tiles, but accented the roof with copper hips, ridges, and valleys. I also notice their use of copper snow guards, which is something we always recommend in areas where snow fall is possible. In my opinion, the aerial shot gives the best view. 

Twin Metals, Inc
978-663-2563
www.twinmetals.com

Snow guards should be considered in all geographic areas where accumulating snow fall is possible.

When you're working with a builder to construct your dream home, there are lots of decisions to make. What type of wood for the cabinets? Which finish do you want on the appliances? What type of plumbing products do you like?

The word "overwhelming" comes to mind for homeowner Cindy S., who is in the process of finalizing plans for a new family new home.

"It seems like every hour of the day we're making another major product decision," says Cindy. "We research our options and try to make the best choices, but there are some times that it feels like a crushing process."

After the family decided on a Bellaforté Shake roof from DaVinci Roofscapes, they thought their roofing decisions were over.  Not so fast.

"We average 54 inches a year of snowfall in our area, so people really encouraged us to get snow guards on the roof," says Cindy. "We were reluctant at first, because we didn't want to mar the look of the home's exterior. Then we did the smart thing --- we asked the folks at DaVinci what they advised.

"Without hesitation they recommended snow guards because of our geographic setting. Next they connected us with the experts at Rocky Mountain Snow Guards. That was our big turning point.

"The snow guard professionals were able to evaluate our roof plans and house design to determine the most strategic locations for the snow guards. They offered advice on which snow guards will work best for our roof and how many should be installed.

"When we expressed concerns about the appearance of the roof with snow guards, they even recommended we could have them powder coated to match the color of the synthetic shake roof tiles we selected. Sold! Now we're eager for construction to begin and can't wait to see what the roof and the snow guards will look like on our new home."

Do you have questions about lightweight roofing tiles and the need for snow guards? If so, see Slip, Sliding Away... Might Need Snow Guardsand Q & A Guide to Snow Guards.