During a recent trip to Holland, I was amazed to discover that thatch roofing is still widely used on homes. Made of dry vegetation mixtures of straw, rushes, heather or water reed, this type of roof is known for its thickness.

Through a layering process, these popular roofs can reach eight or more inches in depth. And, when the roof starts to deteriorate over time, homeowners simply have more thatching put over the existing layers to increase the depth!

As my tour guide explained, one of the more interesting aspects of thatched roofs is when the homeowners have enough money to make their roofs look "prestigious" by shaping the thatching into a "bell" with tile showing through. Whether in The Netherlands, United Kingdom or Ireland, this unique look symbolizes the wealth and style of the homeowner.

As a person used to all the advantages of the polymer Bellaforté Slate roofing tiles on my own home back in the United States, I couldn't imagine dealing with the maintenance, fire hazards and general concerns of a thatched roof --- but that doesn't mean I didn't appreciate seeing these interesting roofs scattered throughout the countryside!

If you are looking for a new roof and would like to have a fake slate or a fake shake product installed on your home or buildings' roof, then you might be up for considering our Bellaforté lightweight roofing systems.

Our Bellaforté product is one of the most innovative roofing products on the market - the tiles interlock so that they not only are easy to install, but they also have a superior wind performance as a result. These tiles are patented, self-aligning and snap-fit.

Furthermore, because they are 12" wide shingles and are easy to install, it makes Bellaforté one of the most affordable plastic roofing materials on the market.

Bellaforté Slate comes a number of color blends including: Cambridge, Milano, Sabino, Sedona, Slate Black, Slate Gray, Verde, and Villa.

Bellaforté Shake is in color blends that include: Abruzzo, Espresso, Tuscano, Verona, and Harbor Gray.

An added bonus: Bellaforté lightweight roofing tiles are backed with a 50-year-limited warranty, just like all of our great DaVinci products.

Do you have questions about our Bellaforté products that we can answer? Please feel free to leave a comment below and we will get in touch!

Whenever you use a natural product, you run the risk of having mold, mildew or fungus - unless, of course, that natural product is properly treated to resist those things. Unfortunately, that "treatment" is only temporary and as it wears off, the natural wood or stone then becomes susceptible to mold, mildew and fungus all over again. So you have to continue to retreat the roof to avoid the problems.

However, when you use a man made product like our plastic roofing materials, then you significantly reduce that risk.

That's why we call our tile roofs virtually maintenance free - because not only do they have a long life (50 years), but they also are virtually hassle free during those 50 years.

We hear quite often from our customers how important low maintenance and pest resistance are to them. For example, check out what North Carolina roofer, Stacey Stines had to say about our products vs. natural shake: "Well, the weather here is #1. We get as much as rain and as we do sun. With the amount of trees we have around, natural wood roofs constantly stay wet and never dry out. So there are a lot of bug problems as a result.  We have carpenter ants and a lot of times, when we tear off an old wood roof, the roof is crawling with them, but not with DaVinci because it doesn't absorb water."

We love to hear the advantages of our products - what have you found to be advantageous about DaVinci?

Maybe you've bought your dream home. Maybe you're currently planning your dream home. Or maybe you are opening a new business and are looking for a roof with a lot of color options. Well, you're in luck, because if you're crazy about color... so are we!

DaVinci is known for our color options and more importantly our color tools and our color expert.

First, you might have a blast playing around with our online color designer. This tool allows you to chose up to 5 colors to create your own color blend, depending on the DaVinci product you are interested in:

The FRESH Guide to Home Exterior Colors and the FRESH - 5 Steps For Choosing Exterior Color video, both by our color expert Kate Smith, are additional online tools we have available to help you select your perfect exterior colors. The best part, they're FREE!

Last but certainly not least, you can also ask our color expert, Kate, what she thinks!  Post a photo of your home or building here and find out what she thinks is the best color for your future luxury roof.

A roof makes a statement about your home or building and we know how important it is to be proud of such a huge aspect of any dwelling.

Do you have a photo of your DaVinci plastic slate roof? We want to see! It might help give other people suggestions on what to do with their roof. Please share your story here.

With today being Independence Day, it's important to focus in on all things American --- including manufacturers that support America.

Based in Kansas City, Kansas, DaVinci Roofscapes has been producing 100 percent "Made in America" roofing products for the past 14 years.

"Responsible American consumers can research the products they purchase and make a conscious effort to support our country by purchasing products made in the U.S.A." says Ray Rosewall, DaVinci's president and CEO.

"We provide jobs to Americans, support the economy with the taxes we pay as a company, and produce beautiful, top-quality polymer roofing products that Americans can rely on to help safeguard their homes and families against the wrath of Mother Nature.

"We're so confident in the quality of our lightweight roofing materials that we offer a 50-year limited warranty on every polymer shake and slate roofing tile we produce."

Rosewall goes on to explain that by relying on suppliers located only in the U.S.A., DaVinci is able to support many avenues of the economy.

"There's a natural multiplier effect of our 'Made in America' focus that benefits numerous companies in our country and people,” says Rosewall. “Every roofing tile we sell helps the continued growth of our country's economy. As a result, homeowners purchasing our polymer roofing tiles are contributing to the economic recovery and enhancing the appearance of their own homes."

With Independence Day this week, it is fitting to mention that DaVinci Roofscapes' plastic roofing materials are made here in the USA. From our plant in Kansas City, Kansas, raw materials are shipped in and our production team turns them into roof tiles that are not only beautiful, but can weather any storm.

By specifying DaVinci, you are saving money as well as reducing your project's global footprint because you aren't importing material.

I hope you had a safe and happy 4th of July!

Want to bring your love for your safari themed décor to the outside of your home and want a roof to match? That is everyday stuff here at DaVinci Roofscapes! Epic Exteriors out of Olathe, Kansas installed this colorful custom color blend in Multi-Width Slate in Light Clay, Medium Light Autumn, Medium Autumn and Slate Black.

With the help of a Project Specialist, the homeowner worked with our 49 individual colors and came up with this blend, inspiring them to get rid of their plain black roof and white painted siding. Epic Exteriors had to remove 3 layers of asphalt and a layer of cedar shakes to get to the starting point for this custom project. The result is a home's exterior that is the envy of the neighborhood!

Click here to get started creating your own, unique blend!

DaVinci Masterpiece Contractor Program Member
Epic Exteriors
913-712-8342

DaVinci Roofscapes prides itself in being the best choice to truly create a custom roof. DaVinci offers 49 in-stock colors that can be blended to your specification. We can also create tiles from custom colors that are only limited by your imagination.

All of these colors and how they are blended is only part of the customization process. The way the tiles are installed is another way to make your roof truly unique. The tiles can be installed with a very unusual stagger or can be doubled or tripled up to make interesting textures. Tiles can also be curved, bent, cut, etc. to accommodate most any structure.

A good example of a custom staggered installation is this European Blend in DaVinci Slate by Rodney Turner.

An example of adding extra tiles in places to add texture is this roof installed in Colorado in a custom weathered green color.

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DaVinci Shakes are cut and molded to accommodate the fantastic structure below in Upstate New York.

Ask the team at Nathan’s Roofing, Windows & Siding where their business “sweet spot” is and they’ll quickly cite Valoré Slate roofing tiles as a key to their company’s roofing success. The family-owned company completed more than 20 roofing jobs in Henrico County, Virginia during the last two years by offering polymer for new construction and replacement projects.

“The quality and authenticity of this DaVinci Roofscapes product matched with its affordability has allowed us to carve out a successful business niche in our area,” says Nathan Barbuto, Jr., owner and president of Nathan’s Roofing, Windows & Siding out of Glen Allen, Va. “This product has helped increase our sales while providing homeowners with a premium impact-resistant roof that helps protect their home from severe weather.

“Valoré Slate is the primary style choice in the Richmond area for our customers. We back up the product with the 50-year Masterpiece Warranty that completely covers the homeowner for material and labor during the first 15 years of the warranty should there be a product defect that causes a roof leak. That’s an impressive offering we’re pleased to stand behind.”

In business since 1991 with his wife Debbie as a partner, Barbuto and his company are members of the DaVinci Masterpiece Contractor Program. The company does many of its Valoré Slate synthetic slate roof tile installations in medium- to high-end subdivisions in western Henrico County.

Modeled to replicate slate tiles, Valoré Slate single-width roofing tiles are crafted using 100 percent pure virgin resins to provide a sustainable product. The 12-inch wide tiles have a half-inch thickness that is twice the thickness of most other synthetic slates. As with all DaVinci products, Valoré Slate tiles resist fire, curling, cracking, fading, mold, algae, fungus and insects.

Valoré Slate polymer roofing tiles are available in the full spectrum of 49 authentic colors. Valoré utilizes DaVinci’s proprietary VariBlend technology to form varying shades from tile to tile creating an infinite number of color shades. Each Valoré Slate blend melds multiple color tones to create a natural variance in color, enhancing the realistic appearance and fits beautifully with its surroundings. Valoré tiles are also available in EcoBlend cool roof colors, which help reduce heating and cooling costs and meet LEED-NC and are ENERGY STAR® qualified.

For more details on Valoré Slate products, click here.

Color consulting or color therapy? When trying to get a couple to agree on a color scheme there is sometimes a fine line between the two.

That is because color is very personal. Even if a person is usually willing to make concessions on a color choice, when it comes to something as important as the exterior of their home they may not be as willing to compromise. So how can a couple agree on a color scheme when they have different ideas or likes?

Here are a couple of strategies to use when trying to arrive at a mutual color decision:

Begin with each person picking two or three favorites. Then look at them. Is there any similarity or are you at opposite ends of the spectrum?  

If there are colors that are the same or similar then it might not be too difficult to come together on a decision. For example, you and your spouse might be trying to decide between two of DaVinci Roofscapes standard blends for fake cedar shakes-- Autumn or Tahoe. The first step is to take a good look at the blend using the Color Designer Tool. See how the colors in the blend work with the other elements of your exterior.  Does one clearly work better on your home?

But what if your favorite colors are not at all alike? The first thing to do is see if the colors might work together rather than choosing one side or the other. If one of you prefers more muted colors while the other likes brighter hues, you may want to divide and conquer.

Could the more muted tones work on the roof or body of the home and the brighter colors on the front door, trim or shutters? Mixing and matching is a good compromise as a long as the colors compliment your home.

The person that likes the more muted colors will love
DaVinci Slate Gray Synthetic Slate while the red front door
can satisfy a desire for brighter colors

If you still can't come to an agreement you can always come in and have a seat on my virtual color couch. Unlike a therapist however I'm happy to give you my opinion.

So you're looking at polymer slate roofing products - and you're wondering what choices are out there. Well, you've come to the right place - DaVinci offers several choices. In fact, our polymer slate comes in 3 different profiles: DaVinci Multi-Width Slate, Single Width Valoré or our interlocking Bellaforté.

• Multi-Width DaVinci - this is our original product. It comes in 5 different widths - 12", 10", 9", 7" and 6" widths...bundles arrive at the job site pre-sorted by color and size.

• Single-Width Valoré - we came out with Valoré after we received requests from a number of homeowners to have a product that was one size only - 12" tile width and same as the Multi-Width - the bundles come job site ready and pre-sorted by color blend.

• Bellaforté- we came out with Bellaforté for even easier installation as well as a product that had superior wind resistance performance.  Bellaforté tiles are 12" tiles as well.

Many people have chosen our polymer slate because of the low maintenance involved and our excellent testing results and certifications. Other folks have chosen our slate because they like the aesthetics of it without the cost of natural slate. While other homeowners and building owners want the natural slate look, but don't want to build up their roofing structure to support the weight of natural slate. Our polymer slate is very lightweight, similar to the weight of asphalt shingles, so there's no need to beef up your roofing structure as a result.

For more information on DaVinci polymer products, please contact us via email or call 1-800-328-4624.

An eyebrow window can be a charming focal point of your house. Prevalent in the Northeast (but found all over the US), it can also cause a challenge. How do you cover it? Metal? Shingles? What if you want the portion over the window to match the rest of the house? Natural slate, shake or cement tile definitely would not be an option.

DaVinci Roofscapes' composite slate and shake are plastic roofing materials. The components of the product allow it to be malleable, if necessary, so it can curve around an architectural detail such as this.

Happy Friday, Architects!

When you were looking for your roofing product, how did you go about your search? Would you have been interested in hearing from other homeowners and building owners about their experiences with certain products? What about how satisfied they were afterwards?  What about the contractor that you used? Did you like the transaction? Did it go smoothly?

Here's your chance to share your DaVinci Roof story on our blog so that potential future DaVinci luxury roof owners can see how great our roofs look on a number of different homes. It's a seamless process - we have an online form that you can fill out - we ask you things like:

• What DaVinci product you used on your home or building
• Your Name
• Your City
• Your Story
• And ask for photos of your DaVinci roof

The more details you can provide the better - it also helps us understand the full circle process and we love to hear from people that live, work and sleep under our roofs every day.  We love to hear about color decisions, which product you decided to go with and more.

SUBMIT YOUR DAVINCI STORY HERE.

Are you someone that is looking into a DaVinci roof?  You might be interested in reading the other submissions we have received.

We are currently renovating and adding an addition and a garage and guest house to this home in Chattanooga, TN. We are going with a warm white, creamy white for painting the new siding and either painting the red brick the same or going with a lime wash for the brick. We are also adding copper drains and downspouts and a large hanging gas lantern with shutters flanking the front door (and a new front door). I wanted your advice on the roof before I order the samples! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! LOVE the blog! Let me know if you want more pictures!

Amanda Jackson
Chattanooga, TN
Product: Slate or Shake

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Hello Ms. Jackson,

You have a "can't go wrong" situation with your style and colors. Any of the DaVinci colors or blends would look lovely on your home with the warm creamy white main color. You do mention adding the copper drains and downspouts so let me point out some colors that will play off of that detail.

Warm shades of browns can work well long-term with copper finishes that can take many years to fully reach their patina. If the copper will be purchased with the patina in place these warm shades will still work well. Whatever stage the cooper is in the patina process, the base color of the copper continues to influence the surface color.

Here is a blog post I wrote about it that will give you more details:

Will Your Roof Color Work With Copper Two Ten or Twenty Years From Now

Going with a warmer color for the roof will not only blend beautifully with your new main color but will also give the home a really new look after having seen it with gray for many years.

I know that isn't too specific but as I said before just about any color would be a good choice. Same goes for slate or shake. Go with what pleases you and then add a pop of a complementary color to give personality to your new front door. I think you'll be pleased with your new color scheme.

Sincerely,

Kate Smith
DaVinci Roofscapes Color Expert

Are you searching for a roofing material that offers a Class A fire rating? Or did you just happen upon this blog post as you were browsing our site? Whatever the case, you are in luck because our simulated shake roofing and our imitation slate roofing offers a Class A fire rating with proper underlayment.

To help explain a Class A fire rating, I always like to share this video with interested customers. It shows what the shingles and the underlayment have to go through into order to achieve the Class A rating (which is the best fire rating a shingle can have).

You can imagine (after watching the video above) how a burning branch falling off of a pine tree would take much longer to burn through a roof deck with DaVinci and the proper underlayment than it would with a natural cedar shake roof.

Do you live in a fire prone area and want to learn about our Class A fire rated lightweight roofing systems? Please feel free to reach out to us Contact DaVinci Roofscapes by email or calling 1-800-DAVINCI.

Did you select DaVinci for your roof because of the Class A rating or because of our Class 4 impact ratings? Tell us about it.

That’s right … you can win a prize package worth $25,000 of durable and beautiful Bellaforté Shake or Bellaforté Slate roofing tiles!

Right now you have the chance to enter The Great TOH Giveaway, which is offering two separate prize packages of popular Bellaforté polymer roofing tiles. There are two ways to enter. Simply purchase the August issue of This Old House magazine, scan the pages using the Blippar free app available on iTunes and you’re entered into the drawing. Or, visit www.thisoldhouse.com/win to enter online. And, you can increase your chances to win by entering every day through August 31st!

Don’t miss out … along with the Bellaforté roofing products, the editors at This Old House magazine are giving away more than $530,000 worth of prizes from a wide variety of manufacturers. This is THE contest to enter this summer!

We love when our products are used and especially when someone comes up with a creative way to use them - other than for roofing!  Many architects, roofers and homeowners have come to us to use our DaVinci Shake for siding.

Their goals are the same - they are looking for a quality product that is going to have a longer life than natural shake and without the fire dangers and the pest control. They also like how realistic our shake looks and that the color life is better than natural shake.

You'll see how our cedar roof shingles were used on the home to the right - the house has a nice contrast between the cedar shake look and the blue and white siding with a bit of brick.  These homeowners like texture and color and it makes for fantastic curb appeal. Several other homeowners have also used our shake as siding - click here for photos.

Are you looking for a cedar shake alternative for siding?  Do you have questions?  Please contact us.

Have you used DaVinci Slate or Shake as a siding material rather than as a roofing material?  We want to see how it turned out - please feel free to share your DaVinci masterpiece by submitting your story here.

When it comes to color choices, DaVinci offers far more options than other roofing manufacturers. After all, our company is named after a painter (ok, yes he was a sculpture, scientist and much more) - Leonardo DaVinci - and there's one thing that artists likes - that's color!

Here are some of our favorite custom color creations:

Custom Color Valoré Slate

Or what about this beauty that just makes you smile?

Custom blend Bellaforté Slate with Multi-Width on the Turret in the same custom color blend

Or how about this gorgeous coppery green color?

Bellaforté  slate on the Jupiter Ocean Grand luxury condo complex

How can we help you with color options for your roof? Have you visited our online color studio? There are over 49 colors to create your own custom blend.

Don't see the color you'd like? No problem, we can also create completely custom colors from scratch - even if you want a hot pink roof (be sure that's HOA approved), we can probably make that work.

Did you know that you can send in a picture of your home or building and ask Kate, our color expert, what roof color and profile she would recommend based on the architecture and existing colors already on the home or building?

Whether this is your first or tenth time looking into a designer roof, you might still be a bit confused about the different tiles that make up a Bellaforté roof. It can be slightly confusing, especially if you don't work in the industry every day like we do.

We have laid out the following photos to hopefully explain the different tiles that make up the Bellaforté fake slate roof system in a manner that is easy to understand.

There are 4 kinds of tiles that your roofer or builder will order when they order a DaVinci Bellaforté roof. These include:

1. Bellaforté Field Tile - the majority of your order will be the field tile. The field tile covers the large planes of your roof.
2. Bellaforté Rake Tile - the rake tile is the tile that covers up the field tile at the roof's rakes (gable ends).
3. Bellaforté Hinged Hip and Ridge Tile - the hinged hip and ridge tile covers the field tile at the roof's hips or ridge or both.
4. Bellaforté Starter Tile - the starter tiles are literally the first tiles that are laid at the bottom of a roof.

What questions do you have about luxury roof tiles? Can we help out by doing another blog post like this one with a photo pointing to various spots on a roof?  If so, please just leave a comment and we will do our best to oblige.

Ever wondered in what order you should choose the exterior products for your project, so as to achieve the perfect harmony? Or what colors should you choose to make sure your client's commercial building both stands out and blends in with the neighborhood? Are you stuck scratching your head when trying to decide what color roof to recommend to your clients that will go with the architecture of their home? We have the course for you!

The FRESH Approach to Choosing Exterior Color is free to take an available 24/7 through AEC Daily. It lasts about an hour and is worth 1 HSW learning unit. 

For more information on the tools available to architects, please visit the DaVinci Roofscapes' website.

Happy Friday, Architects!