House Roof Ideas

Clay and Slate Tile

• Both slate- and clay-tile roofs are expensive initial investments, and slate requires ongoing maintenance. But the roofs are visually stunning and long-lasting. Clay deflects heat and rain, and will not fade — it is a low-maintenance, relatively tough roofing material and has a lot of character, significantly adding to the curb appeal of the house. Slate tiles are heavy, requiring strong support for the roof. They sheet rain and snow off the roof, and need replacement only when they crack or become loose. That means regular checks by a professional roofer to prevent leaks and falling tiles. A slate roof, because it involves a substantial upfront cost for materials and installation, adds appreciable value to a home.

Tin Roof

• From New England gingerbread houses along the coast to Southern sharecroppers’ shacks along the fields, the tin roof has been a noisy, or soothing, fixture in American architecture. Today’s tin roof comes with reinforced materials and coatings that strengthen it, inhibit rust and deflect heat, while still providing a charming and historic note to a home or porch. Materials for a metal roof are: painted, tin-coated corrugated steel; aluminum; copper; zinc-coated steel; and an aluminum- and zinc-coated steel called galvalume — aluminum and galvanized steel. Common styles are embossed shingles, stamped metal that looks like regular shingles, and standing seam roofs — vertical panels that overlap to channel rain off the roof.

Green Roof

• Maybe you prefer the sound of night peepers to the drum of rain on your roof. If so, you can green the roof and make it so environmentally friendly that it becomes an outdoor living space. Green roofs lower energy costs for a home by providing year-round insulation. Extensive green roofs clean the air, absorb and recycle rain, and insulate the building. Intensive roofs provide gardens and recreational space. A single-layer flower carpet thinly covers an existing roof with a self-sustaining meadow. A double-layer carpet can handle light irrigation and more planting. A Savannah-style roof anchors taller plants in lightweight soil over drainage gravel. A meadow is a deeper planting medium over drainage, and will support larger plants and small trees as well as paths and patios. A woodlands system needs a weight-tolerant roof and lends itself to total landscaping — just like a ground-level yard. Depending on the roof and planned use, several types of "greenscaping" can be combined to allow areas for active use and sections just for growing plants or groundcover.