Roofing
Roofing Projects in Texas to Boost Your Home’s Curb Appeal

Key Takeaways

  • Slate lasts at least 75 years and comes in real colors. The tiles are natural stone, mined primarily in Italy and imported. Beyond gray and black, slate is available in solid green, purple, and red, and in variegated or mottled patterns. Mixing two colors produces a mosaic effect across the roof.
  • Clay tile is not only Mission style. Rounded red Mission tiles suit Spanish Colonial homes and remain the most common choice. Flat clay tiles read distinctly modern, and glazed Japanese clay tiles are gaining ground in traditional black and a range of other colors.
  • Concrete tile imitates slate at less weight and cost. It’s molded to resemble clay tile, cedar shake, and other materials, and it’s more break-resistant than clay. Hail rarely damages it unless the stones are unusually large, it resists wind well, and it outlasts asphalt shingles.
  • Composite shingles copy the details, not just the shape. They’re molded from composite materials with faux chisel marks on slate profiles and authentic grain patterns on cedar shake profiles. From the ground the difference is not visible. They also come in a wider color range than slate or clay.
  • Composite beats the materials it imitates on impact. Because they contain natural or synthetic rubber along with other polymers, composite shingles resist impact damage better than natural clay or slate, and they’re thicker and stronger than asphalt in nearly every respect.

The type and color of your roof matter much more to your home’s look and curb appeal than you may realize. That’s why you should take your time and carefully consider all your options when replacing your roof. While asphalt shingles aren’t a bad choice due to their reasonably low cost, all of the following options may be a better choice if you’re looking to enhance the style of your home and boost its curb appeal.

1. Slate Roofing

There’s no denying that slate tiles are one of the most beautiful and stylish roofing options. Upgrading your home with slate tiles will give it a classic, timeless look that perfectly complements various architectural styles. Although slate is one of the most expensive options, its beauty and aesthetic appeal can make it well worth the added cost. It is worth the added expense partly because a slate tile roof will add much more value to your home than most other roofing options. Another reason is that slate tiles are extremely durable and last much longer than other roofing materials. When cared for properly, a slate roof lasts at least 75 years, and some can last over 100 years.

The tiles are made of natural slate, primarily mined in Italy and then imported to the US. Although many people think of the color gray or black when picturing a slate tile roof, the tiles are available in a relatively wide range of colors. Some tiles are solid green, purple, or red. You can find tiles with striking variegated or mottled patterns. You also don’t have just to choose one color. Opting for combinations like gray and green, purple and green, or even gray and black allows you to create a handsome mosaic-like effect that will make your home stand out.

The main downside to using slate tiles on your roof is that they are cumbersome. As such, you’ll likely need to have your roof reinforced before installing the tiles to ensure it is strong enough to support the additional weight.

2. Clay Roof Tiles

Another fantastic option is to choose clay roof tiles, sometimes called terra cotta roof tiles. This type of tile is ideal for Spanish Colonial-style homes, but it can also fit quite well with other architectural styles. As with slate tiles, installing clay tiles is a great way to increase your home’s value and give it a beautiful, classic look. While the rounded, Mission-style red clay tiles are the most popular option, the tiles are also available in various other styles and color choices. Flat clay tiles are great to give your home a more modern look. Glazed Japanese clay tiles are also becoming increasingly popular, and you can choose to use traditional black or a range of other colors.

3. Concrete Roof Tiles

Concrete roof tiles have also grown in popularity mainly because they’re a less expensive alternative to slate tiles. Another advantage is that the concrete tiles aren’t as heavy as slate. Concrete tiles are also designed to mimic the look of other popular roofing materials, including clay tiles, cedar shake shingles, and more. That means you can find a range of styles and colors that perfectly match whatever look you’re going for.

Concrete tiles are quite durable and less prone to breaking compared to clay. That means you typically won’t need to worry about the tiles getting damaged during a hail storm unless the hailstones are abnormally large. Concrete tiles are less prone to wind damage and last longer than traditional asphalt shingles.

4. Composite or Synthetic Shingles

The popularity of composite shingles has skyrocketed in recent years. This shingle is a great alternative to asphalt and many other roofing materials. That’s because the shingles are molded from composite materials, which allows manufacturers to fully replicate the look of slate, clay, cedar shake, etc. Some tiles even have faux chisel marks that ensure they look identical to natural slate. Similarly, the cedar shake composite shingles have authentic-looking grain patterns that give them the appearance of real wood. Composite shingles look so realistic that you’d never be able to tell they aren’t natural slate or wood unless you stand on the roof.

Composite shingles are also available in an expansive range of color options compared to slate or clay. That means you should have no issues finding a color that perfectly matches the rest of your home’s exterior. Another great way to make your home stand out is to choose a contrasting color.

Another reason that composite tiles are becoming so popular because they are more resistant to impact damage than natural clay or slate tiles. They also far outperform asphalt shingles in virtually every way since they are much thicker and stronger. This is because they contain natural or synthetic rubber and other polymers, increasing their strength and making them flexible. Composite shingles are also better for the environment than some other materials. They are usually made with mostly recycled shingles because they can be recycled again once they’ve reached the end of their life.

5. Standing Seam Metal Roofing

It wasn’t that long ago that metal roofing was primarily only used on certain types of commercial buildings. Most metal roofs just used large metal sheets that weren’t attractive or eye-catching. You can also see all of the screws or fasteners used to secure the sheets down on this type of metal roof, which further detracts from the appearance. That isn’t an issue with standing seam metal roofs since they’re installed so that all of the fasteners are completely hidden, giving the roof a much more streamlined, stylish appearance.

You have a wide range of pre-finished color choices when you choose a standing seam metal roof. Many different styles are also available, some of which are designed to look quite similar to traditional roof tiles. One great thing about metal roofing is that the panels are colorfast. That means you should never worry about the color fading as with other roofing materials.

Of all the metal roofing options, copper is the one that will make your home stand out and ensure that you’re the envy of all of your neighbors. Copper also lasts longer than other types of metal roofing and will add much more to your home’s value.

Roofing Material That Looks Good

If you’re looking for a reliable, experienced, and honest contractor for your roofing project, KPost Company is the company you can turn to. We’ve been helping residential and commercial clients throughout the Dallas area with roofing needs since 2004. We specialize in roof replacement and installation, and we can help if you’re looking to install slate tiles, clay or concrete tiles, metal roofing, composite shingles, etc. We’re also ready to assist with all of your repair and maintenance needs or if you need a roof inspection.

Contact our team today to learn more about your available roofing solutions.

FAQs

Longer than most homeowners plan for. Asphalt shingles are stocked locally and available within days. Natural slate is quarried and imported, specialty clay profiles are often made to order, and custom color standing seam is rolled and finished to the job. Those can run weeks to months from approval to delivery. If the work is tied to a sale, an event, or an insurance deadline, order timing needs to be settled before the schedule is promised.

It is physically possible and it rarely looks the way people picture it. Transitions between two materials have to happen at a ridge, hip, or wall line to be watertight, and any other break becomes a detail that leaks. Visually, the change reads as a patch from the street rather than as an upgrade. Where the front of a house genuinely needs to look different, changing the color or the profile within one material system usually gets there without creating a maintenance problem.

They carry more of the visual result than the roof color does. New roofing against sun faded fascia and mismatched gutters undercuts the upgrade you just paid for, and the roofline is where the eye lands from the curb. Because the crew is already at the roof edge, replacing drip edge, fascia wrap, and gutters at the same time costs less than doing it as a separate mobilization later. Decide the color relationships together rather than one at a time.

They diverge. Slate and clay hold their color because the color is the material rather than a coating, and both weather rather than fade. Concrete tile is molded with pigment that can lighten over decades. Composite products are formulated with UV inhibitors and generally hold up well, though darker colors show change first. Factory finished metal is the most colorfast of the group. Asphalt fades most visibly, and it fades unevenly on the south and west slopes that take the most sun.

Yes, and the change is the point for most people who choose it. Bare copper starts bright, darkens to brown within a year or two, and moves toward the green patina over a long period that depends on the local climate. Dry North Texas air slows that considerably compared to a coastal setting. Clear coatings exist that hold the bright finish, but they need periodic recoating and they fail unevenly, so most owners let the metal weather naturally. Our metal shingle and tile services cover how each finish ages in this climate.

For a sense of how much a roof can change a home’s appearance, here is a ceDUR shake installation at The Golf Clubs at The Tribute:

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