Take a look in your neighborhood and look at the roofs you see-you will probably see a lot of asphalt shingles or a derivation on them (composition shingles for instance). In some areas you will see wood shingles (particularly cedar or hickory shakes), terracotta tile, cement tile, slate tile and if you have an esoteric neighbor maybe even bamboo (that’s not a joke, they do exist).

When you are looking at reroofing or installing a new roof, you are going to be confronted by a dazzling array of choice in terms of materials and their respective qualities. A simple question for you to ask, bearing in mind all the roofs you’ve taken a look at in your neighborhood, will be this: “How often do they need replacing, repairing or maintenance work carried out on them?”

The answer for most roofs will be that they need serious attention at least once every ten years.

That is a frequent occurrence in the scheme of home maintenance and you cannot afford to ignore any roofing issue. The roof protects the entire property structure and if the roof integrity fails, you will very quickly see the rest of the house suffering.

The limiting factor for most homeowners looking at a roofing installation is the upfront cost. Any roofing installation requires a substantial investment as roofing is not cheap in terms of the raw materials or the labor. Homeowners have to perform a balancing act between how much the roof will cost them upfront and the costs of maintaining the roof once it is installed.

So how does a homeowner work out which type of roof will save them the most money overall. The major conundrum is to find the answer which is determined by two cost factors – the cost of installation and buying the raw materials against the ongoing, recurring cost of maintenance and repair. The basic rule is this – the cheaper the upfront cost, the greater the ongoing costs, the shorter the life therefore requiring replacement of the entire installation. The more expensive the upfront cost, the lower the maintenance costs and the longer the life of the installation (sometimes for as long as the life of the home itself).

Typically, the higher the upfront cost, the lower the total cost of ownership, i.e. the best financial decision for the homeowner.

There is another factor at work which is speculative in nature and this is because it involves the overall valuation of the home itself. High quality roofs requiring low or no maintenance will add value to the home whereas a low quality installation will detract from it.

Overall, slate is the best roofing material to use from a financial point of view. It is long lasting, entirely natural, completely waterproof, fireproof and unaffected by climatic changes or extreme variations in temperature. It is “sterile” and provides no sustenance or support for life so bugs, pests, mold and moss do not find any opportunity to gain a foothold. It requires no cleaning and is as close to zero maintenance as you will find for any building material. The high upfront cost is countered by the absence of any maintenance costs and even in the unlikely event it is required to be repaired (slate is exceptionally strong – it is rock) this can be effected very cheaply without impacting the whole roof. Finally, slate is so long-lasting that once you install it, you will never have to reroof or install another roof on the property for your lifetime.

Author Bio: Find quality Slate Roof Tiles from Virginia Slate

Category: Home Management
Keywords: roofing, slate roof, roofing choices, roofing material, choosing roofing material