A cedar or copper roof from MR Roofing can enhance your home and last for years. Roofs are the most essential part of the home, keeping your family and possessions protected from harsh weather conditions, whether it’s heat, wind, rain, or snow. Asphalt shingles may be the most common roofing type you see nowadays, but growing in popularity are the most dependable and long-lasting roofing materials in the industry: metal, cedar and copper.
A Reliable Return on Investment
Without the proper installation or reliable products, a roof can’t serve its main purpose and can leave you with a leaky interior and an eyesore exterior. At MR Roofing, homeowners feel at ease knowing they have professionals who offer craftsmanship to the highest degree with reliability, communication and quality for their customers. Henry Stoltzfus, owner of MR Roofing for nearly 10 years, makes sure his clients receive the best of the best in order to have a roof that not only stands up to weather conditions for years and years, but delivers curb appeal to the home.
Metal Roofing
If your roof needs replacing or even just a revamp, metal roofing contractor Henry Stoltzfus suggests one of the three best roofing materials they provide. “Metal [was] a good roof hundreds of years ago and then we went through this major asphalt spurt, which is good roofing, but metal has come back again and again,” he says. “It is some of the best roofing you’re going to be able to buy.”
Although a lot of time and energy does go into installation, the roof fasteners being the most time consuming, homeowners will be glad they chose a roof that can be durable for over 100 years with little to no maintenance aside from a fresh coat of paint every 35 to 40 years.
“We use Drexel Metal and they have an extremely good paint process,” Stoltzfus says. “It’s heat dried and there are a couple of different layers of primers and a lot goes into that to try to make sure [there’s no] cracking; protection against hail damage [and other elements] is very important when it comes to paint because if you crack the paint, that’s where it’s going to fail.”
When you choose metal, you say hello to an array of color choices, ultimately gaining a roof that adds value to your home.
Cedar Roofing
Aside from metal, cedar roofing is available at MR Roofing for homeowners wanting to make a historical home cohesive and luxurious or add home value and aesthetics. The beautiful renovation can give homeowners the look they’re striving for, as long as the roof is angular and a distance away from trees.
Similar to metal roofing, cedar has little to no maintenance because it’s a natural product and can last just as long — when installed correctly. MR Roofing inspects each cedar shake for defective or odd-looking pieces and is adamant about installing felt between each piece of cedar to keep the roof dry and lasting longer.
If you can’t choose between metal or cedar, or if you don’t want a uniform roof throughout, Stoltzfus suggests changing it up and adding accents. That can be a mostly metal roof with cedar accents, vice versa, or adding in some copper details.
Copper Roofing
Full copper roofing is perfect for homes where a portion, or the entire roof, is practically flat. If you want to get rid of the rubber on a flat roof, copper is the perfect solution. “Copper roofing, you could practically go flat because everything is soldered on,” Stoltzfus says. “In a really expensive home where it’s a low-pitched roof, normally what they’ll use [is] copper because they don’t want to see rubber, and it doesn’t work for cedar or metal so we wind up putting copper on those [areas].”
Copper is also a great accenting piece to roofs. It can be used to highlight a bay window or cupola to draw the eye. In small areas such as these, most other roofing materials don’t work as well with small applications.
No matter the size, big or small, MR Roofing can complete any copper roofing project from flashing to standing seam to copper sheet roofing. “There’s no maintenance. It’s a natural product that doesn’t decay,” he says. “And you can cash it in for copper value even if it’s 70 years old. They’ll pay you for copper value.”
“Your roof is there every day of the week, not just when it rains. It’s not something you get out when it starts to rain and then put away again,” Stoltzfus adds. “Curbside appeal is a huge part; it has to look nice; it has to fit in the neighborhood; you have to like it when you pull in [the driveway].”
This article was originally featured in House & Home Magazine.