New Rubber Roofing Shingles
Modern Rubber Roof Shingles
More homeowners turn to use of rubber as a their roofing material now especially home owners of flat roofed homes and those with gently low sloping roofs merely over the past 30 years. What is less well known is that even those homeowners with sloping roofs can enjoy the benefits of a rubber roof thanks to the invention of rubber roof shingles.
The Advantages of Rubber Roof Shingles
For environmentally conscious homeowners, rubber roof shingles can be suit with them because it can be made from recycled tires and fully recyclable too. The recycled process start from tires will ground into a fine powder and then they will be remolded into the shape of a rubber roof shingle. After that, they can then be dyed to a variety kind of colors to simulate the appearance of slate, wood, or any other traditional roofing materials. The simulation is far more convincing than the same plastic imitations of these materials. And the rubber material is more durable and versatile too. Rubber roof shingles also resist to extremely heat or cold, insects or mold and ultraviolet radiation. For your information, they were awarded an A class fire rating by the American Society for Testing and Materials, or ASTM. They aren’t totally fireproof, though, as rubber is a flammable material, extra coatings are needed and this will add additional fireproofing to the original manufacturer’s specification.
Another advantage of using rubber roof shingles is it is easy to install. Usually, rubber roof shingles come in a standard 3-tab design so that it can be easily slotted together and you can even walked on it during the installation process without breaking.
Disadvantages of Using Rubber Roof Shingles
Actually, rubber roof shingles have only been on the construction market in 1993 which means that most roofers are quite unfamiliar with them. For that reason of this, they usually charge more on installation cost and price; sometimes the price can be more than twice as much as common wood or slate shingles. Furthermore, because of their long lasting much longer that other roofing shingles, which can up to a 100 years according to one rubber roof manufacturer, you will want ensure that you use the top quality peripheral materials during installation like bituminous membrane along all liner and edges and heavy duty aluminum or copper for the flashing which these usage of materials will make the cost and price higher.
Another disadvantage of rubber roof shingles is that you will notice tire smell when they are first installed because they are made from recycled tires. But this soon will fades with time, however, and you are supposed not to notice the smell after first couple of days.
In general, the advantages of using rubber roof shingles are far outweigh the disadvantages, which are consider as minor things and can be easily fixed. For those who have not enough money to have rubber roofing shingles, other types of roofing shingles also offer the good looks of wood or slate shingles combined with the near-indestructibility of rubber which makes them the choice for a new generation of modern style roofs.
Modern Rubber Roof Shingles