This April Fool’s Day, a tight supply chain and the search for better performing options that can deliver strong return on the investment have homeowners weighing their choices and pursuing work-arounds more than ever before.
Leading industry experts at the Metal Roofing Alliance (MRA, www.metalroofing.com) report that includes roofing materials. As the spring home improvement season heats up this year, traditional materials such as wood shake, clay tiles, slate and asphalt have experienced market fluctuations and as many homeowners are starting to realize, they also come with major disadvantages and hidden costs.
Thankfully, there are more options available than ever, including metal roofing styles that mimic some of these classic looks, yet offer much better performance, reduce long-term maintenance hassles and up the ante on durability and reliability. With the ability to fool the eye, many of these options look so good, it’s a challenge for even the experts to tell the difference.
Look-alike metal roofing styles include those that mimic real stone, wood, shake and tiles. And materials like stone-coated metal offer serious performance advantages, such as improved energy efficiency and durability in extreme conditions. No matter what the style, quality metal roofs offer better sustainability, reduced maintenance and serious benefits like best-in-class hurricane and wildfire protection.
“Most people know that metal roofing is extremely durable, strong and long-lasting, but they may not realize it also offers more style and design variety than any other type of roofing material,” said Renee Ramey, MRA executive director.
Increasing the durability of homes throughout the country is no joke. Last year’s devastating storms and wildfires are still top of mind for many homeowners and forecasts are calling for more climate extremes this year. Yet beyond practicality, appearance and styles that enhance a home’s architecture also remain paramount.
“That’s what makes these look-alike options so exciting,” said Ramey. “The wide variety of colors, shapes, styles and metals that are available open up creative possibilities that many homeowners never before imagined.”
Greater awareness for look-alike metal roofing styles and options also are helping break down outdated homeowners’ association guidelines that limited homeowners to only certain roofing material options. According to Ramey, when considering the performance advantages of metal roofing in addition to the wide variety of architectural styles available, even the most restrictive HOAs are updating their guidelines to include metal roofing styles. MR
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