Trends
A major piece of customer service revolves around keeping up with roofing trends. Customers expect that you know what’s trending and can give them some guidance as they choose between popular roofing choices. Remember that a house ranks as a major investment for a homeowner, and a new roof has a powerful impact on the appearance of the home. The top roofing trends for this year have been generated by customers’ desires for these things: certain colors, environmentally friendly roofing, metal shingles, and laminated asphalt shingles.
Color
The most popular roof colors for 2015 are gray, dark blue and dark green. Gray makes the perfect neutral because it blends so easily with a variety of house pallets. Gray never steals the show, but it always seems to add a touch of classic beauty to a home. Gray can also function as an ideal color to use on a house’s trim or doors.
Dark blue is also utilized as a neutral on darker color houses. Like gray dark blue can accent the color on a home’s siding without overwhelming it. Subtlety is an attribute that dark blue demonstrates as a roofing shingle. This discreet characteristic has made dark blue a number two choice for roofing shingle color.
Dark green has recently been popularized because of its ability to blend with foliage. Dark green speaks to a movement to be more in harmony with nature. Dark green works perfectly as an environmentally-in-sync color choice for roofing.
Environmentally Friendly Roofing
Environmentally friendly roofing can use recycled materials that reduce the carbon footprint. This type of roofing could also utilize ballast-type roofs as gardens to reduce hot air in urban heat islands. Environmentally friendly roofing can be designed to be energy efficient through the use of items like solar shingles or panels.
Metal Roofing
Metal roofing is in high demand because this type of roofing is extremely durable and has become aesthetically pleasing. However, what clients need to know when selecting metal roofing is how steel is graded. A piece of steel graded 24 is stronger than a 29. Moreover, metal roofing material can be designed to create cool roofs, which help dissipate heat in warm climates.
There are basically four metal roofing types: Standing Seams are made up of vertical panels that are connected by concealed fasteners. Corrugated Steel Panels also consist of vertical panels, but there fasteners are exposed because the fasteners are anchored through the roof deck or purlin. Metal Shingles employ interconnected horizontal metal panels that when installed look like shingles.
Stone Coated Steel Tiles and Shingles employ heavy grade steel panels coated with crushed stone powder. The finishes for metal roofs vary in color, textures, and materials. The choices are so overwhelming that it is important for you as the roofing contractor to help narrow the field for the client.
Laminated Asphalt
The popularity of laminated asphalt shingles has more than doubled in the last 15 years. Demand for this type of shingle has gone from 40% in 2000 to an expected 85% in 2015. What has fueled this trend is that laminated asphalt shingles are twice as durable as regular asphalt shingles and laminated asphalt shingles are aesthetically pleasing.
