Classic Roofing

The Classic Roofing Basics

There are quite a few advantages to using roofing shingles over other types of roofing design. While roofing needs vary depending on weather conditions in the part of the world you're in, shingled roofs are the most common type to be found in most of the United States and Canada.

Shingles are basically small roofing tiles which are used to cover a roof. They are stacked in an overlapping fashion aross the length of the roof, allowing rain to slide off easily. One of the biggest advantages to using shingles over, say, a single metal sheet (a common roofing technique in some asian countries) is that it provides the house with better ventilation and heat management.

In the summer, hot gases, with their tendency to rise, will seep out of a house via the gaps in the shingles, leaving the interior of the house cooler. In the winter time, however, the shingles become packed with snow, allowing the roof and the snow itself to become a heat-retaining layer of insulation which helps keep the interior of the house warm.

Shingled roofs are also generally sturdier than single-sheet or standard concrete roofs. The tiles are tough yet, because the roof itself is not made of a single piece of material, the overall effect is one of flexibility under pressure. Where a solid piece roof would crack under sufficient weight, shingled roofs provide a certain amount of "yield" under pressure that keeps the roof intact.

Being composed of small tiles, sudden changes in temperature from high heat to cold or vice versa leave the shingles more brittle and prone to damage, sometimes even actually causing them to suddenly crack under the rapid temperature change. This makes shingles inapplicable in certain tropical climes where a blazingly hot tropic day can suddenly be punctuated by an ice-cold rainstorm.

Shingles are also dangerous in places prone to high velocity winds. Shingle roofing tiles are anything from 6 inches to a square foot on the average in terms of area, so in places which are periodically subjected to high winds, shingles can literally be blown off a roof and have even been known to injure people caught in their flight path.

Despite these drawbacks, for most places in the globe with moderate seasonal changes and only moderate wind conditions, shingles offer the most adaptable, sturdy, and comfortable method of roofing available. Tropical countries see the least use of shingles because their average weather conditions are exactly of the two types that make shingled roofs inapplicable.

The average estimated lifespan of a shingle on a roof is 25 to 50 years, but modern construction techniques have come up with laminated roofing shingles which boast 50 to 100 year lifespans. These laminated roofing shingles make for a worthwhile investment, because while they are more expensive than conventional shingles, they not only last longer, they are heavier, more stable, and sturdier than traditional asphalt shingles.