Roofing Materials We Install

The honest answer: it depends on your expectations, your budget, and your building, and anyone who answers before seeing your roof is selling, not advising. For most homes, architectural asphalt over a properly built system is the best overall value; it handles lake-effect snow and freeze-thaw well and costs far less than premium systems. For owners staying decades who want the longest life and best snow shedding, standing seam metal is the top upgrade, with composite slate and shake close behind for character homes. Our best-material guide walks through the whole decision.

Architectural asphalt is rated 20 to 30 years, and 30 to 35 is achievable when the system is designed and installed right; designer asphalt is rated 30 to 50. Cedar runs 25 to 40 with real care, composite 40 to 50, and standing seam metal 40 to 70. Flat membranes run 20 to 30-plus depending on system. The bigger truth: we replace roofs every year that were installed in the last five to ten, and the climate didn't kill them. The installation did. The full lifespan comparison has every material side by side.

Often, yes, if you'll stay long enough to collect. Standing seam starts around $12 per square foot and can exceed $25 to $30, three to five times asphalt, but it runs 40 to 70 years, sheds snow instead of feeding ice dams, and needs very little attention, which frequently makes it the cheaper roof per year of service. The payback typically lands between year 20 and 30, when the asphalt house next door buys its second roof. Compare the full 50-year math on our metal vs. asphalt cost page.

Shingles aren't designed for low slopes; those roofs need a membrane. On commercial buildings we install TPO, the reflective welded-seam standard, and EPDM, the proven rubber workhorse. On the flat sections of homes, porches, dormers, additions, our first choice is usually modified bitumen, because its granulated cap sheet can be matched to your shingles so the flat section looks like part of the roof instead of a patch on it. And when the membrane you own is aging but sound, a silicone coating can renew it without a tear-off.

Not always, and we'll tell you which one yours is. Cedar needs a ventilated assembly and committed upkeep to survive Michigan moisture and moss; we've installed hand-split shake and we'll build it right for owners who want the real thing with clear eyes. Real slate and tile weigh three to five times what asphalt does, so they start with a structural engineer, not a color sample. When the structure or the budget says no, composite slate and shake deliver the look at a weight any deck carries, with a Class 4 hail rating the natural materials can't match.

That's the whole point of the free inspection. We measure the roof by satellite, then walk the roof and the attic, layers, ventilation, chimney, fascia, structure, factor in how long you plan to stay, and lay out the options that actually fit, in plain language, with a written estimate for each. One tailored option, or several side by side if you want to compare. No pressure, no obligation. Call or text (616) 840-1927 to set it up.