Old House Roofing Materials

For builders in timber rich north america wood shingles were the obvious choice for the earliest roofs and ultimately the most common roofing material for houses well into the 20th century.

Old house roofing materials.

In the northeast slate was a traditional roofing material for high end houses and municipal buildings. Lightweight tiles can weigh six pounds per square foot while heftier types weigh in at up to 18 pounds per square foot. But this type of roofing requires a beefy support structure. Still in broad general use they ve been widely used since the 17th century both as roofing and wall sheathing.

Many roofs of asbestos aluminum stainless steel galvanized steel and lead coated copper may soon have historic values as well. Tom compared a variety of roofing materials including asphalt shingles cedar shingles metal and clay tiles. Metal has enjoyed a recent resurgence led by demand for durability eco friendly roofing and the introduction of new styles. Because of its cost and weight which requires a beefier roof structure to support slate is not often used these days.

Find or donate building materials at your local habitat restore. Not your everyday building supply stores habitat for humanity restores accept and sell a wide variety of new and used building materials. Awareness of these and other traditions of roofing materials and their detailing will contribute to more sensitive preservation treatments. Originally hand split from local woods oak and pine in the northeast to cypress in the south wood shingles were typically shaved smooth for high style and garden variety houses.

Interlocking ceramic tiles create a stunningly beautiful roof that can last for 100 years or more. Wood shingles are the oldest type of natural roofing material in the u s. Tile roofs can also last up to 100 years but it will require additional structure to accommodate the heavy weight of the material. In some cities such as new york and boston clay was popularly used as a precaution against such fires as those that engulfed london in 1666 and scorched boston in 1679.

When donated goods are sold they are kept out of your local landfill and given a second life. Asphalt shingles and roll roofing were used in the 1890s. Metal roofing your great grandfather s home or barn might well have been roofed in metal and some of those 100 year old roofs are still going strong. European settlers used clay tile for roofing as early as the mid 17th century.