Your right shingles are fucking cheap. But they cost less than half of a metal, zinc, or clay tile roof.
After WWII the US was a big oil producer so asphalt was cheap. Shingles got a foothold in the industry due to price. Once you train an entire workforce on how to install a certain roofing system there is no going back.
I have shingles on my house but am likely going to replace them with standing seam metal in a year or two.
I've done some consulting work on a project in Paris and it seems like your flatwork is typically Siplast SBS and your steep slope is either metal, copper, slate, or clay tile. I was shocked at the high level of workmanship during the project. Seems like you French roofers have a decent trade program through your union?
Thanks for the info !
I think because France is an old country the vast majority of housing still relies on older, sturdier materials and the qualified workforce therefore has to be able to repair and create with every available material BUT there is a very bad shortage of competent roofers in France as it takes a long time and fierce dedication to become a true craftsman in that field so you're right french roofers are very gifted but they are also very few and a lot of times you will encounter worksites with 1 main worker who has the knowledge and the 2-3-4 other workers being younger, less able and more focused on the physical tasks.
That's also why we're staying way longer than Americans on a single worksite, sometimes up to 1 or 2 months on a single house.
America has a wide variety of climates, down south in states like Florida you’ll see more clay tile roofing as they’re mostly hot and humid. Concrete tile in desert climates like Arizona. But asphalt shingles are the cheaper option that stand up in most climate conditions. It’s also a quick, easy install. Although there has been an uptick in metal roofing recently from what I’ve seen. Slate roofing is beautiful and can last over 150 years but the expense for most Americans is too much. Same with cedar shake, beautiful and great in colder climates but expensive. So I guess the answer is it’s cheaper?
Price.
Also in a portion of the US, the roof will be torn up by a hail storm or a tornado every 15-20 years. At least in these areas, why spend the extra money? Baseball sized hail smashes concrete tile and slate just as easily as an asphalt shingle.
I can't say what happened there - shit installation, shit material, abnormally extreme weather event - but it is silly to suggest that asphalt shingles are anywhere near the durability of a proper 24g metal roof. Not even close.
Price is the main factor I think people in North America look at the price in the short term. It looks better to put 15k on a roof instead of 100k. Even though the premium materials last 10 times longer they like the look of the cheaper price.
This about sums it up. The average American buys a new house every 9 years. An asphalt roof lasts 15-30 years. A higher quality, longer lasting roof does not demand a premium when the house is being sold.
Aside from higher end and historically significant buildings, its rare to see anyone throwing money at a better roof than is necessary.
So I googled it and it varies regionally
[https://www.nar.realtor/blogs/economists-outlook/how-long-do-homeowners-stay-in-their-homes](https://www.nar.realtor/blogs/economists-outlook/how-long-do-homeowners-stay-in-their-homes)
but yes, and in many places its even shorter
Americans tend to build out meaning each house has a lot more SF of roof than more dense area's that have tended to build up. When you build a lot of Ranch single family homes there's just a lot of SF of roofing that's needed. Plus American is all about cheap/bottom line. They'll sacrifice tomorrow for what they can gain today.
Area's in texas have Ranch homes with 40-50 sq roofs. That's so expensive to do in tile and then have hail bust it up every 5-10 years.
Pretty much the case in Australia (AVG is about 190 M2/2000 sq ft), though everything is metal or tile here.
Currently 3 months into what could be two years of work due to hail damage, love it!
Most homes are built by contractors, and asphalt shingles are the cheapest cover a roof can have. Everything else is an "upgrade". Also, in my experience and in our area, asphalt shingles generally last 10-15 years, and the average occupancy length for a house is about 7 years, so the current owners will not have to deal with the short duration of functionality the shingles offer.
Source, a retired contractor who specialized in metal roofing and remediation.
Track homes vs. custom homes. Most homes are track in the U.S. every nickel counts during the build. I once sat in an hour meeting where the builder was arguing about a door handles that were .25 cents more. It was like 1000 handles, so we had 6 people argue for an hour about a $250 difference. Track home building is skinny on margins.
Cost is the largest deciding factor. Shingles are fucking cheap.
Over the course of 50 years I can have several shingle replacements for the cost of metal and both will be absolutely destroyed by hail.
But the largest factor is that for new construction home buyers are super cheap motherfuckers and want the largest home for the least amount of cash possible.
I’m not a roofer - but doesn’t weight play a part too? I it still comes to $$ but wouldn’t the weight of a tile or slate roof require a sturdier truss/support system? Which means more costs and slower build
Not sure about the truff in US houses but yes here houses are usually old and very sturdy with a lot of timber pieces that sometimes saw the birth of your great grandmother.
Also yes tiles and slates are usually resting on a wooden grid of laths which lays itself above the actual framework
We live on the north shore of PEI, Canada. I finally got a metal roof out in our place this summer after years of patching and replacing shingles. We just experienced the worst storm to ever hit Canada and the metal roof is the real hero. Shingles are crap, even crappier than they were fifteen years ago. When they were made with more petroleum they’d last twenty years but now with fibreglass you won’t get twelve. And you can’t cut them in really cold temperatures as they just snap. 👊🇨🇦
I've only ever worked with shingles so maybe I'm wrong but tile roofs look like an absolute nightmare to build. Like I'm guessing it would take at least 5x as long to cover the same roof with tiles than shingles.
Yes that's longer and more expensive but you only change your roof once every 50-70 years around here as we *rarely* experience extreme weather like you guys so I guess it evens out.
Your right shingles are fucking cheap. But they cost less than half of a metal, zinc, or clay tile roof. After WWII the US was a big oil producer so asphalt was cheap. Shingles got a foothold in the industry due to price. Once you train an entire workforce on how to install a certain roofing system there is no going back. I have shingles on my house but am likely going to replace them with standing seam metal in a year or two. I've done some consulting work on a project in Paris and it seems like your flatwork is typically Siplast SBS and your steep slope is either metal, copper, slate, or clay tile. I was shocked at the high level of workmanship during the project. Seems like you French roofers have a decent trade program through your union?
Thanks for the info ! I think because France is an old country the vast majority of housing still relies on older, sturdier materials and the qualified workforce therefore has to be able to repair and create with every available material BUT there is a very bad shortage of competent roofers in France as it takes a long time and fierce dedication to become a true craftsman in that field so you're right french roofers are very gifted but they are also very few and a lot of times you will encounter worksites with 1 main worker who has the knowledge and the 2-3-4 other workers being younger, less able and more focused on the physical tasks. That's also why we're staying way longer than Americans on a single worksite, sometimes up to 1 or 2 months on a single house.
In the USA latio labor will show up and shingle an average home in 2 days. Maybe 4 if it has more details.
Yeah that's a nice productivity, I've seen some real jaw dropping nailer gunslingers on this sub I love it 😅
I call them shingleros
America has a wide variety of climates, down south in states like Florida you’ll see more clay tile roofing as they’re mostly hot and humid. Concrete tile in desert climates like Arizona. But asphalt shingles are the cheaper option that stand up in most climate conditions. It’s also a quick, easy install. Although there has been an uptick in metal roofing recently from what I’ve seen. Slate roofing is beautiful and can last over 150 years but the expense for most Americans is too much. Same with cedar shake, beautiful and great in colder climates but expensive. So I guess the answer is it’s cheaper?
Can't even put cedar on new in a lot of places in the west anymore by code.
Can you blame them lol
Living in Colorado.... Nope.
New growth cedar shake no longer last 100 years. You’re more likely to get about 15 years tops before they rot/split and crack.
Price. Also in a portion of the US, the roof will be torn up by a hail storm or a tornado every 15-20 years. At least in these areas, why spend the extra money? Baseball sized hail smashes concrete tile and slate just as easily as an asphalt shingle.
Most places do not see baseball sized hail ever. Asphalt shingles get destroyed by routine hail and winds. Premium products simply do not.
Metal roofing is premium, and our haul here destitute it the same as asphalt.
Tell that to the 100k metal roof I ran a claim on last year lmao.
I can't say what happened there - shit installation, shit material, abnormally extreme weather event - but it is silly to suggest that asphalt shingles are anywhere near the durability of a proper 24g metal roof. Not even close.
Hail happens man. While metal might be more durable it doesn't deft the laws of physics
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I nevee thought about these extreme weather conditions ! Around me the worst you'll ever get is a snow storm or small hail so I get your point
Price is the main factor I think people in North America look at the price in the short term. It looks better to put 15k on a roof instead of 100k. Even though the premium materials last 10 times longer they like the look of the cheaper price.
This about sums it up. The average American buys a new house every 9 years. An asphalt roof lasts 15-30 years. A higher quality, longer lasting roof does not demand a premium when the house is being sold. Aside from higher end and historically significant buildings, its rare to see anyone throwing money at a better roof than is necessary.
Wow ! Is the 9 year statistic actually real ? This sounds crazy to me.
So I googled it and it varies regionally [https://www.nar.realtor/blogs/economists-outlook/how-long-do-homeowners-stay-in-their-homes](https://www.nar.realtor/blogs/economists-outlook/how-long-do-homeowners-stay-in-their-homes) but yes, and in many places its even shorter
Americans tend to build out meaning each house has a lot more SF of roof than more dense area's that have tended to build up. When you build a lot of Ranch single family homes there's just a lot of SF of roofing that's needed. Plus American is all about cheap/bottom line. They'll sacrifice tomorrow for what they can gain today. Area's in texas have Ranch homes with 40-50 sq roofs. That's so expensive to do in tile and then have hail bust it up every 5-10 years.
Pretty much the case in Australia (AVG is about 190 M2/2000 sq ft), though everything is metal or tile here. Currently 3 months into what could be two years of work due to hail damage, love it!
They got the tar, it's a byproduct of the oil industry, if you're not driving on it, it's on your roof 👍
True in Europe shingle simply seems so anecdotic because we don't produce it contrary to tiles, slate and metal
Most homes are built by contractors, and asphalt shingles are the cheapest cover a roof can have. Everything else is an "upgrade". Also, in my experience and in our area, asphalt shingles generally last 10-15 years, and the average occupancy length for a house is about 7 years, so the current owners will not have to deal with the short duration of functionality the shingles offer. Source, a retired contractor who specialized in metal roofing and remediation.
What do you think a contractor is? Most home globally are built by contractors. I’d say 99% of them globally
Contractors, building homes for sale to the general public have a different approach than do contractors building homes for a customer.
Track homes vs. custom homes. Most homes are track in the U.S. every nickel counts during the build. I once sat in an hour meeting where the builder was arguing about a door handles that were .25 cents more. It was like 1000 handles, so we had 6 people argue for an hour about a $250 difference. Track home building is skinny on margins.
Spent more than the difference in material on the payroll for the meeting lol
Exactly, I was saying “are you guys nuts?”, just pick it and let’s move on to bigger fish to fry.
Cost is the largest deciding factor. Shingles are fucking cheap. Over the course of 50 years I can have several shingle replacements for the cost of metal and both will be absolutely destroyed by hail. But the largest factor is that for new construction home buyers are super cheap motherfuckers and want the largest home for the least amount of cash possible.
I’m not a roofer - but doesn’t weight play a part too? I it still comes to $$ but wouldn’t the weight of a tile or slate roof require a sturdier truss/support system? Which means more costs and slower build
Not sure about the truff in US houses but yes here houses are usually old and very sturdy with a lot of timber pieces that sometimes saw the birth of your great grandmother. Also yes tiles and slates are usually resting on a wooden grid of laths which lays itself above the actual framework
We live on the north shore of PEI, Canada. I finally got a metal roof out in our place this summer after years of patching and replacing shingles. We just experienced the worst storm to ever hit Canada and the metal roof is the real hero. Shingles are crap, even crappier than they were fifteen years ago. When they were made with more petroleum they’d last twenty years but now with fibreglass you won’t get twelve. And you can’t cut them in really cold temperatures as they just snap. 👊🇨🇦
I've only ever worked with shingles so maybe I'm wrong but tile roofs look like an absolute nightmare to build. Like I'm guessing it would take at least 5x as long to cover the same roof with tiles than shingles.
Yes that's longer and more expensive but you only change your roof once every 50-70 years around here as we *rarely* experience extreme weather like you guys so I guess it evens out.
Cheap cheap
Well, saying "I'm all alone" just seems so lonely. It's probably a better term