100+ Year Roof Options

The roof above my head is Welsh Slate, after 213 years it is finally needing some renovation as the nails are aging.

The colored slates from Vermont and New York make a beautiful roof. There are 200+ year old slate roofs in the US. Most of them were built in areas where slate was quarried locally. They were installed on common houses, and even barns. If you want to learn about slate roofs, I'd recommend reading "The Slate Roof Bible" By Joseph Jenkins.

Most of the tile roofs in our 30 year old Florida neighborhood have seen total replacements. It’s what’s under that has failed (felt and flashings) and not the tile. They are being glued on with a one part urethane foam adhesive and use only nails on the first course, all per our tough hurricane codes here. Thanks for the videos Matt.

My house is about 100 years old and the slate roof is still going. The slate was likely quarried locally along the NY/VT border. We have brutal freeze thaw cycles and significant snow loads. We don't often get Texas hail though!

Matt, it's great to see you going with slate & clay! Keep up the good work!

My house has Italian clay tiles like all those in our neighborhood. The climate is Mediterranean, never really gets below freezing but summers are around 90F every day. The clay tiles both leak like crazy in the rain, never sit right so there are always gaps, break from just a crow landing on them or just from thermal cycles and move in the wind so there are always new leaks. Every year we have to replace 10+ tiles. There is no way I would ever suggest using such a roof material.

Matt, here is a real world data point: the house I grew up in was built in 1848 and the original slate roof had to be extensively repaired (not totally replaced, just repairs of cracked and spalled tiles) in 1985, so it lasted almost 140 years. The problem was that the repair was very expensive, about 20% more than replacing the roof with steel, which has left me to this day wondering if steel roofing might ultimately be the best choice.

I'm surprised you didn't mention heavy glazed tiles. Here in Australia we tend to go with heavily glazed tiles for extra water proofing, or powder coated steel for the extra moisture protection. The tiles are clear glazed to about the same level as the tiles you use in wet areas. Slate is becoming more prevalent, but it dearer than tiles or iron. I like the look of the tile on the shed behind you in the video, especially how it curves over the side, and I'd love to see a future video on how that is installed. Almost forgot, most tiles here are shaped different to have interlocking top and bottom lips to stop wind blowing water under the tiles, and locking lips on the sides as well.

I think the big hangup in my area would be finding a contractor who knows how to install a slate or tile roof. The asphalt shingle roof guy might say "yeah we can do slate, did one a few years ago", but I wouldn't trust a contractor unless that's all he does is slate and/or tile roofs exclusively.

Your channel is incredible. The information has made me a much better professional. Thank you!

thanks Matt, that was really interesting!

Nothing is prettier than a tropical seaside white masonry house with a blue glazed tile roof. In Europe most roof are made from fired clay or cement tiles. They are designed to interlock and are easy fast and easy to lay down.

Who are you going to find after100 years for warranty service ??

Outstanding and thoughtful topics to help everyone. Wish you luck advancing your message.

This is one of the most interesting cultural difference that I see, as a UK watcher of this channel; longevity expectations. For example, my childhood home is 100 years old, and has never needed more maintenance work than a repainting of the interior walls. It has never needed a roof tile replaced, timber repaired, or brickwork repointed. I see no reason why it would not last another century with minimal maintenance. It is also an entirely typical and unexceptional home here in the UK. It is still quite jarring when I see US builders talking about wall cladding and roofing that is expected to only last a couple of decades as if that were entirely reasonable.

At the end of the day, everyone needs to keep in mind that a products lifetime is actually dependent on the quality of its installation and materials used such as underlayment and fasteners.

Money well spent. Not mentioned is there are added costs to beef up the roof structure to hold the added weight. Can't just add clay or slate on top of a roof designed for composite.

If you want your roof to actually last 100 years, I have a recommendation. Use multiple colors of roof tiles. This sound weird, but think about the state of the market in 80 or even 50 years. Even if the company that made your tiles still exists, there is a good chance they won't make them in exactly the same color, and if they do, they won't reflect 50-80 years of fade. All sorts of things can happen in 100 years, someone walking on the roof without being careful, big hail, something hitting the roof, etc. Odds are you will need to replace a few tiles. If you have one color of tile, you will need to either reroof or have a weird looking spot on your roof. My parent's neighborhood is all 1920s custom built homes, mostly mission/spanish/Monterey style (along with fake tudors, which tend to have slate or shake). About half the houses had mixed tiles and half have matching. Most of the matching tile roofs have been re-done. Most of the mixed tile is original. Also, additions. My parents did an addition and because they had mixed tiles, the addition looks like it has always been there.

That slate roof is sick. Great drone shots. Keep up the great work.

On the build show!