(702) 646-7536

(702) 646-7536

Serving Las Vegas and Southern Nevada since 1995

The History of Roofing Recent

Blog Posts
Materials Beauty and
BLOG, ROOF TIPS Variety in Las
Vegas Housing

Do You Know the

Walk the aisles of a home improvement store,
Parts of Your
browse the internet or visit our roofing gallery Roof?
[https://www.prestigeroofinglv.com/gallery/] , and
Roof
you’ll find a huge array of different roofing materials Replacement
in use today. While asphalt shingles are common in and Repair
many locales, classically elegant ceramic tiles are during COVID

now widely available and are a great choice for Can Solar Panels
homes here in the Southwest. Lightweight, durable Damage My
Roof?
and decorative metal roofs have been around for a
long time. They remain an inspiring choice today, Copper Roofing
Shines Among
and are growing in popularity. How did we get all
Metal Roofs
these great choices? Roofing has a long and
interesting history which has led us to our great
selection of roofing material choices and styles
today. Here’s a quick look at some of that history.
Blog
Categories
Blog
Roof Materials at the Dawn of CeDUR Shakes
Civilization Commercial
Roofing
 Copper
Roofing
Gutters
Hiring A Roofer
Metal Roofing
Prestige
Roofing
Roof Care and
Maintenance
Roof Fixtures
Roof
Renovation
Roof Repair
Roof
Replacement
It’s easy to assume that early man slept out in the Roof Tips

open under the stars or was protected from the Roofing

elements inside a cave. However, archaeologists Projects

have found evidence of very early use of roofs made Tile Roofing

from a wide variety of substances, including animal

parts, wood, rocks, and clay.

Early people were generally limited to whatever

roofing materials could be found naturally in their Join Us On
environment. In tropical areas, palm fronds were a Facebook
practical and lightweight choice that remains
Prestige
popular even today. The Plains Indians made their
Roofing
tipis out of the skins of animals like buffalo and the
deer that they hunted. Mud and straw roofs were
also frequently used in many areas of ancient
Africa. Wood was also an option, but it was usually
Like us on
in conjunction with another material like mud or social
woven fibers that were placed over it to fill in the media!
gaps. Primitive houses
    

Free
Estimate

Your Name *

Your Email *

Your Phone
Number *

Your Project
Details

Get Estimate
like wattles and daub huts were frequently made in
this way.

Tiled and Thatched Roofs

China has a long history of advanced architectural
techniques, and reportedly they had been using clay
tiles as far back as 3,000 BC. It wasn’t until the
Ancient Greeks and Roman civilizations that tiles
became common in Europe.
Northern Europeans preferred locally available slate
or wooden tiles, with wood being particularly
popular for the roofs of Nordic churches. Slate is
still dominant in Northern Europe and nearby
countries like France.

By 735 AD thatch became common in Britain, but

was also used in many equatorial countries, like
Hawaii, Bali and Fiji. Also used in Africa, in Kenya,
thatch was made from sugar cane leaf. Thatch is
not only a cheaper alternative to tiles, but it’s also
much more fire

resistant than wooden shingles. Thatching

remained popular in the 18th and 19th centuries
among the American pioneers as the materials were
easy to find and install. They used thatching with a
layer of sod underneath to insulate their
rudimentary prairie houses, but these roofs risked
frequent leaking and even collapse during a heavy
rain.

Southern Europeans typically used baked clay for

their roofs, resulting in the signature Terra-cotta
look of Spanish and Mediterranean architecture. By
the early 1900s concrete tiles painted red were
being used as a lower cost alternative. Tiles have
spread to many

countries as the number of styles and colors

expanded and homeowners learned of their
durability and weather resistant qualities.

Asphalt shingles were developed in America in the

1920s. Asphalt is a combination of a base of
cellulose or fiberglass with granules including such
ingredients mica, oyster shell, slate and clay, sealed
with resins and polymer-modified bitumen. Different
coatings, materials and adhesives are used to
improve durability, waterproofing, heat and cold
resistance and so on. Easy and inexpensive to
manufacture and install, asphalt shingles
[https://www.prestigeroofinglv.com/shingle-
roofing/] quickly became a mainstay for many
American homes.

Metal Roofs: Zinc, Aluminum, and Copper

Metal roofing has been used throughout history for
a good reason: it is extremely durable and can be
bent to fit the shape that’s needed. Until recently,
however, metal roofs were prohibitively expensive.
Because of this, they were reserved only for the
wealthy or used in important buildings like temples
and museums.
The famous Temple Rock in Israel is rumored to
have once had a roof made of gold, or at least gold-
plated tiles. Around 300 BC the Loha Maha Paya
Temple in Sri Lanka had a roof made of copper
shingles, one of the first known instances of this
material being used in this way. Copper was also a
popular choice for public buildings in ancient Rome.
The Ancient Egyptians used aluminum and alum
compounds to strengthen their roofing. Zinc
[https://www.prestigeroofinglv.com/zinc-metal-
roofing/] started to be used in roofs in the 1700s
and remains popular today as an alternative to
copper.

Copper [https://www.prestigeroofinglv.com/copper-
roofing/] has always been a popular choice of metal
for roofing because of its ease of handling and the
beautiful way it ages. By the 1400s flat copper
sheeting began to be used in Europe, particularly on
churches. The castle Kronborg used copper roofing
in 1587, and it didn’t require significant renovation
until over 400 years later in 2009!

In the US, American icon Paul Revere, best known

for his famous ride in the American Revolution, was
also a skilled metallurgist. He established the
country’s first copper mill near Boston in 1801. The
result of his work was used on both state houses
and the shielding on the outside of battle ships.
Revere Copper
[http://www.reverecopper.com/about-us] is still a
supplier of quality copper today.

Modern Roofing has come a long way

Today’s roofing materials inherit the legacy of the
past, combining the best elements of what has
worked for centuries with the technology and trends
of today. While the kind of roofing materials used
today  are

still influenced by things like local climate, local

availability of materials, and cultural preferences,
buyers today have a lot of choices. Homeowners
can choose among hundreds of shades and styles
of ceramic or concrete tiles, for example. Or they
can select stately slate roofing, or choose an
inexpensive and fast asphalt roof solution. Metal
roofing, like copper and zinc is versatile, beautiful
and highly durable, as well as highly energy efficient,
light and recyclable, making it a great choice for
today’s green building trend.

Today’s roofing products are engineered not only for

more choice and selection, but are also for durability
and versatility.  Many more affordable choices are
available to more homeowners and builders today.
Whatever roofing solution you choose for your
home, you can be sure there’s a long history of
human ingenuity, hard work and craftsmanship
behind it.

Prestige Roofing
[https://www.prestigeroofinglv.co
m/author/admin/]
Prestige Roofing’s work ranges from
service and repair work,  re-roofing  and
new construction work, commercial and
residential work. They have also done work for ultra-custom
projects around the Las Vegas Valley.

APRIL 25, 2016 / BY PRESTIGE ROOFING

Share this entry

    

© 2019 - Prestige Roofing. All rights reserved

Sitemap