Gone are the days when an eagle’s eye view revealed a sea of identical mono-chromatic roofs in new home neighborhoods. Builders have now come to embrace the dozens of colors, choices and incredible durability roofing options available to them, whether building custom residences or an entire community of production homes.

Roofing choices are more diverse in the Sun Belt/western U.S. region than any other part of the country, according to industry experts, mainly due to the abundance of relatively mild weather throughout much of the year.

Advances in roofing have been truly inspiring over the past decade or so. Nowadays, superior underlayment and flashing applications alone can keep a home dry as a bone even without the crowning mosaic of roofing tiles or shingles applied. Clever ventilation systems have become a science all their own, snugly fitting into every type of roofing imaginable, and the palette of roof colors, styles and materials permit even the most persnickety homebuyers and Gestapo-like C.C. & R aficionados to get their way.

Concrete Diversity

Throughout much of Arizona, Nevada, Southern and Central California, concrete tile roofing has been and remains to be a popular roofing material for homebuilders. Closely echoing the more delicate Spanish-style clay tile roofs that grace many older, historic buildings in the west, concrete tile roofing carries a warranty that can range up to 50 years, making it among the most durable roofing products.

MonierLifeTile and Eagle Roofing, the “big two” of concrete tile roof suppliers, now offer not only the well-known “s” style Mediterranean variety of tile, but have also introduced tile roofing resembling nearly every other popular style known to man, including wood cedar, clay and stone look-alikes. MonierLifetile now touts varieties with names like Barcelona, Capri,, English Thatch, Coventry, and Country Slate. Eagle Roofing’s product lines boast collections suited to traditional homes (American Heirloom), Southwestern architecture (Camino Real) and tiles that can blend with any architecture (CityScapes). Both manufacturers offer both lightweight and standard weight lines. (Visit monierlifetile.com and eagleroofing.com for a full display of product lines)

Amazing Asphalt

Asphalt roofs are both exceptionally versatile and architecturally correct in almost every part of the country for nearly all kinds of homes, making it among the most common and cost-effective roofing products in the U.S. This type roofing material is easy to find, easy to install, and easy to maintain, costing significantly less than higher-priced rivals (including tile, wood, cedar, slate, and metal).

Michael Reisman of Certain Teed Corporation says the latest trend in asphalt roofing is a move away from shake or flat, 3-tab shingles to what are called architectural shingles. These designer shingles are fuller, thicker and look multi-layered. (go to certainteed.com)

Cedar Shake with a Twist

Cedar shake, adorning many western homes, is still the choice for more traditional architecture, offering a golden, feathery crown to the popular Craftsman styles that have found their way back into the new home market. A natural product, cedar shake is also a roofing of choice for custom home builders, whose clients want the aesthetics that only real wood can offer. Warranties for cedar shake vary on the thickness of the shake product chosen, but at its thickest and highest quality can compete with concrete tile for durability. Wood performs well in all climates, not subject to the freeze-thaw cycle damage that can harm other types of roofing. It compares to metal roofing price-wise, therefore not used in many production home neighborhoods

Meeker Cedar (meekercedar.com) notes that its natural wood product offers more than twice the insulating value of asphalt shingles, four times that of fiber-cement composites, and five times that of slate.

Builders who hesitate to offer cedar shake roofing to their clients because of the ever-present western-U.S. threat of wild-fires can talk to them about the new generation of cedar shake, pressure-treated with a polymer that renders it virtually fire retardant for the life of the roof. (See chemco.org)

Rocks of Ages

Slate roofing can be seen on some of the most elegant custom residences in the U.S. This tough-as-nails, natural roofing material has been around longer than any other, having been used from ancient times through the Middle Ages and is still the roofing used throughout much of the world today. Although it carries a 75-year warranty, many claim that it lasts for 100 years and beyond, making it an already historical addition to any new home. It can get soaked, wind-blown and pummeled by any manner of nature and still keep on ticking. For more information on slate roofing, visit americanslate.com.

A Roof of Clay

By the mid-19th century, the introduction of the Italianate Villa style of architecture in the United States prompted a new interest in clay tiles for roofing. The popularity of clay tile roofing as well as look-alike substitute roofing materials continues in the 20th century, especially in areas of the South and West where Mediterranean and Spanish influenced styles of architecture still predominate.

Clay roof tiles have proven their durability, offering non-fading permanent color, when working with the elements can produce a weathered and mellow appearance, improving their looks with age. Clay tiles are fire resistant, able to withstand harsh chemicals and are not susceptible to biological degradation, leaving them resistant to excessive mold growth and are not affected by extremes of heat or cold. These properties coupled with the fact that clay tiles are a natural and sustainable product (qualities that are appreciated by an increasingly discerning public who care about the environment) make clay tiles an ideal roofing option for the newly-built home. With nearly a century of experience in clay tile roofing, MCA roof tile is a major supplier of this product in the U.S. Visit them at mca-tile.com.

The Metal Standard

Metal roofs have been around for centuries as well, and in some cases, original metal roofs have been a distinctive characteristic on famous old buildings. In the residential markets of the western U.S., metal roofing is seen most often in the heavily-wooded areas of Central California and the Northwest because of its fire-free reputation. But metal roofing is now more versatile than ever before. Sheets of aluminum or pre-coated steel are pressed into modular panels through a stamping process creating the look of individual shingles, shakes, slates, or tiles. The benefit of this type of roofing is that it is designed for quick installation; installers only have to work with one larger piece as opposed to numerous smaller pieces. Metal roofing can also be painted to match any color palette. (See metalroofing.com)

Gimme Shelter . . .

Vast improvements to roofing applications would not be possible without the other components that truly make new homes a shelter from the elements. The underlayment market has been credited with some of the most amazing advances in roofing technology, providing the only sure-fire moisture barrier under these long-lasting roofing products.

On the market since 1995, SBS (rubber) Underlayment is becoming the industry standard as a superior way to extend the life of tile or shingle roofs and avoid leaks. SBS rubber is flexible and has the memory to return to its original form. SBS forms a rubber matrix of butadiene when blended with asphalt. (Visit MBtechnology.com)

Trim and venting accessories in copper and exotic metals are included in a huge product line of Long Beach-based C & J Metal Products (cjmetal.com), which has been supplying flashings and gutters to the southern California market for the past 60 years.

Sebastopol, CA-based O’Hagin’s, Inc. offers a wealth of different ventilation products designed to match surrounding roofing materials, virtually eliminating once- unsightly vents from the roofing profile. O’Hagin’s Dave Mutter admits that the company’s biggest goal is to blend architectural aesthetics with superior performance. Leak-prone dormer vents (long the industry standard for asphalt roofs) are now being phased out by snug-fitting flat vents like the ones produced by O’Hagin’s. These state-of the-art units are specifically designed to fit into the clay tile, concrete tile and asphalt roofing made by more than 20 different roofing manufacturers. For more information, go to ohaginvent.com.