Your roof has a story. Its past is important. What’s just as important is its future. The future of your roof means more than just the materials it will be made out of in 2050. We’ll talk about that. It also means how well your roof is going to be able to stand up to the elements in the short and distant future.
The truth is that many roofs will need to be replaced more than once throughout your time owning the home they protect. It’s common for asphalt shingles to be replaced every 12 to 15 years, for example. So when you’re thinking about the future of your roof, you should think about the future of your current roof and roofing to come.
Your current roof
Your current roof has an Estimated Useful Life (or EUL). This is the number of years you should expect your roof to perform optimally. This number will vary based on the materials you have chosen for your roof.
Inspections will help prevent small flaws from turning into catastrophic roofing problems. At the very minimum, we recommend biannual visual inspections to make sure your roof is not requiring attention or replacement. We’ve written about how to safely perform these inspections here.
Choosing a roof with a long bright future is as simple as two words:
Steel.
Shingles.
Steel roofing gives your roof a long road by keeping the maintenance costs low and having an EUL of around 80 to 100 years on average. In many cases, it will last even longer. Wanna talk about a long life? We regularly install roofs at Security-Luebke Roofing that will outlive everybody currently employed for us.
Another technology that will help make your roof live up to its full potential is GutterTopper. GutterTopper keeps your gutters from getting clogged and weighed down in the spring and fall. The optional Hott Topper attachment can also prevent them from freezing in the winter. Both of these elements will let your roof and eaves last even longer. You can read more about what we call a “worry-free roof” here.
Your future roof
Okay, but what will roofing look like in the distant future? You may not know this, but roofing has changed considerably in the last 30 years. In that time, it’s become significantly more energy efficient. In fact R-Values (which denote energy efficiency) of roofing materials have tripled in that time!
Our biggest prediction about roofing in the future is that it will be similar to what is happening in other areas of contracting and home technology. Namely, it will become more energy efficient, saving you money and helping the environment.
If you have a metal roof or steel shingles or are thinking about investing in one, you should know that they are actually one of the most energy-friendly choices. Additionally, steel roofing is fully recyclable. So even though it may not be you replacing the roof in 100 years, whoever does will be able to feel great about getting rid of the old to bring in the new.
Another technology that’s been on the rise for a while and is likely to hit its stride in the coming years is solar panels. Solar panels are a pretty common sight, but many technology experts and futurists see them as becoming a standard feature once battery technology allows more efficient power storage.
Using your roof for solar panels is a great way to take advantage of practically unused space that is being constantly bombarded by sunlight. How would you like to cut your power bill down by 2/3 because your home’s electricity is now coming from the sun?
Our prediction is that roofing technology will advance to better allow the attachment of solar panels and other alternative energy generators.
Time to change the roof
How about a far-out prediction? One thing that we’ve seen that interests us is the concept of modular roofing. This would mean that instead of putting on a roof material and keeping it there for 12, 15 or even 50 years, your roof instead consists of connectors.
Interchangeable panels are brought up to the roof and installed on these connectors every season or maybe before a storm event. The benefit of your home is that it gives you more control over your energy savings.
In Northeast Wisconsin, for instance, the commonplace black and dark gray roofing helps heat our homes in the winter. Now imagine that when summer rolls around, you could spend a day installing light tan or even white panels that reflect the sunlight and keep your home cooler.
The future’s looking pretty bright for roofing.
Don’t wait for the future!
While technologies like modular roofing and solar panels may be a couple of decades away or more, there are still things you can do right now to ensure that you have a long-lasting, high quality and energy-efficient roof today.
With approved financing, you could have a brand-new steel roof for only $119/month. You can also bring your asphalt roof into the future with new asphalt shingles installed for only $79/month.
We offer free estimates on your roofing project. To find out how we can help bring your roof into the future, contact us today!