If you are constructing a new holiday home, or your existing holiday home has a badly damaged roof that needs to be replaced, you should ensure that the new roofing materials you choose are both durable and low-maintenance. Since you won't be around to keep an eye on the roof's condition for most of the year, any damage may go unnoticed for months, leaving your holiday home vulnerable to roof leaks, rot and other expensive damages.
This rules out roofing materials that require frequent maintenance, such as traditional slate tiles or cedar roofing. Fortunately, there are a wide variety of reliable roofing materials that are ideally suited for use in holiday home construction. Here are some of the best options:
Aluminium Roofing
Metal roofing is widely prized for its low maintenance requirements. It is also extremely durable and will protect your holiday home from extreme weather conditions and heavy falling objects (such as tree branches) for many years. However, you may wish to avoid steel roofing.
Steel roofing is reliant on weatherproof coatings to prevent rust. If the coating on a single panel is compromised, the steel beneath can corrode remarkably quickly when it is exposed to air and moisture. If a steel roofing panel on your holiday home is damaged just after you leave, the panel may be badly degraded by the time you return, allowing rainwater to spill into the building.
Aluminium roofing is a more reliable choice for holiday homes and other occasional-use buildings. Most aluminium roofing products are also treated with weatherproof coatings. However, uncoated aluminium is naturally highly resistant to rust and corrosion, so damage to the coating will not compromise the water-tightness of the roof.
Copper Roofing
If you want a reliable roofing material that will also make your holiday home look more distinctive, copper roofing is hard to beat. Copper roofing does not require protective coatings, as it forms its own rustproof patina when exposed to air. This distinctive blue-green patina is visually striking, and will only become more beautiful as it ages. It is a perfect addition to holiday homes with traditional or colonial styling.
This patina means that copper roofing has virtually zero maintenance requirements, and will last for decades with very little attention required. Unlike most other roofing types, you don't even have to clean copper roofing, as copper's antimicrobial properties discourage moss and lichen growth.
Concrete Tiles
Concrete tiles are another reliable roofing option for holiday homes. The toughness and sheer weight of concrete roof tiles make them virtually invulnerable to weather damage, and they are rated to withstand extremely high winds — ideal for holiday homes in exposed, windswept coastal locations.
Concrete tiles also have forgiving maintenance requirements. While they will need to be pressure-cleaned to remove moss and lichen, this is a purely aesthetic concern, and neglecting to clean your roof for long periods will not affect the roof's durability and water-tightness. Beyond that, concrete tile roofs hardly ever require repairs due to their exceptional durability.
For more information about roofing options, contact a local roofer.
Yo! My name is Jay. When you think about the subject of roofing, you may not think that it is very interesting. However, once you get into this subject, you will soon discover that it is very fascinating. I used to think that roofing a boring subject. However, all of that changed when I moved into a new property in Perth. The roof needed replacing so I called in a contractor. The contractor explained the many different options I had for replacing the roof and I started to do a bit of research. I was amazed at the choice on offer. I am very happy with my new roof. I wanted to start a blog to share my newfound passion.