All the Details on Our New Composite Shake Roof!

The roofing featured in this post was heavily discounted by Brava Roof Tile. 

The first time we pulled up to what would eventually become our house, one of the things we noticed initially was the roof. It's very tall. With so much visual space demanded by our roof when you drive up, we knew it needed to be a design element--spectacular even.

This past spring when we discovered mold on large portions of our exterior, forcing an unexpected and all-encompassing remodel of the outside of our home. We knew that we wanted to address the roof, but really leaned on Shae McGee and her amazing team at Studio McGee to know exactly how we would do that. But you want to know the most incredible thing? All three designers we talked to recommended Brava composite cedar shake roof tiles. All of them.

One thing we knew was the look of the single-toned asphalt shingles weren't doing us any favors, and they weren't holding up all the great either. Small portions here and there were showing signs of damage even after only a few years and some shingles were missing. We knew we wanted to not just improve the look but also set our home up for the long run - no wondering how many shingles I'm going to have to replace after each hail or wind storm.

Brava Roof Tile is composite roofing made from recycled materials, repurposed in a new and useful way. Think about a composite deck — it's essentially the same type of material, but made for the roof. But even among composite, not all brands are equal and Brava has our whole-hearted endorsement.

All of Brava's options are class-4 impact rated — that's the highest there is. And contrary to other solid materials like slate or concrete, Brava's roof tiles are lightweight and don't require any additional structural support like some materials do. It's an incredibly strong roof that can be installed almost anywhere...although not necessarily by anyone.

This is a special roof and does require some experience. Most distributors can recommend installers, but if you're looking for someone yourself they should, at the very least, be familiar with cedar shake roofing. But composite is becoming more common. Our contractor was able to refer us to local roofers who installed the roof. They charged based on the size of the roof, not by the hour. Brava heavily discounted the product, but the installation itself (for our roof size) was $30,382 — really happy we won't have to replace it in our lifetime!

We went with the Brava Cedar Shake roof tiles in "Weathered." Such a beautiful color and was the perfect pairing with the rest of our planned updates. And all of their patterns are cast from real cedar shingles, giving an amazingly realistic look that will last for decades. Some other facts about the Brava Roof Tiles:

• Environmentally friendly composite roofing material
• Comes in 5", 7" and 12" widths for ease of installation and natural look (we combined all three widths for our home)
• Varied thickness and stunning “split texture” of natural wood
• 50 year limited warranty -  much longer life expectancy than cedar roofs and siding
• Available in custom color combinations
• Class 4 impact rating - the highest in the industry
• Available in Class A and Class C fire rating
• No breakage, no special tools and numerous accessory pieces available

There is so much character in this roof product. It's charming, varied, and looks so natural. And against the stone and dark siding, it's perfect.

And of course, along with some of the structural adjustments along the front of our home, our roofline is now something that grabs attention with a "Wow!" instead of a "Hmm."

Also, Idaho in the fall. All the heart eyes. Let's see some more pictures from above the trees, which are the prettiest gold right now.

As the weather turns, it feels like we're also turning a corner on this renovation. Painting has wrapped up, copper gutters are going on (can't wait to show you!) and the exterior gas lanterns are getting installed today!!! There's only a handful of projects left before we wrap this up, but it's so nice to know that every project we do is safely covered by Brava's beautifully durable roofing tile.