Specialty Roofing

Sometimes the home deserves a roof that asphalt can’t deliver and composite doesn’t match. Natural slate, cedar shake, and one-off architect-specified systems are the specialty category — high material cost, skilled install, and multi-generation performance when the owner wants the real thing instead of a lookalike. If you’re looking for the slate or shake appearance without the cost and weight of the real thing, our Composite Roofing page covers DaVinci, Brava, and F-Wave synthetic systems.

Natural Slate

Real quarried slate is the longest-lived residential roof material made. Installed correctly with copper or stainless flashings and appropriate headlap for the pitch, a slate roof will outlive the structure it sits on — 75 to 150+ years is realistic. We source from Vermont, New York, and Pennsylvania quarries, and we install with slate hooks, copper nails, and the fastener schedule that matches the tile size and pitch.

The honest part: slate is expensive. Material alone runs 3–5x synthetic composite, plus skilled install labor. It also weighs as much as tile (800–1000 lbs per square) and carries the same structural requirements. For homes where legacy is the goal — the roof being there when grandchildren own the house — slate earns its cost. For most other cases, synthetic composite gets you 90% of the aesthetic at a fraction of the total cost.

Cedar Shake — Know the Code First

Cedar shake has a real look and a real performance issue: it burns. After the Marshall Fire (2021) and similar wildfire events, many Colorado Front Range municipalities have restricted or banned new cedar shake roofs, and others require class-A fire-retardant treatment plus specific underlayment assemblies. Before we quote cedar shake for a Colorado home, we check the governing jurisdiction. Kansas municipalities are generally more permissive but still increasingly restrictive in wildland-urban interface zones.

Where cedar is allowed, we install pressure-treated class-A fire-retardant cedar with 100% solid decking, Type-15 asphalt-saturated felt or synthetic underlayment, stainless fasteners, and correct exposure per grade. Be honest with yourself about maintenance: expect a treatment cycle and be prepared for a 25–35 year real-world service life rather than the 40–50 marketing claims. For homeowners who want the shake appearance without the fire and maintenance liability, we usually recommend a synthetic composite shake instead.

Hybrid and Architect-Specified Systems

• Mixed-material installations — slate main field with copper on dormers, bays, and cupolas.
• Standing seam with slate or shake accents — a metal main field with natural-material accent tiles at entries and bays for texture break. See our Standing Seam page for the metal side.
• Architect-specified custom work — we install to the architect’s detail package, not to the lowest-bid interpretation of it.

Insurance and Storm Performance

Natural slate passes UL 2218 Class 4 impact in most thicknesses, which qualifies for the same insurance premium discount as Class 4 asphalt or composite. Cedar shake does not — cedar is relatively easily damaged by hail and does not qualify for impact-discount premiums. For Colorado hail country we strongly recommend synthetic composite over cedar even where cedar is legal.

Schedule a Specialty Roof Estimate

If you’re considering natural slate, cedar shake, or an architect-specified hybrid system — whether on new construction, a re-roof, or a restoration — we’ll walk the property, verify structural and code suitability, and write a real estimate. Considering synthetic slate or shake instead? See Composite Roofing.

Call us at 855 ROOF-001, email info [at] rooftechnologies.com, or submit a request through our contact form to schedule a specialty roofing estimate.

Still have questions? Contact us