Roofs we install
Synthetic and specialty roofing in Atlanta.
Synthetic roofing is a polymer product moulded to look like slate or cedar shake, at a fraction of the weight. It exists for the house that wants the look of a heavy roof and cannot carry one.
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The material
Composite shake and synthetic slate.
Composite shake is moulded from real cedar, so the grain on a roof is a cast of wood that once existed rather than a repeating pattern. It does what cedar looks like without what cedar does in Georgia humidity.
Synthetic slate is the same idea against stone. Up close it is not slate. From the street, on a roof, most people cannot tell — and it lands at a weight ordinary framing carries without a structural conversation.
Both are cut and fastened much like shingle, which is why a synthetic roof does not need the specialist trades a real slate roof does.
Where it suits
When synthetic beats the real thing.
A house that can't carry slate
This is the main reason it exists. The look of a slate roof on framing that was never built for one.
Cedar you don't want to maintain
Real shake in Georgia humidity is a commitment. Composite gives the texture without the upkeep.
Impact country
Several synthetic products carry the top impact rating, which is worth asking about if hail has found your street before.
A covenant that names a look
Where an HOA specifies the appearance of slate or shake, synthetic often satisfies it.
What to know
Three honest cautions.
The category is young
Slate has centuries behind it. Synthetics have decades, so the long record everybody wants simply does not exist yet.
Manufacturer matters more than material
Quality varies enormously between makers in a way it does not with, say, clay tile. The name on the box is most of the decision.
Ask what the rating actually covers
Impact and fire ratings are specific and testable. Get the class in writing from the manufacturer's literature, not from anyone's sales pitch, including ours.
You might ask us
Straight answers.
Does synthetic slate actually look like slate?
On a roof, from the ground, to most eyes — yes. In your hand it is plainly a moulded product. The question is which of those two views you are buying.
Is it as durable as the real thing?
Nobody honestly knows yet, because the products have not been on roofs long enough to answer it. What they do carry are testable impact and fire ratings, which is what we would ask a manufacturer for.
Is composite shake allowed where real cedar isn't?
Often, because the fire rating is the usual objection to cedar and composite products are rated separately. It is worth checking your covenant and your county.
Roofs we install
The other roofs we install.
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Licensed Georgia general contractor · GA Lic. No. GCLT-CO000732
Earthcore Roofing is a division of Earthcore Group. All of Earthcore Roofing