North Carolina Embraces Polymer Shake Shingles

Second generation roofer Stacy Stines remembers when his father started the family business in 1978 with a focus on using real wood shakes for roofs. Over the years Stines has seen a change — and a growing preference amongst homeowners for longer-lasting polymer roofing products.

“Half of the roofs I install these days are polymer shake or slate products,” says Stines, owner of Stacy Stines Roofing out of Elk Park, N. C. “The benefits are so tremendous for these low-maintenance roofing materials that there are entire communities in this mountainous area that mandate replacement roofs all be made of fire-resistant polymer material.”

One such community, Valle Cay near Boone, N.C., includes 47 homes constructed in 1984 with real wood shake shingles. Due to rot, weathering and curling, many of those roofs have failed and Stines has replaced seven of them since 2008. In the heavily-wooded area the association now recommends all roofs be replaced with DaVinci Roofscapes Multi-Width Shake roofing tiles in a Tahoe blend of five shades of natural wood.

“Once someone sees this product installed, they love it and want it on their own home,” says Stines. “The simulated shake roofing has a good profile and dimension to it, the color blends are terrific and the advantage of knowing you have a roof backed by a 50-year limited warranty is extremely impressive."

At another North Carolina community, Stonebridge Log Home community in Todd, developer Shawn Gentry has also seen a rising interest in synthetic shake roofs. Once a completely all-wood cedar shake development of 200 rustic log cabins, the community has now adopted rules that require either fake cedar shake DaVinci Roofscapes roofing products or pre-approved wood cedar split shakes for both new construction and re-roofing projects within Stonebridge.

“The push towards polymer shakes made sense due to long-term maintenance and safety concerns,” says Gentry. “The wood cedar roofs on our one-of-a-kind homes are vulnerable to fire, decay damage and weather conditions.

“We did our research and found that the DaVinci Shakes are an excellent alternative to real wood. They have the tile thickness we needed plus the profiles that accurately replicate real cedar. But, most importantly, they resist weathering, insects and decay. The Mountain Blend and Weathered Gray Blend colors we’ve specified for our community perfectly replicate real cedar shingles.”

Another added benefit of the composite shakes for homeowners at Stonebridge is the peace-of-mind that comes with having a low-maintenance roof. “Many of our homeowners don’t occupy these homes during the winter months,” says Gentry. “When they’re away from their homes for such a long amount of time they’re less likely to worry about maintenance needs on the DaVinci roof versus the natural wood shake roofs.”

Visit What are Contractors Saying about DaVinci? to learn more about how roofing installers and experts feel about DaVinci synthetic slate roofing shingles and cedar shake alternative roofing materials.