Inspire Synthetic Slate Roofing

11 years ago

Since we were able to find so little feedback from people who had used the various synthetic slate products on their homes, I thought I'd post our experiences now that we've completed the installation of ours.

The product was easy, though time consuming to apply. A power nailer would have sped up the project, but my DH (being quite fanatical) insisted we hand nail. It is definitely more costly than asphalt shingles, and since we didn't have to pay someone to install it, was in our budget. We love the way it looks with the old brick exterior.

Ours shown in the photo is the green/black blend, but they offer both blended and solid colors. If anyone would like more info, I'd be happy to respond.

Featured Answer

danvirsse
Original Author

8 years ago

Inspire Shingles are a division of Tapco. Our experience with other Tapco products has been positive, so we felt that a dependable company would be standing behind the warranty. We also traveled several hours to view Inspire, DeVinci, and Eco-Star shingles on actual roof installs. The Inspire shingles looked less plastic-y and had more realistic color variations.

To date, we have had absolutely no issues with the roof, but time will tell. My DH is a commercial (flat) roofer by trade, and he installed EVERY shingle himself so I'm very comfortable with the quality of the application. Many roofs that fail are not due to the product chosen, but rather the improper/shoddy install of the product.

I will say that the roof was a bit shiny in appearance when we completed the install, but now that several years have gone by it has become a more matte finish and even more realistic.

Good luck with your project.

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Comments (6)

civ_IV_fan
11 years ago
tell us more -- how big is your roof? how much did it cost? do you have a picture showing it in the context of the whole house?
danvirsse
Original Author
11 years ago
I don't have a picture of the house with the shingles. I have added another photo that shows the brick and windows (though the trim isn't on them yet). I'll try to get better pictures on the weekend and post them then.

Our roof is 16 square and the bill for the shingles was approx $7500.00. We did the install ourselves.
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worthy
11 years ago
Synthetic slates have a decidedly mixed history, marked by early failures, 50 year warranties soon gone with the companies that manufactured and sold them and even class action suits.

Proper installation seems to be the key.

The ones I have seen have a high sheen that instantly marks them as not the real thing.

Here is a link that might be useful: Artificial Slate Roofing
Acadiafun
10 years ago
I like the look of the roof. Well done!
cchute
8 years ago
Was there anything in particular that helped you decide that Inspire would be a reliable material? We are putting an addition on our 1912 home that already has real slate and are searching for an affordable alternative for the new roof. I've heard of some newer materials like this failing so we are concerned about choosing the wrong product. So far I have found little info on this company. Thanks!!! your roof looks awesome!