Victorian Homes Roofing Materials

Although the buildings of this 80 year period shared many similarities there were also noticeable differences between victorian era buildings constructed at different times.

Victorian homes roofing materials.

For builders in timber rich north america wood shingles were the obvious choice for the earliest roofs and ultimately the most common roofing material for houses well into the 20th century. Some of the best victorian homes can all be found in one place at heritage square museum which calls the french mansard style roof of the valley knudsen garden residence rather unusual for. Metal roofing in america is principally a 19th century phenomenon. Galvanized sheet metal shingles imitating the appearance of pantiles remained popular from the second half of the 19th century into the 20th century.

Originally hand split from local woods oak and pine in the northeast to cypress in the south wood shingles were typically shaved smooth for high style and garden variety houses alike perhaps even decorated with rounded butts. Plentiful wood in the west led to many wood victorian homes in this region. The victorian style building dominated architectural design between the 1830s and 1910s. A mixture of materials and textures is also a strong victorian theme.

However the materials used varied somewhat depending on the geographic region. The most popular materials used for victorian metal roof shingles also changed several times during the period. As well as the contribution that a historic roof makes to an individual building equally important are the distinctive roofscapes of tile slate. Galvanized sheet metal shingles imitating the appearance of pantiles remained popular from the second half of the 19th century into the 20th century.

Spanish clay tiles for example won t be a good match for a victorian period home. An abundance of clay in the east made brick a common material for eastern victorian houses. Colonial revival and the bungalow styles in the 20th century assured wood shingles a place as one of the most fashionable domestic roofing materials. The biggest manufactured roofing innovation of the mid 19th century was the introduction of shingles and rolls of material composed of asphalt felt and a granular coating which came into wide use in the early 20th century because of their low cost fire resistance and ease of installation.

To the design materials and skills used on traditional roofs even though few would fully comply with modern practice. This variation occurred mostly due to the availability of materials. Colonial revival and the bungalow styles in the 20th century assured wood shingles a place as one of the most fashionable domestic roofing materials. Colonial revival and the bungalow styles in the 20th century assured wood shingles a place as one of the most fashionable domestic roofing materials.