superstitions exist for all things, and the roof is no exception to this. It seems most superstitions regarding the roof deal with spirits or the afterlife, most likely because the roof is seen as a wall between the home and the heavens. There are other superstitions that deal with fire and even some about witches.

How do you protect your roof from fire? by placing water symbols all over it, of course. it seems so simple, worried about fire? put signs of water all over the place, that’ll scare the fire away, and don’t forget to make your tile roof look like ocean waves, that lends extra credibility to those water symbols. or at least that seems to have been the japanese school of thought when it comes to tile roofing.

Japanese tile roofing isn’t the only place we find water symbolism in roofing associated with superstition, in the rural southern united states we find a particular shade of blue adorning the underside of patio roofs. This shade of blue is known as Haint blue, and it’s painted on the roof because evidently not only can ghosts in the south not cross water, they aren’t too good at telling the difference between water and paint.

America isn’t the only place with ghost inspired roofing, In china they put ghost slides on the top of their temples, evidently chinese folklore says that ghosts can only travel in straight lines, so when a ghost hits their roof, it slides along the edge, hits the upturned gable, and goes flying off into the afterlife. Yay Ghost slide!

Chinese ghosts aren’t alone in only moving in straight lines, evidently Witches in the Northeast US can only fly in straight lines, and can only fly into the top window of a house, which is why you see windows turned at a 45 degree angle at the top of houses. These Witch windows prevent those women that weight as much as a duck from entering the attic by broomstick.

If you feel left out, don’t worry someone will eventually write irreverently about things you consider serious sooner or later, just give it a few hundred years, it happens to all of us. If i have offended, i’m sorry you were offended, but I’d be willing to bet the bulk of the readers found it funny.

When you begin planning you have to decide if you are planning a power generating roof, a low impact roof or a green roof. Low impact roofs have less environmental impact for production of the roofing material and helps save money on utilities. Power generation roofing will heat water, generate electricity and save money and the environment by reducing your dependency on traditional power plants. Green roofs act as a a rooftop garden, not only are they beautiful, they also provide awesome insulation, and help remove pollution from the atmosphere.

For a low impact roof, your first step is to decide on your roofing material. when Deciding on the material for your new roof it’s important to take all factors into account. You will need to consider Things such as the cost of the roof, the environmental impact generated by creating and transporting the roofing material, as well as the longevity of your roof.

Wood Shingles, While natural have a huge environmental impact it is  usually cut from old growth forests and typically can’t pass fire code unless they are treated with toxic fire retardant chemicals, which defeats the purpose of using wood.

Metal roofs are some of the coolest roofs around, in looks and temperature for homes.  Metal roofs are available in copper, aluminum, and stainless steel, and often have a very high percentage of recycled content.  They have good insulation, solar reflectance, and durability metal roofing usually lasts twice as long as wood or asphalt.

Slate is the most durable roofing material, Slate Roofing will last a long time, typically the fasteners that hold it on the roof deck wear out after about 100 years long before the slate roofing itself wears out.  As a natural material, slate roofing is both extremely durable and also recyclable.  Slate Roofing comes  in a good selection of colors and Slate Roofing’s color varieties is  what adds to the unique appeal of slate roofing.

Clay tile roofing invokes a certain Mediterranean flair and boast the ability to last over 50 years with good insulation value, and tile roofing is Class A fire rated. Tile Roofing can come in lighter colors which adhere to cool roof standards.

Green Roofing is a complex issue, and Although we only really explored a few options for low impact roofing it is our hope that this post has cleared things up a bit for you.