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Material guide

Types of Roofing

Nine roof types you will actually see on a Philadelphia house. Each one is drawn here — the courses, the seams, the profile — so you can look at the picture, then look at your own roof, and know what you are dealing with before anybody quotes you.

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Architectural Asphalt ShinglesGranulated Cap-Sheet Modified BitumenSilvercoat Roofing — Black & SilverSilicone Roof Coating

Pitched roofs

1 types
Architectural asphalt shingles laid in courses, the laminated tabs throwing a deep shadow line What we install $$$$

Architectural Asphalt Shingles

Dimensional · laminated · GAF Timberline HDZ

Two shingle layers laminated together, so the tabs throw a real shadow and the roof reads like depth instead of a flat sheet. This is what the overwhelming majority of Philadelphia pitched roofs get today, and on a pitched roof it is the only thing we install.

25–30+ yearsLifespanNeeds 4:12 pitch or steeperPitch

Best forAny pitched residential roof — rows, twins, singles, dormers and additions.

Strengths

  • Heavy shadow line, looks like a roof and not a mat
  • Wind ratings up into the 110–130 mph range when installed to spec
  • Long manufacturer warranties on the system, not just the shingle
  • Enormous colour range, easy to match a block

Trade-offs

  • Needs real pitch — it does not belong on a flat or low-slope roof
  • Heavier than the old strip shingle, so the deck is worth a look on very old houses

What MG doesOur only pitched-roof system. GAF, full tear-off, ice & water shield, synthetic underlayment, new flashing and ridge ventilation. We do not do layovers.

Flat & low-slope roofs

3 types
New granulated torch-down flat roof with a fresh red pipe boot The rowhome roof $$$$

Granulated Cap-Sheet Modified Bitumen

Mod-bit · granulated cap sheet · rolled roofing

Asphalt reinforced with a polymer, rolled out in 3 ft laps and finished with a granule-surfaced cap sheet — the same granule that is on a shingle, which is what protects the asphalt underneath from the sun. It is the standard flat roof on a Philadelphia row home and it is what we put back on when a flat roof has to be replaced.

15–25 yearsLifespanFlat and low-slope onlyPitch

Best forFlat and low-slope roofs on row homes and twins — replacement, and tie-ins at parapets, chimneys and hatches.

Strengths

  • Tough underfoot — takes ladders, feet and service traffic
  • Multi-layer redundancy: a base sheet under the cap, not one thin skin
  • The granule surface is the UV protection, so it does not need coating to survive
  • Detail work at parapets, curbs and drains is straightforward and repairable

Trade-offs

  • Heavier and hotter than a reflective surface
  • The laps and the flashing terminations are where it eventually goes
  • Not a coating job — it is a full flat-roof replacement, priced like one

What MG doesOur flat-roof replacement system. Self-adhered and torch-applied, base sheet plus granulated cap, with new flashing and a proper termination at every parapet, wall and penetration.

The same roof after black and silver coating, sealed edge to edge Maintenance coat $$$$

Silvercoat Roofing — Black & Silver

Black & silver · aluminum-fibered coating · silver coat

The two-coat maintenance system that has kept Philadelphia row-home roofs alive for decades. A black fibered asphalt base coat goes down first — it is the waterproofing layer and it soaks into the laps and the seams. A silver aluminum-fibered top coat goes over it, and the aluminum flake is what reflects the sun off the black asphalt so it stops cooking. Black without silver bakes; silver without black has nothing to bond to.

3–5 years per coat, then recoatLifespanFlat and low-slope onlyPitch

Best forA sound flat roof that is drying out at the surface, and the regular upkeep cycle on a roof that is not ready to be replaced.

Strengths

  • The cheapest thing you can do to a flat roof that genuinely extends its life
  • The silver top coat drops the surface temperature noticeably on a top floor
  • Seals surface cracks, open laps and tired flashing terminations
  • Renewable — recoat the silver every few years and the clock resets

Trade-offs

  • It is maintenance, not a new roof, and nobody should sell it as one
  • Does nothing for wet insulation or a failed deck — it seals the water in
  • Needs a dry, clean, prepared surface or it will not bond
  • The silver has to be renewed every few years or the black underneath burns off

What MG doesWe do the full two-coat system — black first, silver over it — and we say up front how many years it buys you. If the roof is too far gone for a coating we will tell you that instead of taking the easier sale.

A seamless white silicone coating rolled over a low-slope roof Restoration $$$$

Silicone Roof Coating

Roof restoration · seamless silicone membrane

A liquid silicone membrane rolled or sprayed over an existing flat roof to make a seamless, reflective skin with no joints in it at all. It is the heavy end of coating work — several times the life of a silver coat and several times the price — and over the right roof it genuinely buys you years for a fraction of a replacement. Over the wrong roof it is money set on fire.

10–20 years, renewableLifespanFlat and low-slope onlyPitch

Best forA structurally sound, dry flat roof with intact insulation that is getting tired at the seams and is not ready to come off.

Strengths

  • Far cheaper than a full replacement
  • Seamless — there are no joints in it to fail
  • Holds up to standing water in a way asphalt coatings do not
  • Reflective, and recoatable, so the clock resets

Trade-offs

  • Useless over wet or saturated insulation — it seals the water in
  • Needs a clean, properly prepared surface or it peels
  • Slippery when wet, which matters on a roof people walk
  • It is a restoration, not a new roof, and nobody should sell it as one

What MG doesWe check for saturation before we ever quote a coating. If your insulation is wet we will tell you it needs to come off, even though the coating would have been the easier sale.

Still not sure?

We will come and
look at it, free.

Choosing a material off a page is guesswork. Choosing it after somebody has been on your roof, photographed what is there and told you what your house actually needs is not. That part costs nothing.

Deck → membrane → underlayment → shingle → ridge. Every time.

Free inspection & estimate

No obligation. Tell us what you are looking at and we will come and look at it.

Straight answers

Types of Roofing — FAQ

Two answers, and which one applies depends entirely on your roof's pitch. On anything sloped, architectural asphalt shingles, by a mile. On the flat and low-slope roofs that cover most of the city's rows and twins, a granulated cap sheet — kept going in between by a black & silver coat.
From the ground: if you can see individual tabs with deep shadow lines it is an architectural asphalt shingle. If you cannot see the roof at all from the street, it is almost certainly flat — and if the top of it looks bright grey from an upstairs window, it has been silver-coated at some point. Or call us and we will tell you for nothing.
It is legal in a lot of cases and we still will not do it. A layover buries every soft deck board and every failed flashing under a new roof, adds serious weight, and takes years off the shingle because it cannot shed heat properly.
Somewhat — a heavier laminated shingle has more asphalt and more granule and it does last longer. But the installation matters more than the shingle. A mid-range shingle installed correctly beats a premium one nailed high every single time.

The other guides

Know the rest of it.

Five-inch K-style seamless aluminium gutter on a fascia, ogee front profileTypes of GuttersHorizontal vinyl clapboard lap siding with white corner trimTypes of SidingNew flat roof with a red skylight curb and a re-set turbine ventRoof ReplacementThe same roof finished and coated white, garage and dormer beyondRoof RepairThe same roof in new black membrane, cone dormer re-wrappedFlat Roofing & CoatingsThe same dormer wrapped in new white vinyl siding with a clean capped soffitSiding Installation

Related reading

More on this,
in plain English.

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5 min read
New flat roof membrane wrapped around a Philadelphia cone dormer
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Cap sheet, black & silver or silicone: choosing a flat roof

Four ways to cover a low-slope city roof, what each one costs relative to the others, and the single question — is the insulation wet — that decides between replacing and coating.

5 min read

Free estimate

Free inspection. Written estimate. No pressure.

Tell us what you are looking at and we will come and look at it — and we will tell you honestly what it needs, including the times the answer is nothing yet.

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