For many years, the composite roofing market has been heavily dominated by DaVinci Roofscapes, which has been producing synthetic cedar shakes and slate tiles since the 1990s. Over the past 25 years, we have seen that this technology has great potential and is definitely worth the price. However, the market abhors a vacuum, and it is for this reason that in 2008 a player made its debut that has been looking to revolutionize the roofing industry since its inception. Who are we talking about? Brava Roofing, of course! But has this venture succeeded? Is Brava Roofing a good roofing brand?
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History Of Brava Roofing
One won’t find much information on the Brava Roofing website. As the company itself declares, it was founded in 2008, and from its inception it has worked to produce long-lasting, authentic and premium-quality synthetic roofing systems. The Iowa-based manufacturer also pays attention to the environment, taking care of the recyclability of its products and using used plastic in the roofing manufacturing process.
Brava Roofing, by the way, is not a very large company – it employs a few dozen people, and its estimated revenue is about 60% of DaVinci Roofscapes’ sales. Despite this, the Iowa-based manufacturer has already managed to make a name for itself in the roofing industry, famous for, among other things, its use of revolutionary dyeing technologies. Instead of conventional dyes, Brava uses mineral pigments that impress with their durability.
What Are Brava Roofing Tiles Made Of?
Brava composite shakes and tiles are made from polymers combined with mineral pigments. Unlike DaVinci Roofscapes, Brava does not use resin, which in practice translates into the texture and aesthetics of the tiles. The main difference between the two companies is that the tiles produced by DaVinci are generally smoother, reflect more light and are slightly inferior in realism due to the lack of “imperfections” and patterns typical of natural stone.
The use of polymers such as polyethylene (PET) definitely reduces the weight of the tiles. They are also slightly more flexible which makes roofs made of them more resistant to impacts and hailstorms, although it must be openly admitted that virtually any composite roof is very resistant to these factors.
Brava Roofs’ Performance
We feel that current roof certification standards are no longer sufficient. Brava Roofs is another company whose products meet basically all possible top-level standards. Let’s list some of the most important ones:
- Impact Resistance class 4 – tiles with IR class 4 can withstand the fall of ice balls up to 2” in diameter. In practice, such hailstones are extremely rare, at least in the Chicago North Shore area.
- Fire retardance class A – Class A is again the highest possible score that roofing tiles can achieve. Simply put, Class A materials do not spread fire, although they are not necessarily noncombustible.
- Wind resistance up to 188 mph – this probably doesn’t need to be explained. But let’s add that 188 mph is an extremely high score that virtually no manufacturer has managed to achieve.
We could also tout the higher fade resistance, lower weight per 100 sqft or lower risk of defective tiles, but all these parameters are very difficult to describe with numbers. Let us point out, however, that the performance of composite roofs comes from a combination of all these factors.
Are Brava Roofs Expensive? Brava Roofs Prices
According to Brava Roofs itself, their products qualify as premium grade, and this is reflected by the prices – costs can be more than double that of architectural asphalt shingles from popular brands like GAF and Owens Corning.
Prices for Brava composite cedar shakes range from $6 to $18 per square foot, composite slate tiles cost from $8 to $13 per sqft, while synthetic spanish barrel tiles cost from $7 to $11. In any case, installation of this company’s roofs will be cheaper than their classic counterparts, which is especially evident with natural slate, which typically costs around $30 per sqft. Keep in mind that all the prices we quote do not include the cost of labor, underlayment, flashings and other roof components. We are only comparing the cost of purchasing rooftop material.
How do the prices compare to the competition? To be honest, composite roofing systems manufactured by DaVinci cost practically the same. Most of the proposals we submit to our customers include these two competing brands and the price differences do not exceed 10%.
Is It Worth Choosing Brava Roofs?
As a rule, yes. Brava Roofs is a company with a long tradition, whose products are not inferior to the competition. Working with composite shakes and tiles practically every day, we can say that roofs made of polymers are as good, and perhaps even better, than those made of resin.
Certainly, a huge advantage of the products of this Iowa-based company is their appearance – composite shakes colored with natural pigments look almost identical to real wood, and the effect of realism is even deeper thanks to the use of molds made from pieces of cedar. The synthetic slate tiles also look really good. Although they are not a perfect copy of natural stone, they can still set the standard for the entire roofing industry.
Keep in mind, however, that Brava Roofs is not as well-known a company as DaVinci and GAF. While this has no bearing on workmanship, safety or technical performance, the sale of a home fitted with a roof manufactured by an industry giant will generally be easier, and the transaction price will likely be higher.
As a Highland Park Brava Roofs contractor, we do dozens of roofs a year using this company’s materials, and for many years now, we’ve received basically only positive feedback. Composite cedar shakes, slate tiles and spanish barrel tiles are the future of the roofing industry – they are lightweight, durable, safe, long-lasting and favorably priced. Choosing Barva Roofs is a guarantee of satisfaction with your roof replacement!
