When looking for the best wildfire resistant roof, you want one that doesn’t contain any flammable materials, such wood. Asphalt shingles are Class-A fire resistant, which is the highest fire rating given. However, they do contain asphalt, which is not ideal. Unless wood shake is regularly treated, it’s highly flammable, so those are out. If you had one of the best wildfire resistant roofs, you wouldn’t have to worry about your roof catching on fire.
You don’t know when a wildfire is going to ignite. So far this year (2024), there have been 13 wildfires in Colorado. Currently, there’s a wildfire raging just outside of Loveland and Lyons. Colorado is relatively dry most of the year. It doesn’t take much to start a wildfire. Additionally, hot embers can travel for miles, sparking another fire miles away. If you have a wood shake roof and it hasn’t been treated for fire recently, your home is at great risk. If your home is close to a wildfire and a burning ember lands on your old asphalt shingle roof, how sure are you that asphalt won’t ignite?
Wildfire Resistant Roofs
- Standing Seam
- Rock Slate
- Concrete Tile
- Clay Tile
- Stone-Coated Steel Shingles
- Asphalt Shingles
The 6 roofs that resist wildfires the best that we carry are standing seam, rock slate, concrete and clay tiles, stone-coated steel shingles, and asphalt shingles.
Asphalt Shingles: Asphalt shingles do contain asphalt, which is flammable. However, they are Class-a fire rated, thanks to the granules covering the asphalt layer.
Stone-Coated Steel Shingles: Stone-coated steel shingles also contain asphalt, but their foundation is steel instead of fiberglass, so that’s an improvement over traditional asphalt shingles.
Tiles: Concrete and clay tiles do not contain any flammable materials. However, they are heavy and might require additional support from your roof’s trusses.
Rock Slate: As with tiles, rock slate also contains no flammable materials. But, they’re also very heavy, like concrete tiles. And, they’re very expensive.
Standing Seam: Standing seam just might be the best wildfire-resistant roof as it contains no flammable material and is light-weight. When a hot ember lands on a standing seam metal roof, it will either self-extinguish or slide off.
Other Advantages of Standing Seam
Cool
Not only is standing seam sheet metal highly resistant to wildfires, it’s also very energy-efficient. Sheet metal roofs have the highest solar reflectivity of any roof at .67. This is on a scale from .01 to .1 (.1 being the highest.) Solar reflectivity is a materials ability to reflect heat. Attics with a sheet metal roof are also 20º cooler than attics below a traditional asphalt shingle roof. As a result, sheet metal roofs help to lower your summer cooling bill.
Long-Lasting
Standing seam roofs also last a long time. Traditional asphalt shingles only last between 15 and 25 years, on average. A sheet metal roof, on the other hand, should last 70 years or more. Although they cost more initially, a standing seam roof could cost less in the long term as a result.
Recyclable
Need another reason to love a standing seam roof? They’re recyclable in our area, unlike asphalt shingles. When we tear-off your old asphalt shingle roof, we take it the nearest landfill. Not because we want to, but because there’s not an asphalt shingle recycling center in the state. There is, however, a number of metal recycling centers in the Colorado, from Denver to Greeley to Fort Collins. When your sheet metal roof does finally require a replacement, we take your old metal roof to one of the local metal recycling centers.
Colorful
Sheet metal roofs also come in a huge number of colors. Most asphalt shingles come in a dozen colors at most. Standing seam and ribbed sheet metal, however, come in dozens of colors, such as aged copper, terra-cotta, stone white, slate gray, slate blue, sierra tan, regal red, regal blue, patina green, matte black, and many more.
Solar Panel Ready
Standing seam panels are also solar panel ready. Racks used by many solar panel installation companies are built to clamp right onto the seams on standing seam metal panels.
The Bottom Line
For most folks, the best roof that resists wildfires is standing seam – it’s weighs less than rock slate and concrete tiles, and doesn’t contain asphalt like stone-coated steel shingles do. What’s more, standing seam roofs cost less than rock and tile roofs. If you’re shopping for the best wildfire resistant roof in Colorado, consider standing seam. We manufacture our own standing seam metal roofing panels in-house for an accurate fit. All our work is backed by our own 5-year workmanship guarantee and we ask for no money upfront. Contact us today for a free standing seam roof estimate or consultation.