DaVinci Province Slate Roof Replacement in University Park
This University Park roof replacement on Druid Lane, just west of Highland Park High School, involved a significant upgrade from conventional composition shingles to DaVinci Province Slatein Slate Black.
The existing composition roof was removed and replaced with synthetic slate, giving the home a substantially different appearance while also providing Class 4 impact resistance. The City of University Park permit identifies the project as a complete tear-off and reroof with DaVinci synthetic slate.
Bert Roofing consultant Chris McElhone handled the project. The original proposal included several impact-resistant composition shingle options, along with DaVinci synthetic slate as the premium upgrade. The homeowner selected the DaVinci system.
DaVinci Province Slate
DaVinci manufactures several different synthetic slate roofing systems. This home used Province Slate, a single-width slate profile designed to create a clean, traditional slate pattern.
The selected color was Slate Black, which works particularly well with the home’s light masonry, white trim and traditional architecture.
The difference from the previous composition roof is substantial. Standard laminated shingles create a relatively uniform roof surface. Province Slate uses individual pieces with deeper edges and more pronounced shadow lines, giving the roof much more of the texture associated with natural slate.
That change is especially noticeable in the before-and-after photographs.
Class 4 Impact Resistance
The appearance was only part of the reason Province Slate was an appropriate premium roofing option.
The completed roof was certified as Class 4 impact resistant under UL 2218, the highest classification under that particular impact-resistance test.
That does not mean the roof is hail-proof. No roofing material should be described that way. It does mean the product has been tested to a higher impact standard than conventional roofing products.
In North Texas, where hail is a recurring concern, that combination of appearance and impact resistance can make synthetic slate an attractive alternative for homeowners considering a higher-end roofing system.
Installing Synthetic Slate
A DaVinci slate roof is installed differently from a conventional laminated shingle roof.
Province Slate uses individual composite tiles rather than larger laminated asphalt shingles. The material is laid out in courses to create the appearance of a traditional slate roof, with individual tile edges remaining visible across the roof surface.
That detail becomes much easier to see in close photographs. The individual tiles, slate-style edges and finished hips and ridges give the roof considerably more depth than the composition roof it replaced.
The darker Slate Black color also creates stronger contrast against the exterior of the house, making the roof a much more prominent architectural feature.
Roofing Near Highland Park High School
The location created one memorable job-site issue that had nothing to do with roofing.
Druid Lane sits immediately west of Highland Park High School. We were wrapping up work on a Friday when the Highland Park Scots had a home football game.
As the afternoon went on, cars and people started pouring into the neighborhood. Anyone familiar with the area around Highland Park High School on a football Friday knows how quickly the nearby streets fill up.
We had a little extra incentive to finish cleanup, load the trucks and get the crew out before the neighborhood became difficult to navigate.
It was a small part of the project, but very specific to working on this particular block of University Park.
A Major Change From the Original Roof
The finished roof is a very different look from the composition shingles that were removed.
The original roof had the familiar appearance of a laminated architectural shingle. The new DaVinci Province Slate in Slate Black has deeper texture, more visible individual pieces and a more traditional slate appearance.
For this University Park home, the result was more than simply replacing an aging roof. The roofing material became part of the architecture of the house while also providing a documented Class 4 impact rating.
