Spotting Roof Trouble Early

Tips For Identifying A Folk Victorian – And How To Choose The Best Roofing Material For The Home

28 September 2016 by William Gerard

Identifying your home's style is more than a fun pastime. Knowing the precise style of your home and the importance of its roof shape can help you identify the best roofing materials for a repair or replacement project. Folk Victorians are one of the harder Victorians to pinpoint due to some unusual features.

What are some ways to identify a Folk Victorian home, and how can you and your roofing contractors choose the best roofing material for the home?

Identifying a Folk Victorian

Folk homes lack the asymmetrical layout that defines many other types of Victorians. The Folk Victorian is actually quite symmetrical and has a smaller size than others in the Victorian family. Ornamentation does exist in the form of wooden spindles or other trim decorating the eaves and other lines of the home.

Folk Victorians have gabled roofs, which have two steep sides that come together to form the open "v" shape with the opening called the gable. Ornamental details will line the gable or at least sit in the uppermost peak. Combine this roof shape with the ornamentation and you can get a hint to some of the best roofing materials for a Folk Victorian.

Best Roofing: Wood Shingles or Shakes

Wood roofing pairs well with the wooden ornamentation of this house style and the folksy nature that gives the home its name. You can choose from wooden shakes or wooden shingles with the main difference being the texture and thickness. Shakes have a thicker, rougher appearance while shingles have a more streamlined look.

Shingles won't take as much visual attention away from your home's ornamentation. You should only use shakes if your home has quite a lot of ornamentation that won't be easily overshadowed. But if you do have that ornamentation, shakes can give your home a quaint storybook look that pairs well with the folk idea.

Best Roofing: Asphalt Shingles

Want the look of wood shingles but can't afford the cost? Composite asphalt shingles can come stained, pressed, and texturized to resemble wooden shingles – at a fraction of the price and with less maintenance required. If you don't like the look of wood, asphalt shingles come in a variety of other styles and colors for your choosing.

You do need to make sure that there are windbreaks on both steep sides of your gable roof if considering asphalt shingles. The asphalt doesn't weigh a lot and oncoming high winds can get faster up that steep slope. The wind can damage or remove the asphalt shingles. 

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