Composite Roofing Stands up to Microburst

The microburst contained winds up to 100 miles per hour.

By DaVinci Roofscapes.

The morning of April 2, 2015 started out clear and sunny for residents at the Harbor Isle community in Wichita, Kansas. By evening, a powerful microburst with winds reaching up to 100mph destroyed a bulk of the roofs in the subdivision — except the polymer roofing installed by Heiland Roofing.

"The majority of concrete tiles sustained very serious damage, with many others demolished," says Mike Heiland, president of Heiland Roofing and Exteriors in Wichita, Kansas. "Of the three DaVinci Roofscapes composite roofs we installed in this community, one home had zero damage. Another home had one missing ridge cap. The third home needed approximately ten feet of ridge replaced. That's absolutely nothing compared to the devastation that all the other homes in that neighborhood experienced."

According to homeowner Paul Dugan, concrete tiles littered the entire Harbor Isle community after the storm. "Concrete roof tiles were thrown through neighbor's windows, into vehicles parked along the streets and in driveways," says Dugan. "Every home with a concrete tile roof was missing large sections while a couple of the homes that had been recently re-roofed by Heiland Roofing with composite shake roofing tiles has every single tile in place and no visible damage to the property. I was very impressed and called Heiland Roofing the next morning.

"I now have a DaVinci Bellaforté Slate roof that looks exactly the same as the concrete tile roof but has the highest impact resistance in the industry. The impressive interlocking system allows for installation with securing the tile in all four corners so we're not going to worry about tiles peeling back and blowing away in future storms."

HOA selects polymer roofing

Kansas residents are no strangers to severe weather. Located in Tornado Alley, most homeowners, like Dugan, understand that their state is subject to unusually strong weather during the course of the year. That's why many people, like the residents of Harbor Isle I seek out durable building products to help protect their homes and families.

"When constructed about 18 years ago, our community had wood shake and cement tiles used for roofing," says Dee Manning, president of the Harbor Isle I homeowner association of 59 homes. "As the years went on, the wood shakes were wearing out and, at the same time, they became harder to get insured. We wanted an alternative that was realistic looking but lightweight enough to be installed over the existing roof trusses of the homes in our community.

"We did our research and DaVinci Roofscapes offered the most realistic alternative to natural cedar shakes. Our community started offering these composite roofing products three years ago as an option for homeowners looking for replacement roofing. After the microburst in April, that interest level quickly accelerated and now there are at least 10 homes ready to commit to the polymer tiles to replace their destroyed cement tile roofs."

Polymer roofs gain foothold

After the microburst, the homeowner association received notice that 15 to 20 roofs plus a variety of decks were damaged.

"Nothing will protect a home from Mother Nature if a tornado is sitting right on top of you," says roofer Mike Heiland, "But if you're on the outskirts and just getting pounding hail or strong winds, at least a manmade polymer roof will give your home a fighting chance."

For almost a dozen years Heiland and his team have recommended and installed imitation slate and synthetic shake roofing products. "The look and durability of these synthetic slate and shake shingles is simply incredible," says Heiland. "For our geographic area --- and any part of the country that can get severe weather --- the impact resistancy of the products is a tremendous asset. In the many years I've been installing DaVinci polymer roofing, we've never had one of their roofs totaled by hail."

Strength of microbursts

A distant relative to a tornado, the National Weather Service defines a microburst as a sinking air (or a downdraft) in a thunderstorm that is less than 2.5 miles in scale. A microburst can develop as a result of cooling beneath a thunderstorm cloud base or due to mid-level dry air entrainment.

Wet, dry and hybrid microburst distinctions exist. With all of them significant straight-line damage can occur resulting in power poles snapping, tree and roof damage, loss of power and potential hail. In Wichita on April 2, all these factors occurred when strong straight-line winds came before a bow echo thunderstorm.

Made of 100 percent recyclable virgin resins, DaVinci tiles are engineered to resist fire, impact, insects and algae. The company's products are Class A Rated for fire retardance, have achieved a Class 4 impact rating and passed the TAS-100 certification test for wind driven rain. The durable products have also passed the maximum of 110mph in the ASTM D 3161 Standard for straight line winds and achieved very high design pressures in TAS-125, a test to demonstrate wind uplifts and acceptability to be installed in High Velocity Hurricane Zones.

Learn more about DaVinci Roofscapes.