Designing the Last Roof You’ll Ever Need: Why I Believe Composite Slate and Shake Are the Future of High‑Performance Homes

Mike Vaughn

Mike has over 20 years experience in HIP and currenly manages over $125M in national sales terriotory for Davinci Roof Scapes, a Westlake Building Products company.

As someone who has spent my career in exterior building products and now serves as Director of Sales for DaVinci Roofscapes, I have had a front‑row seat to a major shift in how homeowners, architects, and contractors think about roofs. Instead of asking, “What’s the cheapest way to get this done?”, more people are asking, “What is the right roof if I want performance, beauty, and peace of mind for decades?”

That question is at the heart of why I am contributing this article to the Power100 community. My goal is not to “sell” you on a product, but to share what I’ve learned about making better roofing decisions—especially around composite slate and shake—and to give leaders in the home improvement industry a clear framework for evaluating premium roofing options in a changing climate.

How I Learned to Stop Thinking of Roofs as a Commodity

When I first started in this industry, most roofing conversations revolved around asphalt shingles: price per square, color choice, and basic warranty language. Asphalt is familiar, and it will always have a place. But over the last several years at DaVinci Roofscapes, now part of the Westlake Royal Building Products™ family, I’ve watched three powerful trends push the market beyond a “commodity” mindset:​

• Homeowners and insurers are more concerned about hail, wildfires, hurricanes, and coastal storms than ever before.
• Architects and custom builders are pushing for roofs that match the level of design detail going into windows, stone, and siding.
• Replacement costs keep climbing, so “cheap now, replace later” is becoming a much less attractive strategy.

Working with contractors across the country, I’ve come to see a roof as a high‑performance system. It has to manage water, wind, fire, and impact, but it also has to honor the architecture and protect the long‑term value of the property. That mindset shift is where composite slate and shake become incredibly compelling.

Why I Advocate for Composite Slate and Shake

At DaVinci Roofscapes, we engineer composite roofing systems that are designed to look like natural slate and cedar shake while solving the durability and maintenance challenges that come with those traditional materials.

When I’m talking with homeowners or contractors, I usually focus on four pillars:

1. Authentic appearance without natural drawbacks
   With products like DaVinci Slate and DaVinci Shake, we start by capturing the look and texture of real slate tile or hand‑split cedar. But instead of dealing with extreme weight, breakage, or rot, you get engineered tiles made from virgin resins and additives designed for consistency and long‑term performance.allpointstile+3
2. Engineered performance for real‑world weather
   I spend a lot of time in coastal, hail‑prone, and wildfire‑exposed markets. In those environments, Class 4 impact resistance and Class A fire performance are not “nice to have” features; they’re table stakes. Our composite tiles are designed to stand up to hail, high winds, and tough UV exposure while remaining low maintenance over the long haul.
3. Low maintenance and color that actually lasts
   One of the most satisfying parts of my job is hearing from contractors who installed a DaVinci Roofscapes roof years ago and report that the color and profile still look like they did on day one. By using color‑through technology and UV‑stabilized formulations, we minimize fading and make it practical to keep roofs looking clean with simple maintenance—often as straightforward as periodic rinsing.
4. Installer‑friendly design that reduces risk
   Because I work closely with contractors, I am very aware that product decisions are not just about the homeowner; they are also about what happens on the roof. Pre‑sorted bundles, consistent tile thickness, and thoughtful rib design are all part of how DaVinci Roofscapes aims to reduce waste and callbacks on site.r

The result is a roof system that looks like slate or shake, performs like a modern high‑performance material, and gives both the contractor and homeowner more confidence over the life of the building.

What I’ve Seen on Real Projects

Talking about performance in the abstract is one thing; seeing it tested in the field is another. One of the privileges of my role at DaVinci Roofscapes is getting to visit and celebrate award‑winning installations through our Masterpiece Contractor Project of the Year program.​

Here are a few project types that have made a strong impression on me:

• Coastal properties – On the Oregon coast, where sideways rain and hurricane‑level wind speeds are part of life, I’ve seen contractors pair DaVinci Shake roofs with DaVinci Shake Siding to create envelopes that can take constant exposure and still look like high‑end coastal architecture.
• Hail‑exposed custom homes – In hail belts, I’ve seen steep, complex roofs rebuilt after storm damage using DaVinci Slate, giving homeowners peace of mind that their next hail event is less likely to mean another full replacement.
• Historic and institutional work – On projects like Mount Aloysius College, we’ve seen DaVinci Single‑Width Slate used to respect historic character while delivering modern performance and simplified maintenance for institutions.
• Integrated solar and design‑forward homes – I’ve also watched contractors use composite slate on coastal projects where solar arrays have to tie seamlessly into the roof design, proving that performance and clean energy can coexist without sacrificing curb appeal.

Seeing these roofs years after installation—still performing, still beautiful—is what convinces me that composite roofing is not just a trend; it’s a practical answer to some very real design and climate challenges.

How Westlake Royal Building Products™ Extends What We Can Do

Being part of Westlake Royal Building Products™ gives us access to a broader ecosystem of building‑envelope solutions, from siding and accessories to trim, stone, and windows. That matters because more and more projects are being approached holistically: owners and design teams want the roof, walls, and details to work together both visually and technically.

Within that ecosystem, DaVinci Roofscapes can focus deeply on composite slate and shake while leveraging shared investments in:

• Color science and curated color collections like Rock Ridge and Aurora in our Single‑Width Slate profile.​
• Digital visualization and design tools that help owners and architects “see” how a DaVinci Slate or DaVinci Shake roof will look on their specific home.​
• Training, technical support, and recognition programs that help contractors gain confidence and differentiate their businesses.

For leaders in the Power100 network, I believe this integrated, ecosystem‑driven approach offers a useful model: innovation in materials only reaches its full potential when it is paired with robust support, education, and real‑world proof.

How Contractors Can Use Composite Roofing to Differentiate

One topic that comes up often in my conversations with contractors is differentiation. In many markets, most companies offer similar asphalt options, similar price points, and similar pitches. When a contractor adds DaVinci Roofscapes to their portfolio, a few important things happen:

• They move from being “another roofer” to being an advisor who can discuss asphalt, metal, and composite options intelligently.
• They create highly visible, premium reference projects that generate organic demand—neighbors see those roofs and ask who did the work.​
• They strengthen their resilience in slower economic cycles by serving a higher‑end segment that tends to keep investing in quality, even when the broader market softens.​

From my perspective, the biggest barrier is rarely homeowner interest; it’s contractor familiarity. Once contractors get comfortable with composite systems and see how they can help their business grow, they tend to keep DaVinci Roofscapes on the table for many of their projects.

Looking Ahead: Roofing as a Strategic Investment

As extreme weather, design expectations, and long‑term ownership costs continue to rise, I believe more leaders in the home improvement space will start treating roofing as a strategic investment instead of a line item. Composite slate and shake are not the answer for every structure, but they are a powerful option when:

• The home or building has architectural character worth highlighting rather than hiding.

   

• The owner plans to keep the property long enough to care about lifecycle cost, not just upfront price.

   

• The local environment includes hail, high wind, wildfire risk, coastal exposure, or heavy biological growth.

   

In sharing these insights with the Power100 community, my hope is simple: that more decision‑makers—homeowners, contractors, architects, and industry leaders—will feel informed and confident when they consider composite roofing as part of their long‑term strategy.