METAL SHINGLES FOR ROOFING.

METAL SHINGLES FOR ROOFING.

As a safeguard against fire and for the protection of non-fireproof buildings, metal shingles are being used for roofing purposes at San Francisco, as well as in many Western cities. They are superseding wood and slate, especially where the roofs are hipped or mansard. The development of the metal roof shingle, as as of metal sidings, both of which arc secured by watertight seams and without the use of solder, has improved the fire insurance risk wherever they have been employed, and pressed and stamped iron and metal roofs arc nearly as cheap as wooden shingles, and, being much easier of application, the saving in labor often makes the final cost in their favor. Their weight has likewise been reduced through the rolling of thinner sheets of metal, so that a square yard of the roof is only a trifle heavier than wooden shingles. Properly protected roofs may not make a house fireproof or reduce insurance rates; but they will wonderfully reduce the exposure hazard. Such conflagrations as have recently taken place would find it difficult to spread, if all the roofs were of metal, slate, or tiles.

As a safeguard against fire and for the protection of non-fireproof buildings, metal shingles are being used for roofing purposes at San Francisco, as well as in many Western cities. They are superseding wood and slate, especially where the roofs are hipped or mansard. The development of the metal roof shingle, as as of metal sidings, both of which arc secured by watertight seams and without the use of solder, has improved the fire insurance risk wherever they have been employed, and pressed and stamped iron and metal roofs arc nearly as cheap as wooden shingles, and, being much easier of application, the saving in labor often makes the final cost in their favor. Their weight has likewise been reduced through the rolling of thinner sheets of metal, so that a square yard of the roof is only a trifle heavier than wooden shingles. Properly protected roofs may not make a house fireproof or reduce insurance rates; but they will wonderfully reduce the exposure hazard. Such conflagrations as have recently taken place would find it difficult to spread, if all the roofs were of metal, slate, or tiles.