Metal roofs are painted, except for copper roofs whose patina serves the same protective function. Earlier roofing materials, such as wood shingles or shakes, were often covered with metal. Metal shingles are found on some residential buildings and consist of pressed sheet metal shingles of galvanized steel. Slate roofs are constructed of shingles made from slate. These roofs are extremely durable but expensive to replace in-kind.
Asbestos shingles are also an extremely durable roofing material.
They usually consists of large square shingles that are sometimes installed in a diamond pattern. Wood shingles are still found on some houses and consist of split wood. Dormers Dormers add space, light, and ventilation to an attic space and are readily characterized by their roof shape - gabled, shed, or hipped. A dormer with a half-round window is called an eyebrow dormer. There is a distinctive Fredericksburg-style dormer where the roofing material extends up the dormer sides.