LENEXA, Kan. — Soaring 86 linear feet into the air, the steeple for the Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Centennial, Colorado is just one of many impressive features of the sprawling church complex. Built in three stages starting in 1980, the contemporary style church has an interior design like the center of a rose, stained glass windows and a roof system that dips down along the sides of the building.

Real cedar shake shingles were originally installed on the roof, steeple and sides of the structure. These were replaced in 1990 after substantial hail storm damage. Now, after an extensive product search that included "looking at every type of roof material possible," Bellaforté Shake and DaVinci Roofscapes^®Multi-Width Shake create a united look on the church exterior. An Autumn blend of brown tones was selected to complement the church's design and setting.

"We learned our lesson and were not about to put cedar shakes on our structure again," says Jim Wolfe, a 30-year member of the church. "Our committee of nine people now understands every potential roofing product on the market after our exhaustive search.

"We selected the DaVinci products because of their aesthetics and resistance to impact and hail. Because our previous roofs were destroyed in hail storms we placed special emphasis on finding a top-quality roofing product that would have a 50-year limited warranty. We don't want to deal with this issue again in our lifetimes."

During the search process the church committee met with Francis Ruesta, a sales consultant and estimator for Horn Brothers Roofing of Denver, Colo. Having completed 22 DaVinci composite roofing installations within the past eight months, the company was quick to recommend the company's product as a solution for the Good Shepherd Episcopal Church.

"We install so many DaVinci roofs because the product is so impressive," says Ruesta. "With this project it made sense for the Bellaforté Shake to be used on the roof and for the Multi-Width polymer shake to be used on the steeple and for the siding.

"The logistics of working safely on that high steeple were amazing. We hired a 110-foot lift to make that part of the project go smoothly. We also needed to work around several pieces of stained glass, custom skylights and old copper fittings. Now that it's done, the church complex looks just remarkable. We could not have achieved that look with any other roofing/siding product on the market."

From the church's prospective, the finished project is a stunning success. With snow fences and snow guards added above all key pedestrian walkways and landscaping, the church is ready for its first round of winter weather.

"We got the sense right from the start that the goal from everyone at DaVinci and Horn Brothers was that they planned to do this project right," Wolfe said. "This polymer roofing product looks very close to the original wood shake we had, which was a major goal of ours. However, we know this composite roof is going to perform better than real cedar shakes.

"It's especially fun to watch the reaction of our church members as they see the roof. It's so realistic looking that half of them believe we used true cedar shakes. Because we invested the time to research all the roofing options available we're convinced we selected the very best product for our church. Now we're set for future generations."       

The experienced team members at DaVinci Roofscapes develop and manufacture industry-leading polymer slate and shake roofing systems with an authentic look and superior performance. DaVinci leads the industry in the greatest selection of colors, tile thickness and tile width variety. The company's reliable products have a limited lifetime warranty and are 100 percent recyclable. All DaVinci high-performing roofing products are proudly made in America where the company is a member of the National Association of Home Builders, the National Association of Roofing Contractors, the Cool Roof Rating Council and the U.S. Green Building Council. For information call 1-800-328-4624 or visit www.davinciroofscapes.com.