How long does a roof last?
It depends on what the roof is made of — by decades, not years. A 3-tab asphalt roof and a slate roof can be a century apart, and the warranty term under each material tells its own story: sometimes shorter than the service life, sometimes longer on paper than the material's real career, with prorated fine print in between. Every material below is on the same axis, each number tied to the document it came from.
Updated
Every material on one 200-year axis
Soft band: typical service-life range. Solid bar: the published warranty term. The difference between their right-hand ends is the story.
The numbers, with their sources
| Material | Service life | Warranty term | Source tier |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3-tab asphalt shingles | ~20 yrs | 25-year limited, prorated | Tier 3 · baseline chart (undated) |
| Architectural asphalt shingles | ~30 yrs | “Lifetime” limited, prorated, transferable | Tier 3 · baseline chart (undated) |
| Metal roof (painted steel) | 30–50 yrs | 40-year limited, transferable, conditional | Tier 2 · trade / standards literature |
| Standing seam (Galvalume) | 60+ yrs | 50-year limited, non-transferable, conditional | Tier 2 · trade / standards literature |
| Tile roof (clay and concrete) | 50–100 yrs | “Lifetime” limited, transferable, conditional | Tier 2 · trade / standards literature |
| Slate roof | 75–150 yrs | 100-year limited, non-transferable | Tier 2 · trade / standards literature |
| Wood shake (cedar) | 30–40 yrs | “Lifetime” limited, conditional | Tier 2 · trade / standards literature |
| Copper roof | 100+ yrs | — | Tier 2 · trade / standards literature |
| Rubber roof (EPDM) | 25–40 yrs | 30-year limited, conditional | Tier 2 · trade / standards literature |
| TPO flat roof | 15–35 yrs | 30-year limited, conditional | Tier 2 · trade / standards literature |
Two patterns are worth reading off the grid. First, the asphalt paradox: 3-tab shingles are the one common roof whose warranty paper (25 years) runs past its baseline service life (about 20) — the proration schedule is why that costs the manufacturer so little. Second, the premium materials flip it: metal, slate, tile and copper all outrun their paper, because the paper covers a coating or the bare stone, not the roof staying watertight. The gap between the two bars is the number to take into a re-roofing decision.