Get the appearance of natural slate, cedar shake, or clay tile without placing the same weight and maintenance demands on your home.
Horizon Restoration installs Brava composite roof tile for homeowners throughout Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. Brava is designed for homeowners who want a distinctive architectural roof but do not want the structural weight, brittleness, or ongoing maintenance associated with many natural roofing materials.
As a Brava Preferred Contractor, we understand the product-specific fastening, flashing, ventilation, and water-management details required to build a complete roofing system—not simply attach decorative tiles to a roof deck.
Schedule a free roof inspection to determine whether Brava is appropriate for your home, roof structure, and architectural style.
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Natural slate, clay tile, and cedar shake can create a beautiful roof, but each comes with practical limitations.
Natural slate and clay are extremely heavy. Cedar can require considerable maintenance and may be vulnerable to moisture, insects, splitting, and fire. Natural tile products can also crack when exposed to impact or repeated freezing and thawing.
Brava composite tile is designed to provide a similar architectural appearance while addressing many of those concerns.
Homeowners commonly choose Brava because they want:
Brava can be a particularly strong option for Chicago-area homes where the homeowner wants a traditional roof appearance but the existing structure was not designed to support natural slate, clay, or concrete tile.
Old World Slate recreates the dimensional appearance of natural quarried slate, including varied tile widths, textured surfaces, and shadow lines.
It can work especially well on historic-style homes, Tudor and English-inspired architecture, brick homes, large custom residences, and homes where natural slate would be too heavy. Available colors include traditional slate tones as well as blended colors that create greater variation across the roof.
Brava Cedar Shake provides the grain, texture, and irregular appearance of hand-split wood shake without requiring the same level of maintenance as natural cedar.
It is often appropriate for Craftsman homes, cottages, rustic or wooded properties, homes with stone or wood exterior details, and homeowners who want a warmer, less formal roof appearance. Because it is a composite product, it will not rot, warp, or attract insects like natural wood roofing.
Spanish Barrel Tile reproduces the curved profile of traditional clay barrel tile. It can complement Mediterranean, Spanish, stucco, and certain contemporary homes.
Natural clay tile can place a substantial load on a roof structure. Brava provides a similar profile at a considerably lower material weight, potentially making the look practical for homes that could not support conventional clay or concrete tile.
The right Brava profile should complement the architecture of the home rather than simply stand out as an expensive roofing material.
Brick, stone, stucco, or siding color; window and trim colors; roof pitch and street visibility; gables, dormers, and chimneys; the architectural period; and surrounding homes should all be considered together.
A dark slate blend may look appropriate on a Tudor or traditional brick home, while a warmer cedar profile may better complement a Craftsman-style property. Spanish Barrel Tile generally works best when its curved profile is consistent with the rest of the architecture.
Horizon Restoration can bring physical Brava samples to your home so you can compare colors against your siding, masonry, trim, and surrounding landscape before making a final selection.
Many homes in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs were built decades before lightweight composite roofing became available. Their rafters and roof decks may not have been engineered to carry natural slate, concrete, or clay tile.
That does not automatically prevent the homeowner from installing Brava. Brava weighs substantially less than many natural tile products. In many cases, that allows homeowners to achieve a slate, shake, or barrel-tile appearance without undertaking the extensive structural reinforcement that a natural tile roof might require.
The age of the home alone does not determine whether the roof is suitable. Before recommending Brava, we evaluate:
Any soft, deteriorated, or improperly installed decking must be repaired before the new roofing system is installed. If structural reinforcement is required, we will explain what was found and why the additional work is necessary.
A Chicago-area roof must tolerate more than one type of weather. It can face hail, high winds, heavy rain, snow accumulation, ice, summer heat, and repeated temperature changes during the same year.
Brava composite tile is designed to resist moisture absorption and remain stable through repeated temperature changes. This reduces the risk of the cracking, splitting, and deterioration that can affect certain natural roofing materials.
Potential advantages in the Chicago climate include:
⚠️ No roofing material is completely immune to severe hail, flying debris, installation errors, or water intrusion. Long-term performance still depends heavily on the components beneath and around the tile.
A properly constructed Brava roof should also include appropriate underlayment, ice-and-water protection in vulnerable areas, correctly fabricated flashing, proper attic intake and exhaust ventilation, secure fastening, and careful treatment of valleys, walls, chimneys, skylights, and penetrations.
Ice dams are not prevented by the roof tile alone. Insulation, ventilation, indoor heat loss, underlayment, and drainage all affect how a roofing system performs when snow melts and refreezes.
We begin by examining the existing roofing, roof pitch, visible decking conditions, attic ventilation, framing, flashing, and drainage.
This helps determine whether Brava is appropriate for the home and whether structural, decking, or ventilation work should be included in the project.
We help the homeowner compare Brava profiles, colors, and blends against the home’s exterior materials. Roof shape and visibility are considered along with color.
The existing roof covering is removed so the underlying deck can be examined. Concealed rot, soft decking, previous leaks, or improper repairs are addressed before the new system is installed.
Damaged decking is replaced where necessary. The appropriate underlayment and ice-and-water protection are then installed based on the roof design, local requirements, and manufacturer specifications.
Flashing is installed or replaced around valleys, chimneys, walls, skylights, vents, and other roof penetrations.
We also evaluate attic ventilation. A premium roof covering cannot compensate for an attic that traps excessive heat and moisture.
The roof is carefully measured and laid out according to the selected Brava profile. Tiles are installed using the required exposure, alignment, fastening pattern, and accessories.
Special attention is given to valleys, hips, ridges, rake edges, and transitions where installation errors are most likely to cause problems.
After installation, we inspect the roof’s alignment, fastening, flashing, ventilation, accessories, and finished appearance.
The property is cleaned, gutters are cleared as needed, and magnetic equipment is used around the work area to collect loose metal fasteners.
Most Brava installations take several days, but the actual schedule depends on roof size, pitch, complexity, weather, decking repairs, and the number of valleys or penetrations.
Not every damaged Brava roof requires complete replacement. Because individual tiles can often be removed and replaced, localized damage may be repairable.
Repair may be appropriate when only a small number of tiles are damaged; damage is limited to one section or roof slope; surrounding tiles remain securely fastened; underlayment and flashing are still functional; there is no widespread water intrusion; and replacement tiles can be integrated properly with the existing roof.
Repair may not be the best long-term solution when damage extends across multiple slopes, the underlayment has failed, flashing problems are widespread, or the roof has experienced repeated water intrusion.
Our inspection is intended to determine the scope of the problem before recommending a repair or replacement. A homeowner should not be pushed into replacing an otherwise serviceable roof because several accessible tiles were damaged.
Composite tile can resist substantial impact, but it can still be damaged by severe hail, high winds, falling branches, and wind-driven debris. Damage may include cracked or fractured tiles, broken corners or edges, displaced tiles, damaged ridge or hip components, fastener movement, impact marks, damaged flashing, and water intrusion beneath an apparently intact surface.
Composite-tile damage can be less familiar to an insurance adjuster than conventional asphalt-shingle damage, so clear documentation is important. Horizon Restoration can provide detailed photographs and video, measurements of affected slopes, documentation of damaged components, manufacturer installation requirements, relevant local code information, a written scope of work, and direct coordination with the adjuster regarding the contractor’s estimate and documentation.
Coverage decisions remain with the insurance company under the terms of the homeowner’s policy, but the contractor’s scope should accurately reflect the work required to restore the roofing system properly.
Local Insurance Restoration Specialists
Serving Chicagoland homeowners since 2007
We inspect your property at no cost, show you all the photos and explain whether the damage appears sufficient to justify opening a claim.
The results of the inspection are reviewed by three team members so no damage or building code is missed. We then send photographs, measurements, and a detailed written report for your adjuster to review.
A Horizon representative can attend the inspection and clearly present the documented damage.
We communicate with your insurer, review the approved scope, and help address omitted damage or required code items.
We do not begin construction until the claim scope is settled, the work has been explained, and you have authorized us to proceed.
From the North Shore to the Southwest Suburbs, we have completed thousands of roofing projects—including premium synthetic systems like Brava composite slate. Explore completed projects near your home on our interactive map.
Brava tile should not be installed as though it were an ordinary asphalt shingle. Each product profile has its own requirements for exposure, layout, fastening, flashing, cutting, and accessory installation. Small mistakes can lead to uneven courses, lifted tiles, water entry around valleys, or problems with the manufacturer’s warranty.
Before you hire, make sure your contractor can speak to:
Since 2007, Horizon Restoration has installed and restored roofing and exterior systems throughout Chicago and the surrounding suburbs. We do not recommend Brava simply because it is a premium product. We evaluate whether its weight, profile, cost, appearance, and installation requirements make sense for the particular home.
A Brava roof can dramatically change the appearance of a home, but the product must be appropriate for the structure and installed as a complete roofing system.
Schedule a free inspection with Horizon Restoration to evaluate your roof, compare Brava styles, review installation requirements, and receive a detailed proposal.
Overall great experience! Julius was fantastic to work with. He was very attentive to all the details and always there to answer questions and get the job done right. Whenever he said he would take care of something, he took care of it. The crew did a fantastic job and the workmanship was top notch. I can not believe how quickly they did a full replacement of our sheathing and roof shingles and still did a high quality job. They left the worksite spotlessly clean. We are getting lots of compliments from our neighbors on how good our roof looks. If you want your roof done right, go with this company.
Paul, thank you so much to you and your entire team for our beautiful new roof. We couldn't have made a better choice. Thank you for all your help with the insurance paperwork and for making the whole process so smooth. We highly recommend Chicago Horizon Restoration Roofing Company to anyone looking for quality work and outstanding service! Pamela & Steve
Horizon Restoration did an amazing job on my roof! Paul was fantastic to work with. Super responsive, most important he was honest and really cared about making sure everything was done right. He made what could have been a stressful process feel easy. The crew was fast, clean and very professional. I’m really happy with the result and would definitely recommend them.
Our sales specialist Ronny was awesome through the whole initial process and quoted me a very reasonable estimate to re-shingle garage roof and repair main roof shingles that blew off from heavy winds. The crew came and did an excellent job in one day and left the area clean as it was before. Will definitely use Horizon again and recommend them to everyone that needs any type of roofing work! -Ignacio
Our contact at Horizon Restoration was Art. He worked with our insurance company for over a year and a half to have our roof and siding replaced. The other persons behind the scenes at the office who were instrumental in assisting Art were Paul-Manager, Ruby-who was in charge of all correspondence, Jack-Install Manager who coordinated the crews for both the siding and roof, Claudio-On Site Roofing Manager and Mike-On Site Siding Manager. They worked seamlessly as a team and were always available when we had any questions or concerns. It is so nice to have Horizon Restoration going to bat for us. Especially Art whose experience and knowledge was so key in getting our insurance company to approve the replacement of our roof and siding. Our roof and siding look so nice we highly recommend Art and Horizon Restoration to anyone in need of their services. Thank you Art and Horizon for everything.
