Roof Material Debate

My home was reroofed in late 2020, as were a lot in the area. The problem was that the original 2007 shingles (I think Horizon?) were organic. The replacement is 30-yr architectural laminate. It was done under the former homeowner before closing.

Still, I intend to buy a drone (inspired by threads here) to keep an eye on it.
 
51togo said:
We replaced ours with a metal roof almost 18 years now and quite happy with it. It’s not common in Southern California as most replacements are tile roofs, after much research my decision on the metal shingles are due to light weight and longevity. A friend from Hawaii suggested that as well since metal roofs are popular there. The house was originally a wood shingle roof in the fifties then replaced with tile roof in the eighties, I noticed a few cracks on the stucco walls and since the roof was replaced, there’s no cracks inside or outside the house. I think the light weight roof would be good for upcoming earthquakes too. It was about 15% more than tile roof then. Good luck with your decision!

Pics attached
Click to expand...

Looks nice

These metal tiles, do they hang on the wood like a regular tile roof (I think) or do they nail in some way ?
 
Interesting stuff.. We recently bought a new house in Weatherford, TX. It is foam encapsulated which means the attic is non vented and is part of the air conditioned space. The roof decking is sprayed with about 5 to 6 inches of open cell spray foam applied to the underside of the decking. To my disappointment the decking is 15/32 O.S.B. I don't think that is adequate but that's another subject. Because of the heat and hail here we can only expect to get about 10 years from a good quality asphalt shingle. Assuming the old roof is torn off every ten years how many times can that light decking be re roofed..I can see that at some point the tear off will make the decking unable to adequately hold the roofing nails..If decking is replaced then the insulation will need to be sprayed...How does this playout over a period of 40 years..Discussion is appreciated.
 
51togo said:
We replaced ours with a metal roof almost 18 years now and quite happy with it. It’s not common in Southern California as most replacements are tile roofs, after much research my decision on the metal shingles are due to light weight and longevity. A friend from Hawaii suggested that as well since metal roofs are popular there. The house was originally a wood shingle roof in the fifties then replaced with tile roof in the eighties, I noticed a few cracks on the stucco walls and since the roof was replaced, there’s no cracks inside or outside the house. I think the light weight roof would be good for upcoming earthquakes too. It was about 15% more than tile roof then. Good luck with your decision!

Pics attached
Click to expand...

Looks great!
 
REWahoo said:
Why would the old decking need to be torn off? Just apply new decking over the old.
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That's what I was thinking too, just make sure to hit the trusses. But I don't subscribe to lawman's premise that 15/32" decking can't be reroofed many, many times... I think it can be reroofed many times.

We have a "hot roof" just like lawman.. foam sprayed in the roof truss cavities with adhesive membrane and asphalt shingles. Ours are 11 years old and look like new.

Another option would be to cover shingles with metal, either fastened or standing seam.
 
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Sunset, unlike shingles and tiles the metal roofing’s much larger size 22” x 50” a piece, fairly light couple pounds while the metal thickness is .040” plus coating materials. The pieces kind of interlocked in place but the installer would put special black corrosion coated nails on the 1” lip every 16” so each piece gets about 4 nails. The nails will require installation of a long strip of horizontal lumber I think it’s called roof batten. The batten goes over tar paper while the tar paper over the 5/8” plywood. One of the problem with this installation is like your hardwood floor tongue and groove, it’s difficult to replace one sheet of roofing. I think if one is damaged the only way is to cut the top lip off and replace one without the upper lip. But it’s overkill for So Cal.
However, this old house same age as myself build in 1956 had gone through it’s third roof in 2003 so I was determined that this one to be it’s last. Previous owner put in a new Cal Shake roof before we purchase the house in the eighties. I make the mistake of walking on it annually to decorate Christmas lights, it got leaks everywhere after 10 years or so and difficult to repair since the water travels into the deteriorating tar paper and plywood, then into the ceiling.
I ensured the roofer to use 5/8 plywood with a aluminum radiant barrier on one side for better noise and heat insulation, and extra thick tar paper and underlayment at lesser angle of the roof. Sure learned a lot on the roofing project.
As far as the decking discussions above, I think you’re talking about the plywood nailed to the rafters. If that’s the case, most roofer use 3/8” where it will likely be damaged from shingles removal, I would use 5/8” and the nails for these metal roof will not goes into the plywood, it will be nailed to the batten where the batten nailed to the plywood. This may cause less damage to the plywood during the tear down. In the end of the day, the roofline before roofing materials should be flat and straight. Putting extra layer on top will likely be possible if the integrity of the bottom layers are sound but I see my neighbor’s roof to be wavy so I think that’s from not replacing all the plywood. Anyway definitely not an expert but a new roof is a such costly investment, it worthwhile to use the best materials. My roofer suggested no plywood at all, just put it over the rafters.
 
Sunset said:
Looks nice

These metal tiles, do they hang on the wood like a regular tile roof (I think) or do they nail in some way ?
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Attached picture of the nails installed
 

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pb4uski said:
That's what I was thinking too, just make sure to hit the trusses. But I don't subscribe to lawman's premise that 15/32" decking can't be reroofed many, many times... I think it can be reroofed many times.

We have a "hot roof" just like lawman.. foam sprayed in the roof truss cavities with adhesive membrane and asphalt shingles. Ours are 11 years old and look like new.

Another option would be to cover shingles with metal, either fastened or standing seam.
Click to expand...

That's encouraging. Shingle life here is shortened a little by our Texas heat and can be shortened a LOT by hail.. Maybe I should find something else to worry about.
 
lawman said:
That's encouraging. Shingle life here is shortened a little by our Texas heat and can be shortened a LOT by hail.. Maybe I should find something else to worry about.
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If the heat destroys shingle roofs so much, why don't folks use metal roofs because it seems the payback would be quick :confused:
 
We have a standing seam installed over OSB decking. We love it. Rain noise is little more than asphalt but nothing objectionable. We choose metal roof for the longevity and hail protection. Don't install R-panels for home if you can stomach the extra cost of standing seam. Standing seam has virtually no leak points except protrusions. The last roof you or your heir will ever need.


We have some old storage buildings (50-70 year range) with R-panels and some with old corrugated tin on our property. Some have surface rust but none leaks! Only leak points are "fiberglass roof" sections which has long gave away in Texas sun. I would not trust any material other than metal for sunny geography.


The house I grew up had corrugated galvanized roof which did not rust for over 70 years until we replaced it due to ongoing leaks from screws.
 
A few years ago, I spoke with several guys that had installed metal roofs and I inquired about the exposed fasteners along the length of each panel. The exposed fasteners and their elastomeric seals are subject to the weather and could eventually (25-30 yrs?) allow water intrusion. Maybe not enough to enter the dwelling but enough to rot the wood and become loose. One guy mentioned that the old style fasteners used lead for a seal but now the seal is a type of neoprene. I went with asphalt shingles.
 
I had the adjuster here last Tuesday but haven't heard anything back on an amount for replacement yet. Once I know the amount I will start to get some pricing from contractors and for material.
I still would like metal but I'm not going to to much over what I receive from the claim. I was quoted ~5500 for metal for my roof but sure that isn't all material just got a quick ballpark number.

I done some research on installing metal over the top of asphalt shingles. The verdict is acceptable, can be done and didn't find where it was not okay to do this method. The asphalt shingles need to be covered with a membrane so the grit doesn't rub or work on the metal from inside out. The cost would be less because of no tear off, hauling charge and dump yard charge etc..

The thought of that method but just isn't appealing to me thou. Seems like a shabby job doing it that way. On the other hand I seen a roof the other day that did it that way, and I couldn't tell they went over the top with metal. Decisions decisions I thought when I left work I would get rid of decisions. Lol
 
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Sunset said:
If the heat destroys shingle roofs so much, why don't folks use metal roofs because it seems the payback would be quick :confused:
Click to expand...

Metal has it's own drawbacks..Large hail can be a problem. Because of fastener issues I would never use anything other than standing seam or possibly some metal shingles that have no exposed fasteners..This type of metal roof is very expensive and can be prone to leaks..
With metal roof you may not find leaks for decades but with asphalt shingles you get to inspect the roof for leaks with every shingle change. I would never leave the old roof on regardless of which new roof I put on...Who knows anything about rubber shingles:confused:
 
We've had a standing-seam roof on our house for about 15 years. It replaced an asphalt "T-lock" shingle roof that failed after 10 years. T-locks were an old-style barn shingle that was once known for long life and resistance to high wind, but our roof began shedding grit almost immediately. A brisk November breeze (known up here as "the gales of November," thanks to Gordon Lightfoot) ripped it up enough that we were able to get an insurance claim on the damage. It covered about half the cost of our metal replacement.

Standing-seam comes in several different gauges, the cheapest being 29 gauge. I doubt that it would hold up well to a serious hailstorm; it also can develop "beer canning," in which the metal shows waves in the surface. It's mostly a cosmetic issue, but probably an annoyance after spending five figures on a new roof.

The next thickest is 26 gauge, followed by 24 gauge and 22 gauge in the order of expense. We went with 24 gauge; 22 seems mostly used in commercial applications. The roofers had to use some extra effort to install our roof, but I think the extra expense was worth it.

My folks bought an old farm in 1961 that had standing-seam metal roofs on the barn and another large outbuilding. They're still in pretty good shape. The metal on those old barn roofs is really heavy, I'd bet 18 gauge or thicker. With proper maintenance they probably could last multiple lifetimes.

One thing about metal roofs in the North, though -- melting snow can slide off in large rafts, posing a hazard to anything that lies below. They make snow brakes to keep the snow from sliding off to prevent damage to gutters, plantings and such.
 
Mr._Graybeard said:
...

One thing about metal roofs in the North, though -- melting snow can slide off in large rafts, posing a hazard to anything that lies below. They make snow brakes to keep the snow from sliding off to prevent damage to gutters, plantings and such.
Click to expand...

Friends installed a metal roof in the North, and the next summer they found snow/ice had slid off and wiped away their front wooden stairs and small 6x6 landing.
Now they have those snow break things on the roof over it.
 
CDRE said:
A few years ago, I spoke with several guys that had installed metal roofs and I inquired about the exposed fasteners along the length of each panel. The exposed fasteners and their elastomeric seals are subject to the weather and could eventually (25-30 yrs?) allow water intrusion. Maybe not enough to enter the dwelling but enough to rot the wood and become loose. One guy mentioned that the old style fasteners used lead for a seal but now the seal is a type of neoprene. I went with asphalt shingles.
Click to expand...

I'm with lawman...no exposed fasteners regardless of the type of roof you pick.
 
Looks like I'm going to be in the market for a new roof...:blush: I have a 15 year old asphalt shingle roof now and it is beginning to show it's age. Anyone know of a good on-line "roofing" calculator to help me estimate pricing before I go out for bids? I haven't had to deal with roofing costs in over 30 yrs so I don't have a clue, especially with building material inflation these days. I'll probably have it professionally done since my days of climbing and crawling around "that much" on roofs are gone.
 
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I'm not aware of any online calculator to help with estimating replacing your roof. The best I can do is give you info on what it cost me to have my old roofing removed and new asphalt shingles installed (50 squares) in the fall of 2019. I paid $22,500.

No idea how much it would cost now, but have to think it would be at least an additional 25%, probably more.
 
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Got two estimates recently. One comes to about $490 per square, the other to $590.

REWahoo is at $450 in 2019. His estimate of a 25% rise (not crazy) brings his job today at $560 or so, per square.

I live in the SE which has similar housing costs as Wahoo country. We are having the same kind of job as REWahoo. My job is not too complex, with limited valleys and flashings.

So, lookee there, about $500 to $600 is a range. Need a rough guess? Go with $600 per square. Depending on where you live, it could be a bit more or less.

Fun fact: my 1995 job was about $170 per square. Times change.

Here's a calculator to help you estimate the size of your job (squares)
https://www.calculator.net/roofing-calculator.html
 
Car-Guy said:
Looks like I'm going to be in the market for a new roof...:blush: I have a 15 year old asphalt shingle roof now and it is beginning to show it's age. Anyone know of a good on-line "roofing" calculator to help me estimate pricing before I go out for bids? I haven't had to deal with roofing costs in over 30 yrs so I don't have a clue, especially with building material inflation these days. I'll probably have it professionally done since my days of climbing and crawling around "that much" on roofs are gone.
Click to expand...

15 yrs is pretty short, is this common in Texas for asphalt roofing ?

While some software might give you a number, just getting 3 or more quotes will be real estimates.

Estimating the material is not too hard:
110% of roof area for the shingles needed.
110% of Roof edge for ice guard (maybe not needed for Tx) ? , and drip edges
New vents
$60 box of nails.
130% of roof area for tar paper or newer thing.

But the labor and profit is the big unknown........

After my post, I see the calculator posted, makes the estimates much simpler for material. I'll try to remember to use it next time I do a roof.
 
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Thanks... (Last four posts are helpful)


Sunset said:
15 yrs is pretty short, is this common in Texas for asphalt roofing ?
Click to expand...
It's the original roof so the builder probably didn't use the absolute top of the line materials, but we did get upgrades on the original build. After 15 years of Texas summers most asphalt roofs will start showing their age. Ours is still "okay" but we are doing some other home upgrades like, painting, remodeling etc and decided to do the roof too. I'll probably do most of the "other" stuff myself but I thought (or the DW thought ;) ) it best to have a pro do the roof. Actually agreed with her on that. :)
 
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