GasGuzzler
Hawkeye
No leaks on my parent's house that's 22 years old.
Roof Shingle Question.
- Thread starter wproct
- Start date
I have been in the construction for soon to be 38yrs.started helping a roofer at 15yrs old. I leave in southwest Virginia where we have a lot of temperature change. I have taken more metal roof off and went back to shingles in the last three years. Today I only roof the houses I build or the good customers. There is three levels of metal roof. The best being the metal shingles( pro via). But for me. I put the Presidential TL. On my house. And will replace the Air b&b roof with shingle. As soon as I get a chance. It’s a brick ranch and it doesn’t look good metal to me. Good luck with whatever you go with don’t put that 3 foot screw down metal on your roof. I hope that’s helpful.
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2012
- Messages
- 10,875
Don’t go over old roof
Don’t peel the tape.
Don’t use staples
Don’t use black shingles.
Use extra nails.
Use ice and water barrier
Put at least 2 rows of ice and water barrier.
Instal in cool weather just before hot weather.
Make sure there is a good overhang with drip edge and get rid of gutters.
If you go with metal or rubber and get snow. Your new roof will shed now in sheets. This is good and bad. Good that the snow doesn’t pile up. Bad if it crushes your air conditioning or propane tanks or whatever else is there.
Don’t peel the tape.
Don’t use staples
Don’t use black shingles.
Use extra nails.
Use ice and water barrier
Put at least 2 rows of ice and water barrier.
Instal in cool weather just before hot weather.
Make sure there is a good overhang with drip edge and get rid of gutters.
If you go with metal or rubber and get snow. Your new roof will shed now in sheets. This is good and bad. Good that the snow doesn’t pile up. Bad if it crushes your air conditioning or propane tanks or whatever else is there.
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I dont know them or anything, but might be worth checking out
https://get.eriehome.com/affordable...06101&adgroupid=1276534645830479&extensionid={extensionid}&loc_physical_ms=71898&matchtype=e&network=o&device=c&creative=&utm_keyword=metal%20roof%20designs&placement=&msclkid=658a03e70cc815f8d3906a93e1273d93
https://get.eriehome.com/affordable...06101&adgroupid=1276534645830479&extensionid={extensionid}&loc_physical_ms=71898&matchtype=e&network=o&device=c&creative=&utm_keyword=metal%20roof%20designs&placement=&msclkid=658a03e70cc815f8d3906a93e1273d93
What ever you do make sure your contractor puts the the moisture barrier that the manufacturer request. I know that for the metal shingles roof I have installed.that the moisture barrier that I had to use. cost what a cheap shingle cost $75 squ. But that’s the way you get a life time metal shingle roof. And be installed by a certified installer
Saying that there is no need to remove the plastic strip from the back of shingles when you lay them, that is all.
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Randy573
Bearcat
I also have a low-pitched roof and live where we get strong storms quite often. Also am out in the open meaning unprotected from it so two years ago I started having lots of shingle breakage due to the roof being older I went with a metal roof and am very glad I did. In my area being Southwest Missouri it did not cost much more than asphalt shingles and at my age most likely will not have to worry about it again in my lifetime. Also in my opinion the metal roof looks better.
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bobski
Hunter
ever try to walk on metal?
lol.
lol.
Keep your feet on the screws that are holding it down
The older corrugated metal roofs weren't bad, but the newer interlocking panels are a different story.
crstrode
Blackhawk
Similarly, the folks that install migrating shingles don't know what they're doing either. Good shingles (like mine) have adhesive backs that essentially "melt" into the next layer, making them impervious to wind. After a few weeks it is impossible to pry up the bottom edge without using a tool to pry them up - and even then they will break off before coming loose.
GasGuzzler
Hawkeye
I don't walk on my roof any more regardless of what is covering it.
I've spent the last 43 years walking on every kind of roof there is.... to be honest I can't for the life of me fathom why 'they' still install standard composite roofs.... the only thing worse is wood which I've heard they still do in California.... figure that one out even though I think most of them are gone after the LA fires.... but they'll probably build them back with them.
I installed a metal roof on our house over 20 years ago, never a leak and I really am not a pro at it... well it did leak back on Sept 27th of 2024... that's because of this:
This is after the tree was removed. The damage would have been much worse with a composite roof.
I installed a metal roof on our house over 20 years ago, never a leak and I really am not a pro at it... well it did leak back on Sept 27th of 2024... that's because of this:
This is after the tree was removed. The damage would have been much worse with a composite roof.
GasGuzzler
Hawkeye
You can still get cedar shakes installed in Texas too if you can afford 4X the insurance premium. My house I grew up in had cedar shakes.
Most buildings in our area have tin roofs. Even our birdfeeder has a tin roof. 
Well, again lack of knowledge rears its ugly head. They don't "still install wood roofs in California". They stopped allowing that decades ago. But a properly installed and maintained shake roof will last decades so some are still around. Even old style shingles aren't allowed in areas considered wildfire zones. But there are still a lot of those around. Especially older neighborhoods, Palisades and Altadena for example.
But if you've never experienced the intensity of a wildfire you possibly don't understand just what a firestorm is. Nothing in man's arsenal can stop it. It took the Pacific Ocean to stop the Palisades fire. It took a dramatic shift in weather to stop the Eaton fire.
Heck in some cases the roofs didn't burn first. The fires began inside the homes. Glass broke from the heat. Interiors burned. The roofs actually burnt from the underside.
But if you've never experienced the intensity of a wildfire you possibly don't understand just what a firestorm is. Nothing in man's arsenal can stop it. It took the Pacific Ocean to stop the Palisades fire. It took a dramatic shift in weather to stop the Eaton fire.
Heck in some cases the roofs didn't burn first. The fires began inside the homes. Glass broke from the heat. Interiors burned. The roofs actually burnt from the underside.
protoolman
Service-Sixer
Yup, in Montana I once helped split cedar shakes with a froe and put them on an A frame church. Just a comment on steel roofs also, If you have screw heads showing you're using ag tin and you will eventually have leaks unless you live in an A frame with 12 12 pitch. All new roofing for residential use uses a rib or interlocking piece that covers up the screws in the adjacent or lower panel.
Not really sure what you guys are talking about when you say steel roof. There are many types out there.
Here are a few
This is a standing seam metal roof that is very popular in Texas. My neighbor has had one for 30 years with no problems.
This is a R panel that has exposed screws which has been on my hangar since 1978 with no problems. A lot of commercial building use this panel
Another neighbor has metal ones like these High $$$$ but guaranteed for life
protoolman
Service-Sixer
That R panel roof is what you'd find on some cabins and at sheds garages etc. I will say every screw is a potential leak. Combine that with drywall ceilings for instance and you're asking for trouble. The insulation in the ceiling will take up some moisture for a while....
Steel roofs are many. There are also basically steel shingles. Each system is different and requires someone trained to put it on.
Steel roofs are many. There are also basically steel shingles. Each system is different and requires someone trained to put it on.
I put the metal roof down that takes the screws with a rubber washer and I know that is a concern.... I've seen some of the screws back out a bit over the years but have never had a leak at least that you could see. What my wife calls the fort is a very low pitch one story part of our house open on the sides that I store my stuff under.... I put the regular cheap tin on it a goodly number of years ago and it had rusted and also started leaking in places and so last month I spent a week re-roofing it with the same stuff on the rest of the house.... here's a picture of me in the midst of this project that I've posted before in another thread.... I'm standing on the last rusty section of the old 'tin' roofing.
GasGuzzler
Hawkeye
This is an example of what my parents have. It had one repair after a tree limb fell on it but no issues due to materials or installation.
IGNORANCE IS BLISS. I bought an ugly raised ranch back in 1989; it needed a roof. I was single at the time and ate 'dinner' mostly at 'happy hours' in bars. Met a guy (in a suit), said he was a roofer and would do my roof. He looked it over and said $4,000 for a complete rip off (and new 'tar paper'). When he finished, he left me the surplus stack of shingles (they were labeled "Blue Bird" brand, whatever that is). Well, here in the northeast, we get plenty of bad weather and that shingle roof lasted until I decided it was time to put a new one on (it was about 32 years old at that point 2022). Still ignorant, I contacted one of the larger (2nd generation) roofing companies. I told him that I wanted their GAF, 50 yr "warranty" roof with the "snow/ice" thingie on the overhangs (and a complete rip-off, and new gutters and leaders). I told them, that I was about 80 at the time and would ABSOLUTELY be coming after them if that roof gave me any problems during the next 50 yrs. This time the price was $21,000. So far, so good.
J.
J.
Here, the biggest thing that effects roof life is the sun. It literally bakes the asphalt that holds the gravel on the shingles. I've gotten just over 20 years each out of two "thirty year" roofs. I did the first. The second need to be done when I was having back issues resulting in surgery. The one I had done last year was also done by pros (hey, at over 70 I figure let some young guy fall off the roof).
Honestly, as important as using good materials is, the quality of the workman doing the install is more important. Cheap outfits won't make sure the sheathing under the roof is in good shape, they go cheap on materials (and you won't know until the roof leaks), and find any other short cuts they can.
Honestly, as important as using good materials is, the quality of the workman doing the install is more important. Cheap outfits won't make sure the sheathing under the roof is in good shape, they go cheap on materials (and you won't know until the roof leaks), and find any other short cuts they can.
If someone actually reads the installation instructions for a composite shingle roof they will see that every nail needs to be put down exactly flush with the shingle.... I'm still trying to figure out how the guys putting these on these days do that with the nail gun they are using that sounds like a machine gun they are nailing so fast. Oh, and if the air compressor they have the gun hosed to is set too high the nails will just go through the top shingle.
This! I have seen more than one roof lose shingles in moderate winds due to the nailheads "perforating" the shingle because they went halfway through the nailing tab.
GasGuzzler
Hawkeye
The nail guns typically have the trigger tied back and the gun is set off by compressing the safety against the shingle. They just bounce the gun along the surface and it sends a nail with each compression of the safety.
GypsmJim
GypsmJim
A Google search will probably uncover tons of mis-information. I use Google just for laughs.
Stay away from the AI, and you will be better off. Google, or Bing, or DDG, simply show links for reference. It is up to the user to use some common sense when searching the internet. No different than in life.
