Question for roofers

[tnguy]

Because its crazy expensive

 

Or, perhaps, tar shingles are cheap.

 

My parents house was built in the 60s. The roof had to be redone sometime in the 80s because the cross-battens were not strong enough and were sagging but most of the tiles were reusable if I recall correctly (my father did the job his self) and it's still going strong now.

 

I think several things would be better than tar shingles here in TN with the winds. Especially as the roof gets a little older. I know before we had our roof replaced, whenever there was a storm, I would dread knowing that several shingles would be folded up (or worse) and I'd be up there on the roof again. Then again, if it's not your roof, a tornado full of tar shingles is probably preferable to one full of tiles.

 

The websites I've looked at claim that while tiles are more expensive up front, they are cheaper on a cost/year basis. YMMV, of course.

 

I don't believe these tiles were terracotta either. I am not sure exactly what they were but they were much rougher. It seems they may have been concrete? (Edit: Really not sure. )

Edited May 12, 2014 by tnguy

[eRay]

I had a new boat dock built about 8 years ago with a metal roof. It has a couple of places on the  underside of the plywood where the screw gasket has leaked and the plywood is turning dark around the screws. Wish I had went with shingles. After this experience, I would never put a metal roof on my house.

[TripleDigitRide]

Due to HOA rules, a metal roof is out of the question. As of right now, we are leaning towards the CertainTeed Landmark dimensional shingle. 

[Hershmeister]

I had a certainteed roof put on a couple years ago by a local certified company. Very happy. TGO member GS455 was their sales rep - give him a PM

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Because its crazy expensive

Thank Hershmeister

 

Never priced em, but sounds reasonable. Was speculating at the time, wondering if the heavy rainfall in seattle gave terra cotta tiles some kind of practical advantage. OTOH, maybe I'm remembering wrong, but I recall also seeing a lot of terra cotta roofs while flying into los angeles, which gets very little rain.

[GS455]

Greetings,

 

Yup. Hershmeister just sent me a link to this thread and I was just reading it.  He's a longtime shooting buddy of mine and we did his roof last summer in CertainTeed, Charcoal Black, 30-yr Architectural shingles + plus ridge-vent.

 

I work for Reliable Construction & Restoration just outside of Murfreesboro.  I'm the Nashville guy.  Probably 70% of what we do ends up being insurance negotiated work.  There are three or four Reliables in the State.  I think one is in Antioch but the others are far away.  I was thinking of jumping in and trying to clarify some of the matters brought up from a "roofers" point of view but might just start a firestorm of opinion.  There are plenty of sources for "correct" roofing techniques and materials if someone wants to get educated and spend an evening on Google.   Maybe I'll paste this response into the thread.

 

Sound like you already have a roofer that helped insurance get it paid for and he’s offering you designer shingles at a slight upcharge.  Go for it.  Owens Corning, GAF and CertainTeed are the main players in this market but there are others. We switched from GAF (yes, available at Home Depot) to CertainTeed a couple years ago.  We feel it’s a slightly heavier product plus being CertainTeed certified installers we can transmit a 50-yr warranty on materials for a slight fee.  If your roofer can’t offer you that warranty he is not a CertainTeed “Wizard” shingler.  Doesn’t mean he’s not a good roofer just not CertainTeed certified.

 

25yr Three Tab flat and 30yr Architectural (also known as Dimensional) designer shingles are 90% of what we do, what customers want and what insurance companies pay for.    The colors and styles available are dictated by what these companies ship to middle, TN and with some variations they are pretty much the same across the three.  Outside these colors and styles stocked in local distribution any real roofer can get other styles and colors but there will be a hefty upcharge due to special shipping of a single order.  Think of the weight.

 

You should need to put in the local zip code.

To see color options for Architectural go to:  http://www.certainteed.com/products/roofing/residential/designer/308747    and look under Residential / Designer / Landmark.

 

The standard 3-tab flat shingles can be found here  http://www.certainteed.com/products/roofing/residential/traditional . Look under Traditional / XT25    

 

So called Designer shingles are heavier, tougher and look better.  They will serve you over a longer period of time and are less likely to become windblown save for a near miss tornado or sustained straight line winds.  Plus they will add curb appeal if/when you sell your house.  Depending on the pitch of roof plus length of ridge you ought to go with ridge-vent, especially if it’s a low pitch ranch with a lot of roof area.  If you have a very steep roof with tiny ridges (ala a newer McMansion) you might be best served for convection by a COMMERCIAL quite exhaust fan or box vents lower down from the ridge.  Don’t get a cheap one of the shelf from Home Depot.  It will be noisy or dead within 3-5 years.  We pull em off all the time.  Heat is one of the enemies of shingles lasting a long time.  Do you have any kind of “intake” or soffit vents below?

 

In short, we’re partial to CertainTeed but GAF is good stuff too.

 

Edited May 13, 2014 by GS455

[TripleDigitRide]

GS455 is another very knowledgeable TGOer. He definitely knows what he's talking about, where roofing and contractors are concerned. Thank you for taking the time to explain how things are supposed to work. I wish I could say the same for the guy I've been dealing with.

[GS455]

GS455 is another very knowledgeable TGOer. He definitely knows what he's talking about, where roofing and contractors are concerned. Thank you for taking the time to explain how things are supposed to work. I wish I could say the same for the guy I've been dealing with.

Anytime TripleDig, You have my number. Call anytime if you have other questions.