Anyone know much about roofing or had a new roof put on? Lynn and I have been looking into this for our house the last couple of weeks. I've learned quite a bit. Any suggestions, thoughts or advice would be welcome.
Quote from: Rico on July 22, 2011, 08:51:20 AM
Anyone know much about roofing or had a new roof put on? Lynn and I have been looking into this for our house the last couple of weeks. I've learned quite a bit. Any suggestions, thoughts or advice would be welcome.
Yeah. Don't do it yourself. I've done some roofing and it's pretty simple work. Even a cave man can do it.
However, the cleanup is not for one man to do alone and the heat was like sitting in a stove ... in hell ... for a few hours.
Here's some of the things I've learned since then.
White roof is the way to go. It's more energy efficient.
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Green-Homes/Cool-Roof-White-Roof.aspx (http://www.motherearthnews.com/Green-Homes/Cool-Roof-White-Roof.aspx)
You could also go with solar shingles to get greener and I believe that you will get some tax rebates for going solar and getting a new roof in the process.
Either way, if you're going with a new roof, you should be making or saving money in the process
Here is the credits you could use for a white roof and solar. I also think that you can combnie the two
Roofs (Metal & Asphalt)
Qualified roof products reflect more of the sun's rays, which can lower roof surface temperature by up to 100F, decreasing the amount of heat transferred into your home.
Tax Credit Amount: 10% of the cost, up to $500
Requirements
"Metal roofs with appropriate pigmented coatings" and "asphalt roofs with appropriate cooling granules" that also meet ENERGY STAR requirements.
Tax Credit does NOT include installation costs.
Solar Energy Systems
Tax Credit:
Credit Details: 30% of the cost, up to $500 per .5 kW of power capacity
Expires:
December 31, 2016
Details:
Existing homes & new construction qualify. Must be your principal residence. Rentals and second homes do not qualify.
I'm terrified of the day I'll have to put a new roof on the house, so I'll be reading this thread too!
I've done a little roofing too, and there is no way I'd even think of doing any of this job myself. We've had three roofing guys come out so far and gotten some estimates. Some variety and opinions out there on shingle brand, venting styles, etc. I've been reading up on things. A lot comes down to picking the place and the installation - of course. We have another guy coming out next week. One guy wouldn't even come out and do an estimate because he said it was "too hot." Really? He wouldn't even come in the morning. One guy was 6 weeks out before he could even do the job. But we have a couple that seem ok so far. It's the biggest thing we've ever had done on our house and we want to make sure it goes well.
We have had two of our homes re-roofed.
Here in the Pacific Northwest we have either cedar shingles, a very expensive way, metal roofs, again kind of expensive, but most people go with asphalt shingles, either 3 or 5 tab. Most companies that I worked with guaranteed them from 15 to 25 years, and the actual roofing products are guaranteed as well.
I did the first roof myself with friends, something I wouldn't do again, even though it saved me over half the money. It was not only hard work, but kind of turned out crooked.. hehehe. On that house we are currently in, we hired a contractor who did our pretty straight forward roof in two days! Yeah! Did all the tear off, clean up and put the roof on in only two days. So far, we are very happy with it.
I don't know if that helped any, but it's my two cents.
i like the white roof idea. seems like it would work.
always *complete* roofing projects during a really dry period, like in the middle of the summer. otherwise you will need to put tarps over the unfinished parts and it gets all messy :)
My only advice Rico would be to make sure the old roof is completely removed and buy good quality shingles that are rated for 30 years. Don't let them build over the old shingles. Insurance companies won't allow it so why should you?
Kevin
No worries on that Kevin, we had no plans to build over the current roof. We bought our house new about 16 years ago, so we know everything about it. This will be our first major job done on it. We have a pretty good vibe from one company so far. I'm kind of looking forward to getting it done.
We generally use tiles or slate (or thatch) over here so if you're all shingled up then anything I might know is largely irrelevant.
Does a roof really last only 16 years?
Quote from: Feathers on July 24, 2011, 12:40:02 PM
We generally use tiles or slate (or thatch) over here so if you're all shingled up then anything I might know is largely irrelevant.
Does a roof really last only 16 years?
Age varies a lot. But you need to keep in mind it's impacted by weather quite a bit. And we have some pretty extreme weather in the midwest. Huge temperature ranges and swings over the year, lots of snow, wind, etc. So all that is a factor. Lynn and drove around a little today looking at colors in our area of shingles. Getting it narrowed down.
Here's a pic of our house that I just took today. If you look closely, you can see where there are some missing shingles and the roof is wearing down.
Is there a room abpve your garage Rico? You do have a bloody nice looking house. I'd have a thatched roof on that, it would look weird but very English ;)
Quote from: HawkeyeMeds on July 24, 2011, 01:34:59 PM
Is there a room abpve your garage Rico? You do have a bloody nice looking house. I'd have a thatched roof on that, it would look weird but very English ;)
Yes, the garage has a lot of storage above it. Filled with mainly empty collectible boxes and other stuff!
I just played around a bit with the Owens Corning site and did some copy and paste of a possible shingle choice called Teak. We kind of like this one.
Some of the older sections of Philadelphia have slate roofs. These are very expensive to replace, but last a very long time. I have a 30 year asphalt roof on my house - which we bought new ~11 years ago. I have done small roofing jobs myself, but wouldn't try to tackle my own roof. What a pro would do in 2 days would take me 2 weeks! :)
I like the idea of solar paneling - but we live on a hill top and get some pretty severe wind at times. A white roof sounds interesting - I'll have to mull that one for a bit.
Quote from: Rico on July 24, 2011, 01:02:39 PM
Here's a pic of our house that I just took today. If you look closely, you can see where there are some missing shingles and the roof is wearing down.
Nonetheless, it's a nice house.
Getting our new roof put on today so I took the day off. Probably take part of tomorrow to finish the job for the roofers too. The empty dumpster is already here and on the driveway for the old shingles. Very exciting!
pictures pictures!
I would have to pass on this my DIY is so bad i am the reason they invented 24 hour emergency plumbers.
Here are a few quick pics I took today. Going pretty good so far - maybe a little slow but these guys are nice and clean up all the junk well. I think they are Ukrainian (only three of them here today). I spent most of the day repairing and rebuilding our cupola that goes on top of the garage. It was falling apart - especially after they pulled it off the roof. Anyway, I'll be back at work tomorrow and hopefully they will be able to finish it all up.
P.S. Kaylee really didn't enjoy all the noise.
Looking awesome Rico!
Wow Rico ....... looking good, you chose wisely :)
Marko
Love the house, it's huge!!!
Wait until you guys see the cool weathervane we bought for on top of the cupola. And no, it's not the Enterprise! :)
Quote from: Rico on August 15, 2011, 07:41:01 PM
Wait until you guys see the cool weathervane we bought for on top of the cupola. And no, it's not the Enterprise! :)
It's a Dalek! :)
Nice house. :)
That will be cool to see Rico.
Nice purple cruiser bike!
Quote from: Rico on August 15, 2011, 07:41:01 PM
Wait until you guys see the cool weathervane we bought for on top of the cupola. And no, it's not the Enterprise! :)
It's got to be Zefram Cochrane pointing the way to the stars, like his statue as seen in First Contact. :cheers
Or the Vulcan hand salute!
The weathervane is based on a place we've given a lot of money to.
Quote from: Rico on August 16, 2011, 08:26:16 AM
The weathervane is based on a place we've given a lot of money to.
U of M!!!!
..or wait, was it Mich State?....
Oh I was thinking master replicas! Lol
Quote from: Bryancd on August 16, 2011, 08:27:17 AM
Quote from: Rico on August 16, 2011, 08:26:16 AM
The weathervane is based on a place we've given a lot of money to.
U of M!!!!
..or wait, was it Mich State?....
U of M?!??! Bite your tongue!
Come on! Look at the smilies available here: :msu :state :msu :state
I know, sacrilege! Sorry, I knew that and realized my mistake quickly!
Considering we've give MSU 4 college tuition's, we figured we should represent a little. :)
So the Spartan will be flying high above casa Rico!
Here's a pic from the place I ordered it from. We have it already and I'll take pics once it's up on our cupola.
Very cool!
Oh that is cool!
Does it always point west?
Quote from: sheldor on August 16, 2011, 03:35:16 PM
Does it always point west?
Well, I sure hope not. But that would be appropriate. :)
Well, two long days at the roof and they are still working on it. They should finish today. I think they are light with their crew. It's only been 2-3 guys working on it. Anyway, I'll get some more pics up soon - hopefully when it's done!
Yeah, if there's one thing I've learned since becoming a homeowner it's that any project tends to extend at least slightly beyond the estimate :)
In this case - double the estimated time! :)
Well, they finished up the roof a few days ago and I finally took some final pics. I really like the look and color and hopefully this will last - forever! We are pretty happy with it and Kaylee is very happy to have her yard back for herself!
You have a Beautiful House Rico, The new Roof looks great. I like you Deck, not to big not too small.
Yeah, nice place. And the roof looks great. I may not be a big fan of your weathervane being a Buckeyes fan but it sure beats the other Michigan school!
Quote from: jedijeff on August 20, 2011, 07:02:57 AM
You have a Beautiful House Rico, The new Roof looks great. I like you Deck, not to big not too small.
Yeah, I like it out where we live too. The deck I built a year or so after we moved in. It's getting to need a couple deck boards replaced, but it's held up pretty well. My dream one day would be to have the time and money to draw up and build a new place. But this is nice for now. :)