I live in Ontario Canada and I'm considering replacing my 1700 sqft asphalt roof with either Steel or Aluminum metal roof. I've spoken to Classic Products ($15k cdn) as well as Hy-Grade ($10k cdn) and they both seem like good products.
I've heard that Steel can loose it's finish. Anyone with any experience with either Steel or Aluminium that can comment on the value would be greatly appreciated!
Also I'm told the standard is to install straight over my existing roof... any thoughts on that? What about mold, fire, weight, sound and home heating?
Also anyone experienced with either company I'd love to hear your thoughts!
Most finishes today are rather durable and will last many years.
Often done.
What about mold, fire, weight, sound
Don't see that mosd would be a problem if it is not now. Fire is better as it will not burn if you get ashes on top from a fireplace or stove. Weight is not a big deal, less than many shingles. The barriers below deaden the sound.
I agree with this but suggest you get someone to look at your roof regarding the weight issue. You may have more than 1 course of shingles on already if it's an older home.
"Brett Philp" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@posting.google.com...
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Don't know either company, but put a new roof on about two years ago, and did consider metal roofing. I like the look of it, sound of it, and the way snow slides off it so easily (we're in NY). Maybe this'll at least give you a couple questions for the contractors. Two of five contractors however recommended against it for warranty reasons: too expensive to do repairs if/when they happened. A third reminded me, in making our decision, of all the work he got a few years back when we got one of those golf ball sized hail storms - couple years later he siad he had lots of painting jobs from it, and almost no complaints from "regular" roof customers. They all agreed they could put it over what's there now, AFTER it was inspected for (forget what they called it) the underlayment being solid and no rot or dryrot. If there was any, they would still have to remove/replace those sections before the roof could go on. And then of course they had to be sure the roof line stayed straight. Turned out they didn't literally lay the metal right on the shbingles but used a sub-frame to put it on. My insurance agent though, had the best reasons for us (not necessarily you) to NOT have a metal roof: Metal was MUCH harder to punch through to get into the house for fire fighting and supposedly most fire departments hated them for that reason. Even when a fire was cold, they can't, apparently, be sure without first letting it cool, and then going inside and ripping the roof off from the inside to expose any remaining embers. When I heard that, I called the fire dept and they agreed, surprisingly. I thbought it was bunk, to tell you the truth, but that was two sources that should have been reliable. Now, we do have a volunteer fire dept, so an urban dept might not care what a roof is - they have much better and bigger equipment and more money, I suppose.
Anyway, that's my two cents - I'd suggest con sider it more food for thought than solid advice of any kind, but it's things you can check on.
Metal roof is very common here in Tennessee. Weight is not an issue because they usually remove the shingles before screwing down the metal. The metal is lighter than the shingles. In your location, the snow will weigh more than the metal roof. I've had to replace shingles in the past and now with the metal roof, there is no ways I'd ever consider a shingle roof again. This roof is guaranteed for 50 years. We've had some bad storms, hail, wind, never had a problem with the roof.
More then likely, you hit the nail on the head when you said your department was a volunteer dept. Probably underfunded. But they would still have the basic tools to do the job.
The majarity of FD's in the US have no problem with metal roofs. They are easy to vent. The axes they carry (nothing special about them) can cut through them. You have carbide-tipped chainsaws and gas-powered circular saws that will cut right through them. Any roof gets hot when there is fire underneath it.
Any insurance agent that tells you otherwise doesn't have a clue about the FD. And you can't have a much more fire-safe blanket on your house then a metal (slate, tile) roof.
I don't know the two companies. More important is the technical description of the product - to begin with. This description would help in determining the durability of the finish. The installer's reputation is important once the product is selected. Weight is most probably not a concern. Condition of the underlayment is important. Metal roof moves with temperature and needs an even, smooth underlayment.
I have a terne coated stainless steel roof installed after Hurricane Hugo in 1989. The metal roof that the hurricane took off was estimated to have been installed pre WWII. I fully expect the new roof will outlive me and my kids. The terne coated stainless is heavy duty, no maintenance because it is a 45 degree slope staring about 37 feet above grade and thus a maintenatce problem.
I'm also in TN and have a metal roof. My house has an aluminum roof but if I had to do it over I would use steel as I have on several outbuildings. The difference is that you need to SCREW the roof down, nails will pull out and you can't get aluminum screws. Al also tends to tear around the nails, although my house Al roof has stood for 25 years.
I have steel with baked on enamel, Hunter Green. I just added on 200 sq ft and did this metal roof myself. I learned a lot. I first tried to hire it done but the roofers wouldn't even return my phone calls for something this small. They would either do the entire house or nothing at all. It passed the test earlier this week when we had the storms with the 60 mph winds. Trees blown over everywhere and some buildings in town knocked over but my roof survived and no leaks. Professional roofers usually put only 4 screws per 3 foot panel along the edge. I used 12 screws per panel along the edge. As long as the edge doesn't lift up, a metal roof will survive a lot of wind.
I used to have a large indoor riding arena 60x140' with a metal roof it was white so I can't really speak about fading but it is pretty much fireproof snow slides off pretty dramatically so you need to adjust for any doors you may have either with a V or little cleats that are designed to hold the snow.
We had snow slide off that left a 4' deep pile of snow where it slid off.
As for hail we had a storm where it destroyed my asphalt roof left fist sized holes in the sky lights.
The metal roof had dimples in it but in a couple of years of freezing and hot weather they all worked out!
We had a storm last Saturday that peeled a metal roof off one building (like a sardine can). The ones with asphalt shingles has no damage at all. In east TN. A metal roof would be more expensive to repair than a shingle roof.
I'm on the edge of the Cumberland Plateau and we had that same storm. As I mentioned, the edges must be securely fastened, must be better than the professional will do. The professional installers will meet the code, but here with hurricane-like winds and tornados in the area which spawn damaging winds for several miles around, one must do better than the code. The north side of my house overlooks a 300 ft drop so it is exposed. Last week's storm came straight out of the north and my roof didn't have any damage. Trees and power lines came down but the roof is ok. I agree, once the edge of a metal roof goes, it'll peel like a sardine can. The edge is the key. If a pro installs it, you'd better go up there afterward and put more screws in.
I lost the aluminum roof on my shed a couple of years back, the roof came off and took the 2x4 stringers with it. The Al roof on my house, much more exposed, was undamaged. It is important to SCREW the roof to the stringers and SCREW the stringers to the rafters and SCREW the rafters down too!
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