Replacing a Roof - Advice Please

[Shakey]

Good Day Everyone,

Could use some advice on replacing the roof on a house please!  We had some wicked wind last night that has prompted me to start looking at replacing the shingles on our home, been putting it off for too long.  

The house, 14 years old, in a subdivision in Southern Ontario (i.e.: 4 seasons) has never had the roof replaced.  We are not experiencing any leaks (so far) and seem to be missing shingles in various areas.  I like the thought of the steel roofs I have seen on some country homes but I am not sure if they would look right in a subdivision setting.

Interested in knowing about types of shingles, what to look for, what to look out for etc.  

Please provide your thoughts, experiences and insight into a project such as this if you can.  That would be much appreciated!  

Also, any members in the GTA that can recommend a company, would also appreciate that!

Thanks in advance folks!  

[Old Moparz]

I just replaced the roof on my house last year, did it myself & had considered a metal roof. I liked the idea of metal because I'd be doing it just once & not have to worry about it again when I am too old to get up there. It was fairly expensive in comparison & I've never installed a metal roof, so I passed on it. I went with a standard, 30 year, architectural, asphalt shingle from IKO that ran about $3200 for all the materials. This included the ice shield membrane, drip edge, felt paper, Cobra ridge vent, coil nails for my gun, vent pipe flashing & step flashing, all for about 22 square. (2200 square feet)

Some people have a brand preference but I have not done enough roofing to be able to tell you which is better. I do think that most of the name brands like Owens Corning, IKO, Certainteed, etc., will not vary too much in quality or warranty. I have Owens Corning on my garage that's now 17 years old & still in good shape. One thing about warranty though, & it's not much different than most product warranties, is that the manufacturer will want to verify product failure to make sure it wasn't a screwed up installation. In my opinion, any failure of a roof shingle is likely going to be based more on installation, attic or rafter venting & your geography, not so much the product.

Since you mentioned that the subdivision where you are may make your metal roof look out of place, I saw one product that I really liked. It was a coated, metal roofing material that looked like an asphalt shingle, by a company called Decra. This was really nice & not drastically more than the asphalt shingles, but the accessories, like for the edges & such, were not cheap. Since I was going to be doing the roof, I was also afraid to experiment on my own house having never installed this type of roof. If I recall, it did have something like a 50 year warranty. Here is the link...... http://www.decra.com/

Obviously I can't recommend anyone near you to install, but if you can find a neighbor or someone who may have had a roof replaced recently, ask them who did it & if they were happy with the result. The original owner of my house hired a low bidder to build my house. It showed in just about every part of it, including the roof. Not enough nails, nailed in the wrong part of the shingle, flashing was done wrong, etc.

[Shakey]

Bob - great information here!   

In the very early stages and although I feel rushed, I will not make a rash decision.  I think first I will contact friends in town for recommendations (already had two buds name the same company which is a good sign) and then have them come out for a look and a quote.

Here's to you for taking it on yourself.  We're pretty handy but there are some things I will farm out.  Your place looks great!

Thanks again.   

[green69rt]

You say some shingles missing, you can just replace those.   If you don't have hail storms then asphalt is ok.  A couple of indicators that your shingles are getting to the end-of-life.   Lots of small particales in you gutters or at the end of the down spout.  This is the gravel coating that is on the top of the shingle that protects it from sun damage.  When it starts to come off your shingles are not long for this world.  Also look at the edge of the roof, if the shigles are getting ragged and chipped looking, then close to time for replacement.  Both these are just indicators, you have some time ( a year or two ) but time to start thinking about replacement.

I was always worried about the noise of a metal roof but my father-in-law has one and when we visit there was no problem so...   His roof has been on about 25 years and still in good shape.
I don't know if he does any type of maintenance.

10 years after my last replacment and I'm still finding the occasional roofing nail in places

[70 sublime]

I typed up a big story and it did not like my picture and lost it all      arrggggg

Any ways
we are west of Toronto about an hour
About 24 years ago we put on a metal roof(aluminum) that looks like shingles
Best thing we ever did to the house
I am never going to move but it has lifetime warranty to never come off or change colour so it will add value to the house

Only picture I have that shows my roof just happens to have a car in it  

[Shakey]

I typed up a big story and it did not like my picture and lst it all      arrggggg

Oh man!   

I learned that the hard way long time ago when doing my "how to posts".  Since then I always right click and copy before I post so I don't encounter that situation again.   

I know the thought was there!   

[ACUDANUT]

Insurance paid for a new roof on my house and barn.  Look into it. It was only 15 years old.

[Shakey]

You say some shingles missing, you can just replace those.   If you don't have hail storms then asphalt is ok.  A couple of indicators that your shingles are getting to the end-of-life.   Lots of small particales in you gutters or at the end of the down spout.  This is the gravel coating that is on the top of the shingle that protects it from sun damage.  When it starts to come off your shingles are not long for this world.  Also look at the edge of the roof, if the shigles are getting ragged and chipped looking, then close to time for replacement.  Both these are just indicators, you have some time ( a year or two ) but time to start thinking about replacement.

I was always worried about the noise of a metal roof but my father-in-law has one and when we visit there was no problem so...   His roof has been on about 25 years and still in good shape.
I don't know if he does any type of maintenance.

10 years after my last replacment and I'm still finding the occasional roofing nail in places

Notice the shingles are near the end of their life - lots of gravel in the eavestroughs.

Gotta a guy coming next week for a quote!

Thanks for the input.   

[Shakey]

I typed up a big story and it did not like my picture and lost it all      arrggggg

Any ways
we are west of Toronto about an hour
About 24 years ago we put on a metal roof(aluminum) that looks like shingles
Best thing we ever did to the house
I am never going to move but it has lifetime warranty to never come off or change colour so it will add value to the house

Only picture I have that shows my roof just happens to have a car in it  

Sounds like we're not too far from each other.

The roof (and the car) look great.  I'll inquire about a metal roof like that next week.  Thanks again.

[Shakey]

Insurance paid for a new roof on my house and barn.  Look into it. It was only 15 years old.

Mrs. Shakey will review the policy - she handles all paperwork of that sort in our household!   

[bakerhillpins]

I had shingles on the house when I was young in central Pennsylvania. We got snow, not as much as you all but we got a fair amount. We had a shallow pitch roof and only had to shovel the roof 2 times I can recall. It's a PITA. I'm in New Hampshire now and went with metal when we put on our addition. IMHO metal is the way to go. When you are looking at the cost of shingles vs metal you need to factor in lifespan or your short changing your decision process. I'm not so sure shingles are cheaper in the long run but that will depend upon a lot of factors. Metal can also be put on smaller pitches with no degradation in performance.

We went with the basics, galvalume standing seam metal roof, rather than colored. The colored stuff is more expensive and less durable/more susceptible to scratching. In general repairs will be more noticeable in color due to paint fade over time though the galvalume will grey over time.  The durability is important to us as we run a wood stove and this requires almost annual rooftop trips when cleaning the chimney and the coatings are better at dealing with the unavoidable wear in these situations. The obvious benefit to metal in the north country is that it sheds the snow load on its own. Even with shallow pitches. This means no roof raking.    The downside is that you need to recognize where this snow load will fall and how you will deal with it when it does. In the spring and water logged it's HEAVY and will freeze solid overnight if your not on top of slides that happen in your doorway. The other benefit of my galvalume tin is that it is a reflector so my house is cooler in the summer months because it reflects the sun heat rather than absorbing it. My cooling issues are MUCH less than they were. My understanding is that the majority of the cost with metal comes from the number of hips and valleys that must be dealt with as it's a matter of labor (isn't everything). Though I am sure this also effects the shingle install in the same manner.

Here is our home with 7yr old roof on the main structure and 40yr old galvalume on the barn.

[RallyeMike]

If your roof is only 14 years old, it's not likely at the end of its life. Its normal for composition roofs to shed the "sandy" material so don't worry about that. You may be able to patch the missing shingles. The question I would have is why did they come off? Perhaps the roof was not nailed down correctly and it DOES need to be replaced?

Metal roofs work well but you have to like the appearance. If you just can't handle the look, the newer styles of 50-year architectural composition not only look great, they are very thick and resist wind and elements much better than the old 3-tab.

You can actually do this work yourself with some help if you are in reasonable shape. I just did a large garage with architectural comp in October at 50 yo. and I'm not in reasonably good shape 

[polywideblock]

something to think about , coming from a country where you either have a metal ( corrugated iron/wriggly tin) or tile roof .there's nothing like the sound of a rainstorm on a tin roof    

[74bluecharger440]

I have a hundred year old farm house. Old tin roof on the main section with lots of slope. Every winter my dogs would freak when the huge load of snow would melt and come crashing down, usually with a layer of ice under it. lost a BBQ one year and had to be careful going in the front door.. Had it all removed even the old cedar shake under the tin and removed the chimney then resheeted it with 3/4 ply , ice and water shield membrane, then 20 years asphalt shingles... Now its a lot safer and have had no issues. Also new facia and soffit.  I traded a 30 ft. camper to a roofer who did the job and wanted to take his family camping .Worked out well for everyone.