Monday, April 5, 2021

The joys of home ownership, part...ye gods, I've lost count.

We've had several quotes, now, about a new roof.  We've done research.  It's down to whoever will give us the best deal for what we want: metal shingles.  Not the barn-roof type metal roof--I don't think that would look very good with our roof-line.  If we didn't have a hipped roof (and built-on garage, which complicates the hipped roof roof line just a bit) it might be different.  

I'd also rather not have the fasteners exposed to the elements.  

I do, however, want the benefits from having a metal roof.  I want to only do this once.  I want something that, if the neighbors who sell fireworks (and store them on their property) have a nasty disaster, will protect us from any fire jumping to our roof.  

We've had quotes from hair curling to "OH MY GOD!  I COULD ALMOST BUY A HOUSE FOR THAT!!"  

The lowest quote was the guy that quoted for asphalt shingles.  And his quote said that any lumber repair would drive the cost up.  We...we're going to need at least some.  So yeah.  Not only is his product not what we're looking for, I don't think his quote was particularly accurate.  

Thing is...my aunt needed her roof repaired.  She needed repairs for almost twenty years.  It kept degrading, to the point that she started needing a new roof something like ten years ago.  She left it for longer.  With all the leaks, and stuff.  And now, after the ice storm just after Christmas shattering trees and dropping them on her house...well.  You can imagine.  She needs the roof replaced.  All the way down to the ceilings and beyond, in some places.  Just to the ceilings in others.  Her roof is going to cost something like twice what mine would.  Because she didn't get it done before it got really bad (and doesn't have insurance on the place to pay for ice storm damage...which is another level of stupid I won't go into). 

I do not want to end up having to pay more than what I already will have to, by not doing the repairs/replacement as soon as it's needed.  

And that's ignoring the fact that we're already seeing some inflation on the money pumped into the economy by the igornatti in Washington, D.C.  

I want this done now, before the dollars we have won't stretch to pay for what we need. 

8 comments:

  1. You're right, take care of it before it gets worse. As to the cost... I don't want to sound like a wiseass, but if the bids are all too much you're not left with much beyond what your aunt did... Or look up "Books/Roof/Do it yourself" on Amazon and youtube. Maybe you'll find a way?

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    1. No, we've cut almost all fun stuff out of the budget and tightened belts and saved up for this for a few years. We can afford it, it's just finding a contractor that can do what we want; failing that, picking the next best thing. I want a metal roof, but I don't want exposed fasteners, and it seems that the metal shingles are a rarity around here. And the contractor we spoke with last night (who underbid the other guy for traditional shingles, but says his company has a stockpile of supplies and we'd be able to do last year's prices) says that he hasn't seen ANY metal shingle roofs in this area. That doesn't mean they aren't there, just that he hasn't seen them, and that his company doesn't do them. And most of the guys that do the metal roofs do the other kind. So...we may have to go with shingles to avoid having leaks from rusted through exposed fasteners in ten years.

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  2. Not sure your age and ability, or the size and pitch of the roof, but it is self-doable with a minimal amount of tool and a bit of extended effort if you don't need it right now. Today's synthetic 'tar' paper lasts months uncovered, and you can put a square a day on and still have protection. Hardest part about DIY is the clean-up. I did everything myself starting in the spring, and finished in the fall after waiting out the heat of the summer. Saved $7K off the installed cost, and still with the manufactures (GAF) 'lifetime' warranty. A hammer and/or nail gun, shingle shovel (or make your own) tin cutters and good utility knife. I even ice dam membraned the entire roof instead of just the bottom and edges and still saved money.
    Good luck, and if you're not going to DIY, you are going to get exactly what you pay for as long as you're paying attention. As a guy who inspects and monitors 7digit construction projects, that is just how the world operates.

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    1. My other half and I aren't comfortable with DIY on this. There's too much DIY gone wrong in this house already that we've had to spend to repair. We've been saving for this for a few years, because we knew it was coming. We're contacting the area contractors who've got a good reputation, and I'm a housewife. As in: I'm home all the time, and will know if they're...not putting in what we've agreed on.

      The quotes are saying "32 squares" of shingles...so, 3200 square feet of roofing materials? And the roof isn't steeply pitched, but there's a lot of the decking that WILL need replaced, and the venting WILL need repaired. Which...we can't do. Hiring it out to be done by people that know what they're doing will be costly, but cheaper in the long run.

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  3. Metal shingles? What's wrong with a standing seam metal roof? Not the corrugated metal panels that are used for barns and outbuildings. And pretty standard fare in New England, because they shed snow better than anything. Probably in the high country out west as well, is my bet.

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    1. Two words: exposed fasteners. We get a LOT of rain. Exposed fasteners tend to rust within about ten years, around here.

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  4. Good luck! And get it done before the spring weather hits, otherwise everybody will be running to do insurance claims in (insert city here), after the tornadoes hit.

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