Roofs... Who knows about them or had one done recently?

Zoodles95

Zoodles95

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It is time for us to replace our roof. We have decided to go with a typical shingle type of roof.

The company we seem happiest with uses Landmark shingles by Certainteed and Biltmore shingles from CRC.

However, we have heard from others that we should be using Timberline shingles from GAF.

Any difference in these three brands of shingles?

Our roof (and house) is 13 years old and has a skylight. Some of the companies recommend replacing it while others say not to bother. ???

Planning to do the roof in the next month or so.

Thanks in advance for the info and feedback. :)
 
What direction does the peak of your roof go? Other than the skylight, how many other obstructions do you have on your roof (roof vents, plumbing vents, etc). Are there tall trees that cast shadows on the roof? Is there a home owners association where you live, that controls what colours and materials you can put on your house? Got pics?

Reason why I'm asking is my friend runs a company that if your roof needs replacing, they replace it with an aluminum system (wouldn't really call it shingles), then fill up your roof completely with solar panels. They are warrantied for life (labour + parts, your entire roof too). How it works is they get half of whatever money you feed back into the grid. Say your electricity bill is $100/mo, and your panels feed $50/mo back into the grid. You get a cheque for $25 each month (they keep the other $25). It's completely free to have it installed (unless they need to remove skylights, switch you to a ridge vent, re-route plumbing vents, etc.)

Let me know the answers to the above and if you got some pics (if you're interested).
 
It is a modest backsplit and we own it outright with no mortgage. I will take some pics. We have two roof lines.
 
all your choices are a laminated shake look shingle, so the appearance is similar. Six of one, half dozen of the other. The installation is almost as important as the warranty, so go with the company you feel will do a good job.
If the skylight isn't a velux , pull it out and have a velux installed. Skylights are notorious for leaks especially after they have been touched, IMHO Velux is the best available roof light on the market today.
 
Zoodles95 said:
It is a modest backsplit and we own it outright with no mortgage. I will take some pics. We have two roof lines.
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Sounds good :) Be sure to answer all the questions I asked directly, I have to put you (with your pics) in a leads system, then he can contact you (through gtam is fine) with the results :)
 
Cool...

Most of the quotes with a new skylight are the Velux. Hard to decipher these brochures and what I can find on the internet. Some list the weight per bundle and some don't. They all offer some sort of "lifetime" warranty but lets be honest. In our climate a shingle roof that lasts a good 20 years is a good shingle. Not sure how much better these shingles are the ashphalt based ones I remember from the 1980s when my parents had their roof done.

So, any of the three shingle companies would be pretty much comparable? (GAF/Timberline, Biltmore/CRC, Certainteed/Landmark).

Two local companies are "in the lead" based on work they have done in our neighbourhood. Both companies very professional, work looks great, home owner's property respected and cleaned up etc.

Also, looking at getting one "suntunnel" for our upstairs landing and the prices for this are comparable with the two companies as well.

Looked at steel roofs but the price is more than double and both sales guys did not go on the roof or really get into the "soup and nuts" of what we will be getting. I did go with a laminate fence instead of wood and 12 years later it is still like new other than me changing out all the caps post caps last year.

I should add that it is a single, detached home in a freehold neighbourhood. If we wanted to put red on our roof nobody would say "boo". There are people with steel roofs around us, solar panels and other different configurations on their roofs.

At present leaning towards a quality shingle roof with a replacement skylight and the addition of a sun tunnel.

Ice and water shield at the outside edges of the roof. My parent had their roof done last year and they went with the Timberline shingles but that seems to be the only shingle sold where they are... They also did tar paper over the entire roof. I am getting mixed messages on that.



crankcall said:
all your choices are a laminated shake look shingle, so the appearance is similar. Six of one, half dozen of the other. The installation is almost as important as the warranty, so go with the company you feel will do a good job.
If the skylight isn't a velux , pull it out and have a velux installed. Skylights are notorious for leaks especially after they have been touched, IMHO Velux is the best available roof light on the market today.
Click to expand...
 
The lifetime warranties are a bit gimicky, either the company gets sold/closes/restructures and past warranties go away or are really just a 15-20 yr deal as thats considered the "lifetime" of a shingle. The fine print is in there.

Other consideration is how long will you live in the home, I know a steel roof is a 40-50yr roof, but I dont want a steel roofed house. I dont like the look. Resale is a consideration.

Tar paper all over isnt required, ice and water shield at eaves and valleys is. The tar paper all over wont hurt, its an add on for the roofing compnay and is actually faster for them since it has lines on it to help align the shingles and they dont have to monkey with caulk lines keeping thing straight.

A reroof is a great time to consider adding additional venting to the roof, or upgrading your vents from passive vents to wind turbine vents, cooler roofs last better, keep air con costs down and help in the winter by moving more moist air out of the attic space.
 
I had my roof done a few years ago, if you read the entire warranty on the shingles, some warranties indicate without full tar paper underlayment over the entire roof the cost to remove them under warranty won't be covered by the manufacturer.
 
Replace the sky-light sealing while you're doing the shingles/roof. You don't need to replace the sky-light entirely (unless you want to change the aesthetic look). But you definitely should check it's condition prior to deciding not to.

Also with shingle/warranty, sometimes they'll stipulate you to have a every x-months/years inspection and touch up if needed (some shingles are more susceptible to wear and tear because of trees, installation, placement, animals). If you outright ignore your shingles and try to claim the warranty in 6 years, they definitely won't cover it.
 
Zoodles95 said:
It is time for us to replace our roof. We have decided to go with a typical shingle type of roof.

The company we seem happiest with uses Landmark shingles by Certainteed and Biltmore shingles from CRC.

However, we have heard from others that we should be using Timberline shingles from GAF.

Any difference in these three brands of shingles?

Our roof (and house) is 13 years old and has a skylight. Some of the companies recommend replacing it while others say not to bother. ???

Planning to do the roof in the next month or so.

Thanks in advance for the info and feedback. :)
Click to expand...

A couple of points:

1. Obviously, get quotes. Cheaper is not necessarily better. Generally, all things being equal, you get what you pay for.

2. Ridge vent - very effective at ventilating, orders of magnitude better than the conventional roof vents. The soffit vents are important too.

3. Make sure that there is a holdback that depends, in part, on site cleanup. I was picking up nails up to two years after the job was done. In all fairness, there weren't a lot but I think the roofers could have been a bit more careful.

4. We went with the Certainteed 50-year tiles with a 20 year guarantee. We are five years into it and so far, so good. We have had no problems.

5. I would take what the sites like Homestars say as being worth less than a grain of salt. We went with Avenue Road Roofing and they did a good job. The knowledge of the crew is as important as the quality of the materials. Note though that this assessment is based on a sample size of one.

6. If you are planning to make changes to your house in the future that may require holes being cut in the roof, you should consider installing any required fixtures at the time the roof is being done. For example, if you are going to install a fume hood for your stove sometime in the future after the money tree has re-grown a bit, you may want to consider installing a vent for it now and then this will mean that the future contractor will not have to cut a hole in the roof. If they know what they are doing, then fine, let them cut but this way, you know the vent will be properly installed and ready to be used.
 
Any roofer worth his salt will give you a written, detailed estimate based on your roof and what you need. I'd focus more on the quality of the roofer/contractor than the material. Crankcall nailed it, you can have the best product, but a ****** installation will ruin it. Avenue Road (for the most part) are pretty good, depends what crew you get.
 
Some great feedback here. Thanks, I really appreciate it. :)

I really like the one contractor. Husband and wife business and they have done several homes in our neighbourhood with really happy customers. They do not use GAF/Timberline but if the Certainteed or Biltmore (which are the two they use) are good then I am happy. He said that we do not have to tar paper the roof (I asked him about it).

The quotation has all new roof vents etc. I will ask about the better roof vents you guys have mentioned.
 
Roof underlayment (felt, tar-paper, etc) is an extra protection which acts as a moisture barrier as well between your shingles and wood. Just do a quick search.
Also, install a drip edge if you don't already have one. Lots of new built homes, don't have an underlayment or a drip edge because contractors are trying to cut costs.

Also, since you don't inspect your roof on a regular basis, an underlayment will provide some protection which is better than non if you have a tear or a loose shingle.
 
Yeah, no drip edge on it right now. The quotations all include one. Dang new home builders. :(

I have pictures of the house from the empty lot, through to the excavation, pouring of foundation, framing, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, drywalling, finishes etc. I remember the roof going on. Some basic underlay the first 2-3 feet from the edge of the roof and then just shingles. No drip edge at all.

malim said:
Roof underlayment (felt, tar-paper, etc) is an extra protection which acts as a moisture barrier as well between your shingles and wood. Just do a quick search.
Also, install a drip edge if you don't already have one. Lots of new built homes, don't have an underlayment or a drip edge because contractors are trying to cut costs.

Also, since you don't inspect your roof on a regular basis, an underlayment will provide some protection which is better than non if you have a tear or a loose shingle.
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K1200RS said:
3. Make sure that there is a holdback that depends, in part, on site cleanup. I was picking up nails up to two years after the job was done. In all fairness, there weren't a lot but I think the roofers could have been a bit more careful.
Click to expand...

We had our roof done a couple of years ago by a reputable local installer. I watched them run the magnetic sweeper around the property three times, but I still find the occasional nail!
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