Metal Roof

Discussion in 'Home Improvement' started by Ken Anderson, Jun 28, 2018.

  1. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    If you live in an area where heavy snows are common, I would strongly recommend a metal roof. I used to think that metal roofs were tacky, and I think the early one were tacky because they would rust and look pretty ugly.

    Our roof is at a sharp angle, as is common in snow country, to discourage snow from building up on the roof. There are a couple of dormers and another section of the house was built out of what was once a full-length porch, I think.

    Troubleshooting leaks wasn't an easy task because the leak might be in one place, but it might come down into the house in another area.

    The house was built in 1910 and it had been a while since the roof had been replaced. First we had a leak in the rear of the house, over the library. It came from ice damming. In that part of the house, the roof isn't very steep. We replaced the roof with asphalt shingles.

    A couple of years later, we had a leak in the main part of the house. By then, the price of a metal roof was about the same as an asphalt roof, so we decided to go with metal. We bought the materials from the Amish, as they have a metal roof business. Instead of hiring them to install it, though, we hired a child molester who worked cheap, probably because he couldn't find any other work, and he did a pretty good job of putting the roof on.

    We have had no problems with the metal roof. I love the fact that snow doesn't build up on it. The only bad part is that it falls down onto the shingled roof over the library so that has to be shoveled off several times each winter. My next project will be to replace that roof with a metal roof too and, if the cost isn't too high, I'd like to raise it a little, so that it's a steeper roof. As it was built, it has only a slight angle so snow builds up there.

    Year by year, as people replace their roofs here in Millinocket, most of them are going with metal, although there are still some shingled roofs being installed.
     
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  2. Don Alaska

    Don Alaska Supreme Member
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    The only problem I have with metal roofs is they sometimes drop the snow as an avalanche and injure or kill people. There are the "brakes" you can install on the roof to keep the snow from sliding, but those kinda defeat the purpose of have a metal roof. They also aren't as slippery as they age as the finish on the metal isn't as smooth as new. I, too, would consider a metal roof if I have to re-roof before I die or leave this house, but part of the roof has an eave that people walk under so I don't know how that would be addressed. Originally, I put a covered walkway on the front of the house so my then-pregnant wife could get to the garage without walking on the ice and snow covered sidewalk in front of the house as it was under the eaves and the attached garage had no entrance from the house. You can see my problem here:

    http://i65.tinypic.com/262329c.jpg

    http://i64.tinypic.com/2ng7y9k.jpg
     
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  3. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    Yeah, the sudden drops can shake the house. That generally only occurs when the snow is particularly wet and sticky. Otherwise, it slides off more gradually. We have a small covered porch over our front door, and the slope sends the snow from the porch off to the sides so unless someone is walking along the side of our house, in the snow, since it's not shoveled, we don't have any danger. Our slopes are pretty steep, though.

    If we do replace the library roof with metal, I'll have to figure something out though because, as it is, it would drop it off onto our back door.

    There is a protective coating that can be painted onto the roof to restore it when it fades, but we haven't had a problem yet. Our metal roof is only a few years old.

    I love not having to worry about ice damming, particularly since I no longer feel comfortable on tall ladders in the winter.
     
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