Need home roof shingle/steel advice -- help!

[jimgerken]

Wow, I hit payday here with all this great input. I will try to answer the questions:

Pipestonekid: Garage roof slope does dump snow onto driveway, already set up that way, nothing I can do to change it. I will be considering carefully what goes below the eaves for damage from ice and snow -- thanks!

Jonyyuma: My friend bought metal shingles. He told me he got a break on his insurance because of the shingles, but had to sign an agreement with ins company saying he'd never make a claim for lost aggregate. That part confused me. If the aggregate all fell off, they'd look like heck I suppose. But they still wouldnt leak. No, I don't like to paint, but my wife does and she is really good at it, not that she'd get on the roof to paint that though.

JDgreengrass: Because existing garage is simply 4:12 pitch, I am inclined to use 4:12 on the house when it is built. Would prefer 6:12 if given a choice.

Uncle Wayne: Can you share the brand name of what you chose?

Fowlife: Yea, that pole building steel was a fleeting idea that is pretty much gone already.

More info:

Site is quite windy on an average day. No blocking trees. Any roofing weakness is going to be exposed by the wind.

We really want to use arch. shingles but also want a lasting job.

Rest of house construction: ICF to eaves, Hardie board siding, fiberglass framed windows.

 

[jonyyuma]

Okay on this end..Mention of insurance, they said it was higher for Fire insurance with a steel roof. My price for steel, snap-on, with no screws showing was 16k, versus tear-off and 30 year fiberglass at 5k.This included the roof ridge vent, and was Tin-man. Yes I have seen alot of rust from scratches and any angle cut steel edging. The main pain was they would not install any track for the steel roof. Only screw down to the decking, which in my case had deterioted from last roof which was stapled down. Don't like that method as they backed out and leaked, for an early failure? Of course no warranty?

 

[BeezFun]

Garage roof slope does dump snow onto driveway, already set up that way, nothing I can do to change it. I will be considering carefully what goes below the eaves for damage from ice and snow -- thanks!

I have corrugated steel on my steep barn roof, I added ice arrestors about 3 years ago and that stops the snow from sliding off. It slowly oozes over the edge of the roof and either melts or falls off in small pieces, but there's no more big slides. I made my own arrestors out of steel angle, but that's too ugly for a house. They make ones out of clear plastic that you almost can't see, but they cost more than scrap steel.

 

[JDGreenGrass]

I have corrugated steel on my steep barn roof, I added ice arrestors about 3 years ago and that stops the snow from sliding off. It slowly oozes over the edge of the roof and either melts or falls off in small pieces, but there's no more big slides. I made my own arrestors out of steel angle, but that's too ugly for a house. They make ones out of clear plastic that you almost can't see, but they cost more than scrap steel.

What are ice arresters.??

Are you concerned about a big slide.??

IMO, a metal roof is no more damaging to what is below. Snow, rain is all going to end up on whatever is below no matter what the roof material is.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

What are ice arresters.??

Are you concerned about a big slide.??

IMO, a metal roof is no more damaging to what is below. Snow, rain is all going to end up on whatever is below no matter what the roof material is.

Asphalt will hold the snow on the roof and let it melt off slowly, so yes the end result is it still gets off the roof but in a much more subtle manner. Steel roofs will collect the snow then when it lets loose it all goes in one big pile. It can cause considerable damage to vehicles and shrubs parked underneath and it also will block doors. The snow never will let loose while your plowing either, it will wait till you shut down and get back inside to warm up then it will dump on your freshly plowed driveway.

Even a light rain will hold on the roof longer on asphalt then metal allowing the water to evaporate if its a light rain followed by sun. Very little if any can drop to the ground where as metal will let it all come down as fast as possible.

Metal has some advantages, mainly speed of install but for me personally I would just research asphalt brands and buy one that has a good reputation. I replaced a metal shingle on my own house with a 40 year BP shingle. I am going to build onto my barn and redo that entire roof and am strongly considering replacing that metal with the same shingle as I put on the house.

I have done a lot of roofs in my 16 years of construction and I prefer shingles over metal by a large margin.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

What are ice arresters.??

Are you concerned about a big slide.??

IMO, a metal roof is no more damaging to what is below. Snow, rain is all going to end up on whatever is below no matter what the roof material is.

Oh and Ice arrestors are basically stubs that anchor to the metal roof about a few feet from the bottom and the stubs stick up a few inches to prevent the snow from sliding off in a big sheet.

 

[JDGreenGrass]

Oh and Ice arrestors are basically stubs that anchor to the metal roof about a few feet from the bottom and the stubs stick up a few inches to prevent the snow from sliding off in a big sheet.

Well, I've had metal roofs for 3 years now and I love 'em. I love how they shed snow and I love collecting the water from them when it rains.

I think anyone going into metal roofs knows the affects of snow sliding and rain dripping. In fact, I bought my tractor for clearing the snow that slides from the roofs. I only plant Hosta under the eaves along the house.

I have no ill effects from the metal roofs and I will never look at 4 feet of snow on a shingled roof again.

Have fun with that....

 

[BeezFun]

What are ice arresters.??

I made mine out of steel angle brackets, bent so they point back up the roof and stick up about 4". They make clear plastic ones that are shaped like a little tee-pee, they also stick up about 3-4", and you don't really notice them.

Are you concerned about a big slide.??

Yes, because we had big slides without them, and the roof is over the horse paddock. So I was most concerned a sheet of ice would come down and injure a horse, or a human who happened to be out shoveling or feeding. The slides also tore the gutters off. Now the snow slowly hangs down in large distorted shapes until it melts or falls off in smaller pieces.

IMO, a metal roof is no more damaging to what is below. Snow, rain is all going to end up on whatever is below no matter what the roof material is.

It's true it will all end up on whatever is below, but 100 pound pieces do more damage than 1 pound pieces.

 

[forgeblast]

Metal Roofing Shingles Steel 30 Square Rocky Gray | eBay

has metal shingles, were you thinking of using a product like this? the install looked pretty streight forward. I am leaning towards a metal roof. Having an a-frame means a much steeper pitch. Would be fun tearing off and installing them, like rock climbing, i would need a good belayer.

 

[jimgerken]

Metro Roof Products

Shingle Available Colors

One of these look like a great solution, if you want to use stone coated steel.

If we don't use one of these we will probably use an Owens Corning high-end fiberglass shingle. It feels like copping out choosing such a conventional product with all these new choices, but on the other hand it is safe.