Metal Roof Question

[beppington]

Our home has a standing seem type metal (painted steel) roof approx. 16 years old. It seems to be in good condition except some of the screw are backing out. It's a steep pitch (12/12 or so), so it's beyond my ability to repair.

Local roofing company, who are supposed to be reputable, say it should be 're-screwed', which means replacing the old screws with new.

Cost $2000, this is a 3300sf, 2 story, 3 dormer home, sort of a T shape Creole style if that helps.

I know nothing about metal roofing and need help.

Is re-screwing a common maintnenance need on steel roofs?

Is the price reasonable?

I read or heard somewhere that while metal roofing should actually last 40 to 50 years, roofing contractors don't seem to want to mention that there are no screws that last that long (yet?).

So I'd say yes, replacing the screws would be a regular maintenance item.

The screws I've seen have a little rubber washer under a metal washer under the screw head. Rubber doesn't last all that long in the elements.

Of course there are also nails with lead washers, but those don't maintain a tight seal either. Expansion & contraction & they're looser. Also, the nails back out.

Boy $2,000 sounds like a lot. That has to be mostly labor, since I just bought new screws for my new 1,064 SF barn's metal roof (4/12 slope), & they totaled $75. I'd get a couple more quotes, just to see ...

 

[beppington]

This shows I must know nothing about roofing. I've never heard or seen anyone screwing in the field. Thats where the water runs. Screw the ridge where there is much less water.

That's not the way the pro's do it. You can't make the screw properly tight if you put it on the ridge. And ... not knowing better at the time, I did that on my barn, & they leak.

 

[beppington]

The screws come out because Fast Johnnie Construction Company used a screw gun and stripped the threads on some holes in the green wet lumber that was used. When the lumber dried the holes enlarged making matters worse.

I can secure them properly with my cordless screw driver. When the screw is close to seating, slow waaay down & watch the cupped metal washer. Instructions say to stop when the cupped metal washer becomes flat, no longer cupped. Works great.

 

[Duffster]

I use a screw with a one piece cap/washer. It cover the rubber nearly completely so it sees virtually no weather.

 

[mx842]

There are a lot of questions here and there are no 1 fit all solution. The materials they used 17 years ago were not the same as they are now especially the fastening materials. A lot of the screws used back (some roofs were even nailed) then didn't even have sealing washers and for this reason, medal roofing gets a bad rap. The screws that are being used now are much better quality and if installed correctly they should hold for the life of the roof itself.

You can buy good screws of the proper length for roughly $50 a box of 1000 and depending on perlin spacing a job like this could take between 4000 to 6000 screws to do the whole roof but who says the whole thing would have to be rescrewed. If it is just one here and there that has popped out and the rest are still tight I would give that a shot before I would pay $2000.00 to install new screws in a 17 year old roof. By this time you are nearing the life of the paint that is on the medal anyway and it is most likely time to start thinking about freshening it up with a fresh coat of paint.

Another thing that has not been brought up is the pitch on this roof is quite steep and any water that hit's this thing is going to run off it like a june bug through a goose so any leaking would be a minimal problem if the roof was installed properly to begin with. A big wind storm would bother me more if half the screws had worked loose and then it depended on where they were. I guess what I am saying is, and this is from a home owner's perspective and not a contractors or some roofing company is that if it is only a few here and there replace what is needed because that is what roof maintenance is all about anyway.

If you don't feel comfortable doing it yourself or can't get someone to help you then you may be stuck and have to get a roofer to do it and in that case most likely they are going to want to put new screws all over and it is likely before it's done you'll end up with a new roof because of this, that or something else.

There are lots of reason for screws working loose over time. Wood shrinkage, building movement, wind, humidity, but mainly it is from the normal movement of the medal itself as it goes through different heat and cooling periods that it is subjected to under normal everyday conditions. It is constantly expanding and contracting and this action is what takes its toll on the fasteners and is all the more reason for proper placement and spacing of what ever is used to hold down the roofing panels.

 

[JB4310]

4,000 - 6,000 screws, is that really possible?

There's only twice as many nails in a shingle roof that size.

JB

 

[MikeD74T]

GB, I've read the entire thread to date, agree with some disagree with others. I have 5 metal roofs, 2 aluminum & 3 steel. All put on with screws. I've also installed many other steel roofs. Screw placement varies with manufacturor and geographical location. In the wet snow belt screws in ridges are less likely to leak but must be installed correctly, not under/over torqued. For the unitiated snow wetted by rain is like a sponge creating a "standing water " layer on the roof. Anyway, both screws & nails can loosen over time especially on green purlins.
I've renailed roofs over 100 years old. I prefer to remove the lead head nails & replace with screws. I only change the loose ones & have seen many over 100 years old that are still acceptable. I doubt that your screws need to be completely replaced & think the quote reflects their reluctance to do a "labor only' job of just tightening a few screws. Reasonable because of their overhead vs yield. I'd bet you could find a competent self employed man to do the job if you look around. Check with your home owners insurance agent, you usually have workman's comp for incidental labor in your homeowners policy. MikeD74T

 

[clemsonfor]

I thought the OP said that because of the pitch of the roof, he couldn't do it himself. A 12:12 pitch metal roof is ten times as slipery as shingles. Working on this isn't something that most people can do.

Who said that it was installed by a pro or that there is a warranty? I don't want to assume anything, just going off of what has been stated.

People put Home Depot metal on their roofs all the time. People cut corners and buy the cheapest screws they can find. Others install them in the wrong place, or they don't use enough screws. I have no idea what the perlins are, how far they are spaced or if they are done correctly. All we can do is assume that when interviewing pro's to do this job, that they look at the roof, top and bottom, and base their bids on what they find.

As for this being an easy job, anybody who says this has never worked on a steep pitched metal roof. This is NOT an easy job. It is a VERY dangerous job that can easily go wrong and cause serious injury.

This is NOT a fast job. Nobody is going to do it in a weekend. Nobody is going to get rich off of $2,000 to do this. We don't even know how many screws we're talking about because we don't know the spacing of the purlins. Assuming that it's something that you can do without even knowing the details just doesn't make any sense to me.

Eddie

Eddie im not saying your a bad guy or i wouldnt hire you or that your or any other contractor will get rich off of a $2000 job. My point is that you yourself (i think you did, not going back through all the posts, cause i know someone said it)said that the screws are around $500. OK we know that that would asssume the rest to be labor or 1500 or profit. If we say 1000 is for wadges and use $20/hour for wadges and taxes etc that leaves 33 man hours to do the job at that rate. The remaining $500 would be for profit, tools ins, fuel etc. I agree he isnt gonna get rich.

My point is $1500 is 1500, i really dont have that type of money hanging around to just rescrew a roof. I also realize that 12/12 is steep im not saying im gonna walk all over it i realize thats what 1 ft rise for every 1 ft run? If im wrong thats not the point its steep. Thats why i would have a harness and a tie off that can lock it self as i pull the slack through the harness. I would start at the bottom of a row and work toward the peek, tightening my slack every 6-8 feet or so. If i slip yea you gonna get a busted knee on a screw but not fall off the end. Id work for a few hours till i got boared (im ADD) then stop for a few then go back up.

I did not mean that you or that guy is ripping folks off, my point is that me i would save the money. I dont know how to run a business but think my #s i used are close enough to show that i realize the guy is not buying a $25bag of screws and walking all over looking for pulled looses one and zipping a new one in the hole and saying done 5 hours later.

As for the HD tin, if its like the tin at lowes its almost double what others cost and appears heavy duty to me?

 

[beppington]

... I also realize that 12/12 is steep im not saying im gonna walk all over it i realize thats what 1 ft rise for every 1 ft run? If im wrong thats not the point its steep. Thats why i would have a harness and a tie off that can lock it self as i pull the slack through the harness. I would start at the bottom of a row and work toward the peek, tightening my slack every 6-8 feet or so. If i slip yea you gonna get a busted knee on a screw but not fall off the end.

12/12 is a slope of 45 degrees above horizontal. I believe your weight will be on your harness 100% of the time.

 

[mx842]

4,000 - 6,000 screws, is that really possible?

There's only twice as many nails in a shingle roof that size.

JB

Well of course that was just a guess because there was no mention of the total sq amount of the roof itself only the sq footage of the house. I just took a wild guess and figured the total sq count would be somewhere between 30 and 40 squares of total roof surface.

But yes it could be that many maybe more screws in a roof that size. I just took the minimum spacing for a GrandRib 3 panel that is attached to perlins spaced at 12" and it takes 150 screws per sq according to their application guide. Of course if the spacing of the perlins is less it will take more and if they are spaced further apart there will be less. Around here residential spacing is at 12" and for barns most are spaced at 24" for the roof perlins.