Roofing discussion!!!

[lman]

Around here they put furring strips over the old roofing and screw the steel onto the furring strips. The steel does not touch the old roofing or felt.

 

[PILOON]

Metal roofing sweats under the right conditions. (humidity and temperature)
I have a shed that sweats so badly come spring that you'd think it was raining.

Air circulation is needed to evaporate that sweating.

I once re roofed a building that the contractor had placed tin directly on plywood/
That ply was black 1/2 rotted and the metal was darn close to rusted thru, and it was a mere 4-5 years old!

The ideal is spaced out furring strips over the trusses with plenty of air circulation.

 

[Sberry]

One of the reasons to use steel is so you dont have to tear off.

 

[Sberry]

Fire is a problem.

 

[DieselBound]

Hmm, the topic for discussion is certainly interesting. It seems that each master has his own methods of work, so it is probably pointless to convince them. Therefore, customers should immediately look closely at the master they have chosen. Of course, a person does not always understand construction. Then it is better to contact larger companies, where it will be possible to achieve justice in case of mistakes. For example, for several years, I have been referring to https://www.maxima-aluminum.com.

Personally, I would not use such a technique for the roof either. I have slightly different quality standards, heh.

And big companies have big attorneys.

If you want a good roof/roofer check to see who does it for higher-end builders.

How a roof ought to be properly finished is highly dependent on environment and whether it's over a conditioned space or not. Others have commented, properly, on this. Roofs are vented or non-vented. Basically, if the roof type/structure isn't vented then the outer roofing material needs to be isolated from it: venting via furring strips or such is a common way. You want to have a thermal break [as much as you can] between conditioned spaces and the outside air: a unconditioned roof structure is usually one that is vented; this IS the thermal break, in which case no additional breaks are required (function of furring strips would then only be to facilitate connections of outer roofing material to underlying decking).

Regarding the subject of this thread, I would be concerned about placing steel directly over asphalt shingles because the steel would conduct a lot of heat, perhaps enough to expedite the breakdown of underlying shingles. Seems that the use of tar/roofing paper/felt could help. I'd, however, want to put steel down on a clean deck. Keep in mind that there's a limit to how much you can stack up on top of existing materials. In general, I think that it's two layers: and depends on type and construction of roof- some roofs may not allow for multiple layers [read "always need a complete tear-off"]. Placing steel over two existing layers of shingles might not be allowed. Should be obvious, but it makes the point that not in all cases could one (if one would want to) run steel on top of existing shingles.

 

[5030]

Standing seam coated steel roofing is basically forever.

 

[jthibodeau89]

We went with standing seam steel for our hill top home. Got tired of losing shingles to the wind. The old roof had been patched multiple times by the previous owner. Got a quote for $50k for 70sq of roofing and jumped on it. I will note that this quote include a full tearoff, gutters for both house and barns, and replacing 9 fixed skylights on a 30+ year old building. It helped that we had a large hail storm and had an insurance coverage for $25k of the cost. Signed the contract with contractor who then subbed it out. Had trouble right off the bat with the sub. Whenever i saw something i questioned, like no wayershieds around skylights or eaves (it was written in contract), i was told 'I don't do it that way '.....mind you i am an engineer by profession and did a lot of research before deciding on a 26ga standing seam roof product.

The last straw was when he was short on flashing for skylights, and reused the old step flashing. Called the contractor for the umpteenth time with the list of concerns once the decking was on but not trimmed. Contractor came out and agreed with my concerns and fired the sub that day. Got his regular crew to come out for a 3-5 day repair. Turned into 3 weeks. The entire roof was torn off and replaced. Found areas already soaked and saturated under a 2 month old roof. It was an area i had a concern with, but was dismissed. Love the roof now. Should last our lifetime.

Note, the locking standing seam we used must be placed on a solid deck, not purlins or fur strips.
87k

 

[EddieWalker]

One of the common things people tell me when they have a contractor that they are not happy with, is they continue with him, hoping it will get better. Always trust you gut and be ready to fire him and find somebody else. The sooner you trust your instincts, the better off you will be.

 

[Steppenwolfe]

We went with standing seam steel for our hill top home. Got tired of losing shingles to the wind. The old roof had been patched multiple times by the previous owner. Got a quote for $50k for 70sq of roofing and jumped on it. I will note that this quote include a full tearoff, gutters for both house and barns, and replacing 9 fixed skylights on a 30+ year old building. It helped that we had a large hail storm and had an insurance coverage for $25k of the cost. Signed the contract with contractor who then subbed it out. Had trouble right off the bat with the sub. Whenever i saw something i questioned, like no wayershieds around skylights or eaves (it was written in contract), i was told 'I don't do it that way '.....mind you i am an engineer by profession and did a lot of research before deciding on a 26ga standing seam roof product.

The last straw was when he was short on flashing for skylights, and reused the old step flashing. Called the contractor for the umpteenth time with the list of concerns once the decking was on but not trimmed. Contractor came out and agreed with my concerns and fired the sub that day. Got his regular crew to come out for a 3-5 day repair. Turned into 3 weeks. The entire roof was torn off and replaced. Found areas already soaked and saturated under a 2 month old roof. It was an area i had a concern with, but was dismissed. Love the roof now. Should last our lifetime.

Note, the locking standing seam we used must be placed on a solid deck, not purlins or fur strips.
87k

As a GC, I never allow a sub contractor to re sub their job out. Never.

 

[jthibodeau89]

We weren't aware the this was a sub. Thought it was one of the contractor's regular crews.

It didn't help that our project manager wouldn't go up on the roof to see our complaints. Got the principle out that sold us on the jpb, and things started rolling. In the end we are thankful our job was completed. Business owner was indicted and many jobs were abandoned. Our roof and 12kw solar system install were completed about 4mo before they went under. We got lucky.