Help - need new roof, 2:12 pitch

450EXC · Aug 25, 2006

Thanks for the replies,

I try to do most repairs myself so I've been up there doing some minor repair prep work. Did I mention I have a minor fear of heights ? So if I'm going to do any roof repairs on this house this flat one is the one.

I'm leaning on gambling with the special low pitch metal. It has a higher rib, heavier guage, and you run the buttle caulk strips in the overlaps.

Materials look like about $ 1,000. for a 22' X 37' roof , plus pizza and beer for my buddies at the post roof celebration, so.....$ 1,800 should do it.

Thanks for the help, I'll repost as we progress.

Larry

IslandManMitch · Aug 25, 2006

I have a verying pitch level house with a 2/12, 4/12, 6/12 and 9/12 roofs all being standing seam metal. Living in Florida snow shoveling has never been a problem. High winds from hurricanes like Dennis and Ivan (both direct hits) have. I had 22 huge Live Oaks down around my house but no roof damage or leaks. Since the Terrible Two a lot of the replacement roofs are metal. A lot of the ones that are not is because of the price difference. Some houses Just don't look good with metal roofs so that may be an issue. I don't know how they stand up to snow but they do fine in hurricanes.

Robert_in_NY · Aug 27, 2006

Unfortunately I do a lot of roofs every year and I will say this, do not use shingles or metal for any roof less then a 3/12 and that is pushing it. For a flat roof I would use a torch down rubber. It is thicker and if the installer knows what he is doing will last a long time. We have put them on over decks that get a lot of foot traffic and after 20 years the roof is in great shape. We just recoated it and things are fine. This deck is over top a house (there are three decks like it on the house) and there has never been a problem with leaking. It has a quarter slope in one foot so it is fairly flat.

The rubber sheets you glue down are nice but they are very thin. We have installed a few of them and have never had a problem but I would be worried about using it under an overhang for fear an ice sickle will fall and puncture the membrane. Even then the glue covers every part of the decking so it is hard for water to get in and do any damage right away, it will take a few years before you notice any problems.

The peel and stick roofing is nice but you must install it when it is warm to insure a good seal. This can be fun if you are alone as the joints stick very well and you don't have any room for making a mistake when you are putting it in position as once it sticks, it sticks. If it is cold you want to be careful as it won't seal properly and I would not trust it.

Water and ice shield for under shingles is ok but it is not a cure all and does not work 100%. It will still allow ice to back up under the seam if you have an ice problem so do not think that if you put it down you don't have to worry and this goes for any pitch roof. If you do have ice problems, address the reason you are getting ice on the roof.

Metal roofing is nice and goes on fast but it is noisy (which you do get use to) but I have never seen any company warranty the metal edge where it overhangs the roof. They all have a 20 or 25 year warranty (or whatever they are pushing) but none of them around here will warranty the overhangs and that is where the metal rust out first because that is where the water hangs. And I do not care what the company states, I would not trust metal on a low pitch roof.

450EXC · Aug 28, 2006

Thanks Robert,

Sounds like good hands-on advice. Now I'll go back to square one since I was leaning towards metal.

I think the waranty on on the 3' peel and stick was only 15 years which I figured converts to about 10 years, not too long. I guess I'll get a quote for torch or glue down rubber but I was hoping to do this myself.

Larry