In the early fall 2012, Cool Flat Roof installed an IB PVC roof with Tapered insulation and new gutters, in Weston, Massachusetts, on a roof beautiful contemporary new construction house .
Initially the homeowner contacted us, looking for a “rubber roof”, and I immediately explained that we do not install EPDM rubber, because it does not meet our quality standards (more on why we don’t install rubber roofs here and here).
I suggested to them our IB PVC flat roofing systems, with Lifetime Warranty, and hot air welded seams, that will never come apart. After receiving several estimates from us and other roofing companies, they chose us to install a more expensive, but a much more durable and long lasting IB PVC Flat Roof.
Roof Details:
Total roof size was approximately 3500 sq. ft. installed on two levels – main upper roof, and a lower garage roof, connected to the back porch. The roof was to be installed over unprotected roofing substrate (plywood), and we had to start the roof and get it watertight fast, in lieu of prolonged, massive rains. We installed all roofing materials and welded all seams and flashing in 2 days, to protect the substrate and inside of the house from being damaged by rain water. The roof was priced based on our Flat Roofing Calculator, so there were now last minute surprises about the cost of this project.
IB Roof Installation in Weston MA – video footage taken on the job:
Metal roofing is an excellent choice for quality-minded homeowners, because a metal roof is virtually the only lifetime roofing system that is light-weight, long-lasting, and most of all – affordable. If you compare prices of a metal roof to slate or clay tile prices, you will realize that an average metal roof will cost you only about one third the price of natural slate, while it will look the same or better, and last at least as long.
Beautiful, Durable and Long Lasting Metal Roofing – best roofing material for steep slope roofs!
There are many styles of metal roofs and many choices for roofing materials – your choices range from galvanized steel / aluminum metal roofs, to premium metals such as zinc, copper and stainless steel roofing. You can choose between a “standard” vertical panel (standing seam) metal roof, or a metal roof made to look like either cedar shingles, shakes, natural slate, or flat and barrel tile.
You will also get a wide range of colors to choose from. The result will be such that you will get the look you want with the price you can afford, and the long-lasting performance of metal roofing.
Metal roofing – premium roofing material at down to earth prices:
There is much confusion about the prices of metal roofs, as there is a wide range of metal roof styles and materials to choose form, with some costing a lot more than others. In this metal roofing prices guide, we will show you how much you should expect to pay for different metal roofing systems, and how the choice of metal roofing materials will affect your roofing cost. But before we jump into roof pricing for each type of metal roofs, let me clarify one thing: metal roofs are pricey as compared to asphalt shingles roofs, but keep in mind that metal roof is a lifetime roofing material and so should be compared to its counter-parts in the roofing market – other lifetime roofs, such as natural slate, clay Spanish tiles, concrete tiles, and lately, synthetic slate roofing.
How would you like to have an extra outdoor private space in your home to relax or entertain guests? A roof deck is an ideal option that will not only be enjoyable for years to come, but will also increase the value of your home.
Whether you are thinking of constructing a new roof deck or would like to improve the one you already have, it is essential for your deck to be leak free.
There are a number of issues that cause leaks in roof decks and a number of best practices that you can follow to keep leaks at bay.
Common leak causes and other issues with roof decks
One of the common reasons why roof decks leak is ponding water that forms on the roof. Ponding water occurs for a number of reasons such as inadequate roof drainage or roofing material failures. Most flat roofing materials, such as EPDM rubber, rely on adhesives to seal the seams and flashing around penetrations. Over time these adhesives break down and cause leaks. Ponding water further exacerbates this problem by increasing the rate at which seam adhesive fails. Read the rest of this entry »
This metal roof installation was more of an emergency job. In essence – during Hurricane Irene, a large (1500 lbs.) tree fell on the roof of this house in Cumberland, RI, breaking much of the framing and roof sheeting, and leaving a huge hole in the roof, as well as destroying a previous roof that was on the house – Interlock’s aluminum shingles roof, that was installed just a few years prior.
We performed this PVC roof repair in Needham, Mass. in October 2011. This was a second time we repaired this 25+ years old Sarnafil PVC flat roof in the last two years. First time we fixed this roof was exactly two years ago, in October of ’09 – check out our first PVC Flat Roof Repair overview, which covers this roof in particular, and nuances of repairing old PVC flat roofs in general.
Quick overview:
In Oct. 2009, we fixed this roof for the first time. A contractor was doing some fascia repair work the, and threw some tools onto the roof, creating a hole in the old PVC membrane. We repaired it using new IB PVC flat roofing material, by cleaning the old roof with warm water first (to remove dirt and small debris) and then rubbing it with acetone and rough brush, to clean the membrane thoroughly, so the new patch would weld nicely. Then we welded a PVC patch over the hole, which sealed this roof.
There has been a lot of discussion on our rubber roofing page (created a while ago), with many roofing contractors defending the EPDM rubber roof as “good and proven” system, that is widely installed. While I agree that it is widely installed, I contest the notion that it is good and proven, for many reasons, which I will outline below, with examples as proof. But first I will outline the basic premise on which I will base my statements.
Basic premise of this “Horrible Rubber Roofing” article:
Rubber roof (EPDM) is widely installed because of its relatively low cost. It is NOT as good as many roofing contractors say it is, and the reason why I call it “horrible” is a complex one, but there are two major parts of it. Read the rest of this entry »
This post is actually an email conversation with a customer, regarding Tapered Insulation and our flat roof installation in Cambridge, MA done in the summer of 2010. This email conversation is posted as is with the customer’s permission – the only editing on this post was done to remove any personal information, and spelling . I thought this would be interesting to our readers who are interested in tapered insulation and/or have ponding water problems with their flat roofs.
Here is the original roof video, so you have a better idea about this roof:
We installed this flat roof near Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the summer of 2010. The roof installation consisted of four separate roof sections on different levels of this house, which at the time was undergoing major renovations inside and out, including total new insulation in walls and between roof rafters, new heating system with radiant floor heat, new energy efficient windows, and a new IB PVC flat roof (which we installed of course).
The old rubber roof was leaking and we had to remove it, including the wet roof insulation, and we installed a new 50-mil white IB Flat Roof, with 4 inches of tapered insulation (4 inches at the highest point and 1 inch at the lowest level). The tapered insulation system was utilized to eliminate ponding water on the two bigger sections of the roof. At the deepest point, there was as much as 2 inches of ponding water, and the puddle with at least 12 feet diameter. This ponding water caused both the roof leaks and the roof rafters settlement.
If you are a homeowner and you are planning to replace your roof soon – whether because it leaks, or it is getting old and you want to replace it before its starts leaking – a metal roof is one of your best options as far as roof replacement. However, metal roofing costs might be a factor in your re-roofing decision. The asphalt shingles roof costs about 2-3 times less than a metal roof, depending on various factors. At the same time, a metal roof will last a lifetime, whereas most asphalt shingles roofs will need to be replaced within 15 years. Also, the cool roof coating on metal roofs will make them much more energy-efficient, which will substantially reduce your cooling costs, even in the mild climate of New England.
The good news is that the government offers a 30% cool roof tax credit, with a $1500 cap, for any qualifying metal roof installation, and all our metal roofs do qualify for this tax credit, as they come with a cool roof coating and are Energy Star certified. There is a catch however – the tax credit will expire on Dec. 31, 2010. So if you are considering installing a metal roof, doing so before the new year is the way to go.
Consider this – most residential metal roofs will cost about $15000, so the tax credit is about a 10% discount off the total roof cost, and most metal roof installations will qualify for the full amount of this tax credit. Basically, now is the best time to have a new metal roof installed, because we don’t know when or if the cool roof tax credit will ever be reinstated.
Benefits of installing a metal roof:
Metal roofs provide a much longer lifespan, compared to regular asphalt roofs, as well as supreme weather protection for your home. Most houses in the north east region, get Ice Dams along the roof eaves, and the way an asphalt shingles roof is designed, allows the ice dams to cause roof leaks, which in turn can cause substantial structural damages, and will require other repairs to the roof and the interior of your home.
Metal roofs offer inherent protection against ice dams. The interlocking design of metal roofs will prevent ice dams from penetrating your roof. Also, most of the snow will just slide off your roof, even before ice dams can form. Read the rest of this entry »
In July of 2010 we installed a new IB PVC flat roofing system with custom-made copper drip edge metal, on a new construction home in Newton, Massachusetts. This house is located around the corner from Newton Center.
In this job profile we will demonstrate all stages of this roof installation, and show the new Copper Drip edge, which IB roof systems has recently introduced and made available to its certified roofing contractors.
First, let’s go over the roof specs and details. The building on which the roof was installed is an new construction garage / guest house with two car bays on the first floor and guest rooms with a balcony / deck on the second floor. Because of heights limitations in Newton, MA, the top portion of the roof had to be flat, with a little slate roofing mansard around the roof perimeter, to resemble the slate roof on the main house. The home owner chose IB PVC Flat Roof, as the roofing material for their building project.
The roofing membrane we used, was an 80-mil white IB PVC roof, mechanically attached to a wooden substrate, over 3 inches of tapered ISO insulation. All seams were hot air welded using Liester welding equipment.
Around the roof perimeter, we installed IB’s new Copper Drip edge metal with PVC coated flange, which allows us to seamlessly integrate copper with an IB roof. The PVC cover tape is welded to both the roofing membrane and a drip edge metal, leaving exposed copper to give this roof a beautiful look of a classic slate roof with copper flashing.
On the second floor, we installed the same 80 mil roof with differently shaped copper metal, over a walk-out balcony deck, and additionally flashing the roof and the door opening, with IB’s pre-manufactured roof flashing accessories. After the roofing membrane was installed, a floating roof deck was installed on top. Read the rest of this entry »
Learn why TPO roofs fail prematurely, and discover the secrets that TPO roofing manufacturers don't want you to find out - PVC & TPO roofing
Find out why homeowners should avoid putting Rubber Roofing materials on their roofs, why you want to be cautious when dealing with residential roofing contractors who "install rubber" - Rubber Roofing
If you have a flat roof, chances a that you've been dealing with roof leaks for a while and no matter what you tried, the roofing membrane under your roof deck is leaking. Discover the flat roof deck solution that we offer - Roof Decks
Discover the new flat roof deck waterproofing material that eliminates the need to use Pressure Treated wood deck over the roofing membrane - IB DeckShield Roof Deck membrane is a slip resistant PVC roof, with beautiful design, long-lasting water-tightness, and lower bottom-line price!
Flat Roof Installation guide shows how we install our flat roofing systems, describing step-by-step procedures with actual installation videos.
. I thought this would be interesting to our readers who are interested in tapered insulation and/or have ponding water problems with their flat roofs.
