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.

The homeowners – Mary and Rafael were looking a Metal Roofing Contractor to install (replace) the damaged roof with a new Metal Roof. For reasons unknown to me, they decided not to hire the original installer to redo their roof. At the same time they were working with a General Contractor (GC) that was doing other damage repairs (framing / insulation / electrical / plumbing and other interior work) in their house, and we were hired as an independent roofing contractor to do the metal roof.

About the same time, we had just finished our own metal roof in North Attleboro (full review coming soon), and Cumberland being only 5-10 minutes away , was very close for Mary and Rafael to look at our work.

Their General Contractor – Joe, took a drive to our No. Attleboro office, and spoke with us – we then went to see the job, and got the ball rolling.

Emergency roof replacement:

Old metal roof, damaged in hurricane Irene – roof framing repaired, and temporary underlayment installed:

It was essential to do the roof replacement as soon as possible, as the interior work in the house was progressing, but building inspectors would not sign off on the electrical work, and winter was looming (this was in late November), and cold temperature was settling in. At the same time, we dedicated the entire month of December, to last minute emergency roofs, and pushed less urgent roofs back slightly.

With this roof it was a race against time – while we had to take care of other badly leaking roofs – some with water leaking into bedrooms, or one with no roof at all (old Trocal PVC roof that completely shattered), we also needed to finish this roof before Christmas.

Another factor affecting installation timing was the fact that around holidays season, most manufacturers shut down plants, and take a long break. At the same time orders keep piling in, and it takes manufacturers some time to catch up after the holidays, which can easily create delays as long as 4-6 weeks in getting the materials.

In this case we needed to have materials on hand before the holiday season, but the contract was signed after Thanksgiving, which gave us and the manufacturer little time to get everything for the job ready. Fortunately, the materials arrived on Dec. 13, and we could start installing the roof that week.

Roof installation:

On this job, we had to install the roof, while GC was in charge of getting the roof deck ready for new roof to be installed. That included tearing off old metal shingles, and as was discovered later, another layer of asphalt roofing shingles, under the metal roof (while it is acceptable by building code to have two roof layers, it is always a best practice to remove old roofing first – especially when you are installing a lifetime metal roof, and we wonder why original contractor did not remove roof shingles).

We had to help GC with installation of roof underlayment to our standards (especially in valleys) and flashing the chimney. We coordinated a day, when GC’s guys removed old roof shingles, repaired / replaced damaged plywood roof sheeting, and helped the install GAF Deck Armor breathable roofing underlayment.

We began installing new roof the next day. Fortunately this was a walkable roof (relatively low slope), which made installation much simpler than if it was very steep. The most challenging part of this roof was the timing – we had to get everything done fast, and hoped weather would cooperate with us (which it did).

From a technical perspective, the most complicated part was the valleys, but in the bigger scheme of things, it was a straight forward roof installation.

We installed Tamko Steel Shingles Metal Roof in Vermont Blue Color. We also installed about 47 snow guards total – 33 in the front of the house where main entrance door and garage doors are located and another 14 in the back, above rear door.

We also installed ridge ventilation system along roof ridges, and a special order split pipe flashing to waterproof electric conduit, which was sticking out of the roof and electrical wires did not allow us to use regular pipe flashing. This pretty much completed this metal roof installation, and Mary and Rafael had their new roof for the Christmas!

If you are looking for an new metal roof installation in Massachusetts, Connecticut or Rhode Island, fill out our roofing estimate form.

Similar metal shingle roofs installed near Cumberland RI:

Metal Roof in Attleboro, MA

Metal Shingles Roof in North Attleboro, MA (installed in Oct. 2011 – coming soon)

Metal Shingles Roof in Johnston, RI (installed in Sep. 2007 – coming soon)

Roof Portfolio – check out other flat and metal roofing jobs that we installed in MA, CT and RI.

If you are interested in metal roofing but wonder how much a metal roof costs – try our roofing calculator to estimate the cost of your or see our metal roofing prices guide.

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.

Old patch next to 2 new patches:

Read the rest of this entry »

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.

1) Rubber Roofing is inferior flat roofing material, compared to other single ply roofs such as PVC flat roofing membrane, because ALL seams and flashing on a rubber roof is glued together (chemical bond), and glue WILL deteriorate and seams / flashing will come apart, creating roof leaks.

PVC roof seams and flashings are all hot-air welded which creates a “permanent” physical bond, and seams / flashing DO NOT come apart.

2) It is very easy for ANY roofing contractor, or any contractor for that matter to buy EPDM Rubber Roofing materials, and now even homeowners can buy it at Home Depot stores. EPDM Manufacturers DO NOT require contractors to be licensed / certified installers / applicators, before they can buy the materials. This creates the situation where any roofer can buy a roll of rubber, some glue, uncured flashing materials, a few brushes and other small tools to install the rubber roof (all totaling less then $100) and become a “flat roofing specialist” and install the rubber roof.

Without proper installation training and experience, these “specialists” install master-piece roofs (which we will show you below) that start leaking as soon as 6 months after installation and continue leaking. Some of these roofs require immediate replacement, while some can be repaired. However, the total cost of roof ownership (including roof repair)comes to the same price level or more, as the more expensive PVC flat roofs, only with much headache.

Additionally, in installation of rubber roof, it is VERY important that all proper steps are taken to seal the seams correctly, and there is a lot of room for installation error.

The combination for inferior quality of rubber roofs, and scores of “hack roofing contractors” make using the rubber roof a big financial risk for the roof owners – especially homeowners, because the trained / experienced rubber roofing contractors are usually commercial / union roofing companies who install big roofs and do not work with homeowners.

Note: I am not saying that if you get a rubber roof installed, it will 100% leak. Depending on your roof design, you can get the rubber roof to never leak and require very little maintenance. For example if your roof has a slope, or if you can cover entire roof with one sheet of membrane, and there are no seams / and very few penetrations and flashing detail, positive slope and adequate drainage, etc. However, most flat roofs are NOT like that, and you will need a professional flat roofing contractor to install the roof.

Horrible Rubber Roofs

With rubber roof there is a lot of risk of hiring a hack roofer, and really no way to know if your roof will come out good or not. Even commercial roof owners are not immune for getting a Horrible Rubber Roof. Lets look at examples (all these roofs were inspected during Aug./Sept. of 2011):

Roof 1 – condos / apartment building in Brockton, MA – 6 years old roof.

Apartment building roof in Revere, MA – approximately 15 years old.

Country Club Roof in Maynard, MA – Age unknown – possibly 25 years old.

Not shown in this video – the rubber membrane has contracted along roof edge, and is no longer wrapped over the edge. This creates constant roof leak along the front of the building, as well as leaks on country club’s president’s office.

The videos above demonstrate both aspects on the main premise of this article – material failure and bad installation. All these roofs are commercial installations, except for the Revere roof, which is a 6 unit home – semi-commercial building. Draw your conclusions from this, and we want to know what you think – please leave your comments below.

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:

Original email question about tapered insulation

Peter
Hello,
We live in Wellesley. We were referred to you by a friend. I was reading your article on flat roof installation and was confused by the calculation of roof pitch/slope on the flat roof you had installed in Cambridge. The page I’m referring to is: http://www.coolflatroof.com/flat-roofing-blog/flat-roof-cambridge-ma/
In the second paragraph you mention that you sloped the roof at a rate of 1/4″ per foot and that the span was 24 feet.

You mention, and I quote:”we started with a new 1/4″ per foot slope tapered insulation system, spanning over 24 feet run, which gave us a 3 inch difference between the highest and lowest points of the roof, and eliminated ponding water.”

If I calculate the run of 24 feet and the slope of 1/4″ per foot, the highest point I come up with is 6 inches not 3 inches… For a 24′ run to rise 3 inches that would equate to 1/8″ per foot and not 1/4″ as you state in your documentation. I was told that 1/8″ per foot isn’t adequate to quickly shed water and snow off a flat roof. Is there something I’m missing?

I would like to get started on a flat roof installation possibly with your company but I would like to understand your calculation before I go ahead with the estimate.
Would you please let me know what I’m missing here?

Thanks

Peter.

Leo:

Hello Peter,

You are correct – we did use 1/8″ tapered insulation on that job – I just checked my calculations. The highest point is in fact 3 inches – not 6. For some reason this did not cross my mind when I wrote the article, as we made the decision to use 1/8″ tapered ISO when we first saw the roof in June and this fact never crossed my mind again. Read the rest of this entry »

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

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.
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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 »

Update – Oct 26, 2011: Exactly 2 years after the initial Sarnafil PVC Roof repair (read details below) I went back to that roof. This time there were 17 new holes in the roof. I repaired it once again with IB PVC flat roofing material. Check out the full review of this latest PVC roof repair in Needham MA, as well a overview of a DuraLast PVC roof that we repaired on a 22-story apartment complex in Cambridge MA.

Update 2: a Trocal roof repair also reviewed below – section of that roof has completely shattered over past winter, and we had replaced it with IB PVC Flat Roof in the spring of 2011.

Check out the video of this new PVC Roof repair:

Original PVC Roof repair article

PVC roofing is one of the longest lasting flat roof membrane systems, and most PVC roofs installed, will last in excess of 25-30 years. PVC roofing utilizes Hot-Air welding of the seams, which allows the roof to remain watertight for many years, as there is no adhesive to fail ( as is the case with EPDM rubber roofing ). Still, even PVC roofs can leak. Sometimes because of poor installation, and sometimes because of physical damage to the roofing membrane. You may have heard about the Trocal PVC roof failures, which was the only major case of PVC roof failures (below we will explain how Trocal roofs failed).

In this article we will discuss and demonstrate the PVC roof leaks and repair procedure, based on two recent repairs we have done. First, please note that even if your PVC roof leaks – you should not be too worried – PVC roofs are rather easy to repair, and you will rarely need to replace your entire roof.

What makes PVC roofing so “awesome”?

Awesome is a strong word to describe a roofing material, and yet that is what I think of PVC roofing. Although PVC is not the most durable (strong) flat roof, with hot air welded seams, you can install PVC on almost any roof, even if there is ponding water. Another great feature of PVC roofing (IB flat roof in this case, as PVC roofs from other manufacturers may not perform the same as IB roofs), is the fact that even after 30 years on the roof, the material is still flexible, and you can easily weld new material (such as a patch, or a flashing) to it. Also I should mention that most PVC membranes are compatible with each other, though if you use PVC materials from different manufacturers, or unapproved installer, you will probably void your warranty. At the same time, most TPO roofing membranes (which are similar to PVC roofs) will loose elasticity, and ability to be welded in as little as five years after installation.

Trocal PVC Roof Repair – West Hartford, CT – winter 2010.

As promised – a quick look into why Trocal PVC roofs failed on a massive scale, forcing the company to be sold to another large roofing materials manufacturer.

Trocal PVC roofing was one of the first commercially available PVC roofs in the US, and they worked great at first. But they had one major drawback – they were unreinforced (today, most PVC membranes are reinforced with polyester scrim sitting between the top and bottom ply of the membrane). When the ambient temperatures were below freezing, a Trocal roof could crack or shatter if you simply stepped on it, especially if it was really cold. Later, all PVC manufacturers switched to reinforced membrane, and some would add special chemicals to increase the elasticity of the membrane. Today, unreinforced PVC membrane is used only for flashing accessories such as inside / outside corners, pipe flashing, etc.

The repair of Trocal PVC Roof:

This Trocal roof sustained damage from a falling tree branch in December of 2009, and cracked along the edge. Although the roof was over 20 years old, it was still fully weldable and we were able to repair it with new IB PVC roofing membrane in Jan. 2010. We removed the damaged section of the roof, cleaned the surface with MEK solution, installed new PVC coated IB Drip Edge metal, and welded 50-mil white IB roofing membrane. The repair was performed in a 25 degrees outside temperature, so we had to take special care not to damage the rest of the original roof.
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In April we installed a new lifetime Steel Metal Shingles roof on a house in Attleboro, Massachusetts. The house is located on a beautiful quiet street not far from Attleboro Center, as well as Mass / RI border. The new metal roof replaced and old, failing asphalt shingles roof, with some shingles blown off by the wind.

The Metal Roof we installed was a Tamko Steel Shingles with real slate look, in the beautiful Sequoya Red color. Steel metal shingles are an interlocking metal roof system, where each shingle is locked on all four sides and is held in place by clips and roofing nails, and the other six shingles around it.

Steel shingles metal roofs offer great flexibility in terms of installation, excellent water-tightness, and prevent Ice Dams formation as metal roofs shed Ice and Snow. On top of being an excellent solution to roof leaks and Ice Dams, metal roofs last in the range of 50 years or more!

Metal Roof installation.

The old roof was two layers of asphalt shingles, which according to building code, must be removed before the new roof is installed. Removing the old roof is also beneficial in terms of removing extra weight off the house. Although metal roofs are VERY light, weighting 40 lbs per 100 sq. ft. in aluminum, and about 65 lbs. in steel shingles, they will not add nearly as much weight as 1 layer of asphalt shingles (about 275 lbs per 100 sq. ft.), and can be safely installed as a second layer, it is a good idea to do a full tear off, to allow the repair of any rotten wood, and to improve roof ventilation.
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Metal roofing is an excellent choice for quality-minded homeowners, because a metal roof is virtually the only lifetime roof 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.

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. Read the rest of this entry »