So today begins the first step of a couple of big projects. The first one, and probably most important, is a new roof on the house. Here are some pics:
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| Farmhouse roof |
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| Farmhouse roof with sagging |
It’s not in the best of shape. It’s one of those things we’ve put off time after time. We’d rather buy furniture and plants and build garden beds and fences. You know the feeling...fun stuff like that! Alas though, it’s a necessary expense. Now that the inside of the house is more or less finished and furnished, we should make sure that there are no leaks to ruin what we’ve done inside. Time to start working on projects on the outside (as evidenced by lack of paint and wood needing repair in the same photo). So today, while we're both at work, a roofer is coming to give us an estimate.
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| Shingle vs Metal roofs |
What we’ve always heard is that rain sounds wonderful on a metal roof. Is it loud though? Does anyone have experience with it? The house portion will be insulated from sound a bit with attic space between the ceiling and the roof so it wouldn’t be overly loud. The porch however would definitely be metal over the ceiling with not much of a space in between...so it would definitely be louder than inside the house. Sitting on the porch in rain under a metal roof?
Sounds (no pun intended) like it could be nice!
Sounds (no pun intended) like it could be nice!
Now of course, they may come back and say “regular roof is X amount, metal roof is ten times that amount”. If that’s the case, then regular roof it is! Then there are shingle colors to think about…it’s always something.
We're looking forward to having a nice new roof on the house...then it's on to the next few projects.
UPDATE: Haven't heard from the roofer, he went out between 12-2. We are hoping he didn't run from the property screaming NO WAY! haha.
It is more likely that he is working up estimates. Will keep you posted!
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| Shingle colors, image courtesy of Owen Corning Shingles |
UPDATE: Haven't heard from the roofer, he went out between 12-2. We are hoping he didn't run from the property screaming NO WAY! haha.
It is more likely that he is working up estimates. Will keep you posted!
Love being in a home with a tin roof, the sound is just .......ahhhhhhhhhh! It would last your lifetime there. The shingles would have to probably be replaced again in 25-30 years. If you go with shingles, wouldn't the lightest color be best because it reflects the sun & the heat? Can't remember if you all get snow and if that is the case, maybe a somewhat darker so that when the sun does shine and it has snowed that it will catch the sun to be able to melt the snow. Cost will be the big factor. Good luck in your selection. And, get it done before the monsoons & the hurricanes really get started. :)
ReplyDeleteI didn't think about color but you are right, we want to reflect heat for sure. No snow here, ice on a few occasions, but snow is very rare. We were definitely thinking about he upcoming monsoon/hurricane season, ha.
DeleteWe have a colourbond metal roof and I love it when it rains and you can hear it. If the rain was very heavy or if you had hail it does get loud, but storms don't last too long here. As we're in queensland, it gets pretty hot, the colourbond keeps it cool in summer as it does reflect heat but also in winter it keeps the place warm. When we chose between tiles or colourbond I think there was a variance in price but it wasnt significant enough for me to remember. Good luck with your planning ;)
ReplyDeleteI love that it sounds so good. We do get hail on occasion but hey, we aren't out there 24/7 at this point so the odds would be that we missed that, ha. I didn't know they could help keep the place warm, that counts for a lot. Thank you for the advice!!
Deletewith all the properties i have, all of which are old, if it had to do it again, they would all be metal! metal is best. i say, get the roof done right once and forget about it!
ReplyDeleteCool, thank you!!!
DeleteWe LOVE our red metal roof. Love the sound, love the look, love the fact that it will last forever. We have systematically gone through and roofed everything on our farm in the same red metal - the garage, the barn, the chicken run, the sheep pen. Kind of a unifying theme for us.
ReplyDeleteRed metal? I bet that is beautiful. And I love that all your buildings match. We will have to think about that aspect of it when we decide, because we are getting a barn later on. We want to paint our house barn red with white trim so we'll have to find a color that compliments that. Thanks for the tip!
Deletemrmoneymustache had a post about metal roofing earlier in the year. Some really good information in that, as well as lots of good comments on the post, too: http://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2014/03/24/how-to-install-a-metal-roof/
ReplyDeleteWOW, that is some great information you linked to. Thank you and the comments were very helpful. Awesome!!!
DeleteOh my a metal roof in the rain is oure heaven. And as you said, it will last for freakin' ever! You will NEVER have to worry about another roof.
ReplyDeleteWe are kind of thinking about that aspect, we should never have to worry about it again.
DeleteMetal metal metal! It's our dream to have a metal roof. I really don't think they are much more....definitely worth it.
ReplyDeleteWell thank you very much!!! Stay tuned!
DeleteThe sound of rain on a metal roof is horrendous. I don't think a metal roof should be ten times as much as shingles.
ReplyDeleteOh oh....a vote for the negative. Glad to know they aren't (hopefully) too much more. But hmmm...loud huh?
DeleteI had a metal roof put on the 720-square-foot, 1920's house I bought in 2005. I did it primarily to keep from having to rip back the old shingles to put on new ones. The metal went on over the existing roof. I've been happy with it, but I don't really hear much of a difference when it rains. I had expected a tinny sound, an obvious difference. Sounds about the same to me. But then, I almost always have the doors wide open, so what I am hearing is RAIN everywhere.
ReplyDeleteOur house is about 950 square feet. Still haven't gotten the estimate but it is the weekend, I expect we'll get it this week. I like the idea of having the windows open in the rain. I didn't know they could overlay on top of the old? That's interesting. Thanks!!!
Deleteno sounds inside either of my houses and i would enjoy some rain sound, but nope none nada.
ReplyDeleteHmm, that's so wild, some people love it, some hate it and some can't hear it. I wonder if it's just the design of the house, the insulation, the roof shape, or something like that? This is fascinating!! Thanks!!
DeleteWe have a tin roof and the rain sounds wonderful. Even the lightest of rain creates a shhhh sound. When it is heavy rain, it can be quite deafening. We like it best when we are about to go to bed or when we wake in the middle of the night to hear it raining.
ReplyDeleteAnother vote for wonderful. ;-) While reading up on them, it seems like in Australia they are much more common than here in the states. Supposed to be very energy efficient as well. Thanks!!
DeleteYears ago we needed a new roof but put it off due to $. Then along came this GREAT hail storm and our roof was badly damaged. Our home owners insurance paid for a new one and we got barn red shingles. To this day I am a hail worshiper. I vote shingles.
ReplyDeleteHmmm....we had a hailstorm last year. I didn't see any damage, I wonder if the roofer will find damage? Red shingles? Wow I bet that is pretty!!! Thanks!!!
Delete1st Man,
ReplyDeleteYou'll be very happy with whatever roof you select. Make sure you have a great contractor to take care of your house.
Living in TX, I would suggest metal. I'm biased what can I say, I love metal and listening to the sounds at night.
Yes, thank you, this roofer is definitely very highly recommended and best of all, he did 2nd Family's roof last year and they love it and said he was very fair and did great work. They had a regular roof but wanted a metal one, they just couldn't afford the extra expense. I'm hoping it's not that much more for us. Their house/roof is larger than ours.
DeleteAnother vote for metal!!
With metal you do have to consider the size of the gutters as the water RUNS off the roof when it rains...
ReplyDeleteWow, in all my reading I never thought about that. Thank you!!!
Delete1st Man - if i could afford it - METAL!!!! you will love it and it will last a lifetime! much love to you and 2nd Man! your friend,
ReplyDeletekymber
Love to you both as always!! Metal seems like the overwhelming recommendation. I'll keep y'all posted!
DeleteI have a metal roof on my cabin in the Sierras....I absolutely LOVE it!
ReplyDeleteAwesome, thanks!!! (and a cabin in the Sierras? Wow I bet that is heaven).
DeleteMetal roofs are quiet, however colored roofs will need more cleaning because they mildew faster
ReplyDeleteWow, again, something I hadn't read in my research. We will have to take that into account. The house sits up kind of high, not sure if I want to be up there cleaning, ha.
DeleteMetal roofing is the way to go, pay.. the.. extra!! You can thank me later! LOL How much you hear the rain depends on how much insulation or old shingles you have between you and the roof. The most cost effective way to do a new metal roof is right over the shingles. You MUST put furring strips down on the shingles to screw the roofing sheets to. This prevents condensation on the inside of your roof. Leaving the shingles on also gives you an extra layer of insulation. Leaving the shingles in place also removes the problem of what to do with the old shingles, local dumps usually wont except them, they don’t burn or degrade. Not to mention removing an old shingle roof is one heck of a mess. Putting metal over shingles pretty much eliminates the sweet sound of rain pattering on the roof, sorry boys.
ReplyDeleteNow I will suggest an extra expense, if you extend your roof line to 20” you don’t need any gutters... let me repeat no..gutters. This means never having to replace gutters ( lifetime gutters really aren’t ) no clogged downspouts, no clogged gutters no getting on ladders or gutter cleaning. All of which becomes harder as one gets older. I know it adds up to a lot of extra square feet of roof but over the years the dividends pay off big time. Depending on how much eve you have extending from the house now you may just be able to let the metal alone extend out. Especially if you’re using the heavy duty metal. With this extension the water will not splash back on your foundation or house itself. The back of my house is a 25’ drop off of a very steep roof, I extended the roof out 2’ just because it was so high and no matter how hard it rains no water splashes back onto the house. Your foundation plantings just have to go a little further out from the house which they should be anyway. My metal roof is green to match my trees so google earth can’t see my house! LOL
Montanasmama