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Roof for the house. What to do

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TR6oldtimer

TR6oldtimer

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I need a new roof for the house, while the roof is not flat, the slope is such that it is considered flat. So my choices are limited.

I have two bids, one for a hot mop tar and felt with a composite cap. The other is a system from IB roof systems which is a heat welded 80 mil PVC membrane. The expected life of the conventional roof is 10-15 years before maintenance or repairs are needed. The IB roof has a life expectancy of 30 years, no maintenance. With insulation installed, the tar roof is about $16k, the IB roof is $23k. That's a $7k difference.

What to do. Go with the tar and have to deal with it again when I'm 75, or go with the more expensive one and hope I'll live to deal with a new one at 90? While $7,000 is a lot of money to me as it is to most, it is not necessarily the cause of my dilemma.

Advice?
 
Geez, Ray... I have a 12-2 with shingles, replaced a few years ago and ALREADY have some 'issues' to deal with... I'd go for the "high-tech" one for the very reason you've already mentioned and ~hope~ to need to deal with it at 90! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/laugh.gif
 
Flat roofing seems to always leak. I'd spend the extra cash unless you plan on not living there a long time. Or tell yer wife you need 23K for a new roof. Get the cheaper one for 16 and spend money on the car. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/devilgrin.gif
 
WOW all of them sound pretty high to me. Question How many Squares do you have to cover??---Keoke
 
I went with a rubber roof years ago on an old rowhouse I owned. The built up tar roof had not lasted too long, but the more expensive roof was still good when I sold the property after about 20 years, so I would opt for the better roof with the higher price.
 
If you know that you are going to live past 90, I’d get the cheap roof now, then when you’re 75, go for the good stuff. Easier to deal with a re-roof at 75 than 90, then the roof will outlast you, unless you go to 106.
 
Having a {whats considered} a flat roof on my garage, I know the pain of having it leak. I replaced it with the same type of roofing as original {NOT GOOD}, it only lasted a short ten years and I was back at square one {leaking again}. The heat welded 80 mil PVC membrane is the ONLY way to go. Yea it costs more but, in the long run will be well worth the extra $.
The roof on my garage serves as the floor of my patio {High traffic area} BUT the traffic was not the problem! It is the expansion and contraction of the structure that causes most flat roofs covered with "Conventional" roofing material to start leaking. Where the heat welded 80 mil PVC membrane will expand and contract with the structure and last much much longer.
Save yourself a great deal of frustration and go with the heat welded 80 mil PVC membrane.
My 2 cents {for what its worth}
 
I've put on a lot of roofs including my own and the three houses nearest mine.
And I work in a building with a membrane roof (like many of us, I'd guess).
For your situation, I'd go with the PVC membrane roof.

One point worth considering: Is it possible to create a new, more angled, "false roof" that is raised over your exisiting roof? I did this on two houses...in both cases changing an almost flat roof to a 4/12 roof (a slope of 4" up for every 12" horizontally). Then I just used normal strip shingles. May not be possible for you, depending on the house, so I'm just throwing this out there.

By the way, NJ has probably the highest labor costs of anywhere in the USA. When I was too busy and too far away to do the roof on my folk's house this summer (we're selling it) I had it done by a local outfit. They put on 16 Squares of shingles for just under $6000 (normal strip shingles). These shingles cost about $60 a square, so most of this is in labor.
 
Keoke said:
WOW all of them sound pretty high to me. Question How many Squares do you have to cover??---Keoke
Click to expand...
keoke, good question, also what exactly is the "pitch" of the roof? also do you need a permit to install a roof? around here the building dept is starting to ask for one, advice - make sure the installers are licensed and have insurance cuz if one of them falls off your roof he may end up owning your house, get the entire installation process in writing. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/savewave.gif
 
If you double the cost of the shorter-lived one it becomes comparable to the higher priced one which offers the advantage of not having to deal with it again!!! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/thumbsup.gif

PS: Roofing is much higher-priced in Cali, ain't it /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/eek.gif !!!!! I had mine replaced after the last set of hurricanes and total cost down here (to Fla. stringent hurricane codes) was under $8000 for an 1800sq. ft. house!!
 
The house is 1400 sq ft. with a pitch of 1.5/12. The roofing job calls for removing two old tar and gravel roofs (one applied over the other) install 2 inch rigid insulation, the new roof, new seamless gutters, fixing the holes in the tongue and grove where the old dutch drains were, and all new metal vents.

The material cost for the PVC membrane is much more expensive then tar and felt. I could have gone with a thiner membrane. The cost of 80 mil over the 50 mil is about $3500 more. However the 50 mil comes only in white, not to the wifes liking, so there goes $3.5K. Labor costs for the PVC are higher as the workers are more skilled and the time in install is longer. You can't just go to Home Depot and get them.

Roofing companies pay the highest workers comp insurance in the state.

Another consideration is there is a good possibility that tar will be banned by the air pollution agencies in the future.

Yep, I will do the high tech roof.

Now to get my TR6 to the point where it can be painted before California bans all auto paint not water based.
 
Hot tar is still ok in CA, BUT I would recommend you do the hot tratment. I didn't the first time and not only did I replaced the roofing with a Snow roof underlayer (at 80 degrees it could not be moved) I and replacing sheet rock in a bathroom. The roof leaked into a new bathroom and I have a lot of repairs now.
 
Do the modified bitumen, only way to go. Torch-down is lighter and stronger and longer-lasting than tar-n-gravel. The cost seems high but you mentioned that 2 layers of previous roof had to be removed. Went through the same thing 3 years ago, my house likes me now.

Or, you can go with the infamous blue roof seen on most houses in New Orleans after Katrina. FEMA swooped in after the hurricane and "fixed" everybody's roofs with heavy-gauge blue vinyl sheeting. What they actually did was contract with a large local politically-connected (the party with the elephant) industrial contractor to install these temporary roofs on any building with a damaged roof (read that most roofs in the whole city). The blue plastic from the air looked like some vast art project. The kicker was that FEMA paid this PC contractor $175.00 a square foot to do the project. Now, FEMA supplied the blue plastic free to the contractor. Said contractor subed it out to other companies for $3 a square foot. They pocketed the difference, $172.00 per square foot, for the entire area. Trust me, that is a lot of roofs. When they refer to a square in roofing terminology, that is a square yard, nine square feet. Imagine the square footage of the entire metroplex of greater New Orleans. Staggering.

Bottom line, don't let FEMA do it.
 
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