Battening down
The roof is done, the dumpster full of old roof is gone (Took a week) the fascia is nearly completed, and now I just need to get new brakes on the Dr’s pickup so he can go on hauling around his bobcat. Even on weekends I have off, I’m working like a dog.
10 comments Og | Uncategorized
Must have been a farmer in a past life. City folk don’t work as hard I have noticed.
There is a niche there for someone with skills and a price to use them.
Glad you’ve got the roof crossed off your list, at last.
Amazing what a fresh look a new roof gives to a house. And the sense of relief knowing that you’re weather-tight for another (hopefully) couple of decades to come.
I trust you kept a leftover bundle of shingles or two, for maintenance and repair as needed? If not, perhaps give the contractor a call, and see if he’s got any of the leftover from your job, still in the shop.
Enjoy your dry, cozy home this winter, sir!
Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX
Yeah, keeping stuff to fix the roof is not good. After 10 to 15 years setting in a shed or garage they will be pretty stiff and hard to work in. Just hope they are still selling the same single in 10 years when you need to patch something.
YMMV
I’m in roofing sales, and know a bit about shingles n’ stuff. Yeah, we actually have to go to classes, spend days at various factories where roofing products are made, and generally have to obtain actual certifications to represent certain company’s products and maintain warranty accreditations.
There is some “there”, there, in what follows.
Leftover shingles will last longer than we will, by merely wrapping them with a double layer of black plastic garbage bags, and storing them away from sunlight and out of extreme heat.
It’s the “outgassing” of volatile elements in the asphalt layer that makes ’em brittle, not “age” as a chronological factor.
U.V. light and heat both accelerate that process. The dark bags block the U.V., and wrapping them tightly and taping them securely, helps keep those volatiles from migrating out of the shingle.
This is one of the primary reasons that Thermopolyolefin (TPO) roofs are so wildly used on commercial roofs, such as most every new Wal-Mart and other similar structure built in the past ten years.
TPO, though a petroleum product, contains no plasticizers, produces no out-gassing and in most products, offers a minimum 20 year true warranty.
Some designer “shingles” made from TPO, carry a 50 year true warranty, and can be purchased and installed to provide a wind rating of 185 mph, and resistant to Class 4 hail, which is about the size of a regulation softball.
In the commercial, sheet-applied form, it’s not terribly more expensive than traditional torch-down or built-up roofing systems.
But in the mold-formed, faux-shingle residential form, it’s mind blowingly expensive. That said, it’s a true “once and done” solution, and is finding a ready market with upscale custom homebuilders and their affluent buyers.
But as to Og’s recent roofing job? Yeah, leftover shingles are a thing. My 88 y/o step mom in Orlando had a no-longer-necessary brick chimney removed from her house, and fortunately, the ten year old leftover shingles in her shed worked like a charm in filling in that chimney shaped void on the roof.
Perfect match, can’t even tell the difference from ground level, with the rest of the roof having a decades worth of Florida sun and weathering.
Dollar for dollar, composition shingles are still one hell of a deal, even if they’re sometimes a pain in the ass to deal with.
Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX
Thanks, Jim, that’s actually information I was really looking for and I will do precisely as you say.
Happy I could be of service, sir!
Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX
wish I would have known this 20 years ago. Just got a new roof due to hail damage so I might pick up a bundle and do what Jim says.
Pay attention to Jim, he knows his shit.
and his shingles.
those two words go together a lot.
Yeah, but I don’t know from Shinola.
Everything’s a tradeoff, I guess.
Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX