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>Not being a builder, I am trying to understand what new materials are available to reroof my home in Colorado. The roof is a 8/12 pitch and by home association edict, must be split wooden shakes. As new products have become available, the ever vigilant homeowners group has relented to the new materials being used.
> I have seen advertisements and disucssion about fiber re-enforced concrete products that look very much like wood shakes but have much longer life time. Then again, I worry about freeze cycles and hail destroying a possibly brittle roof.
> My past experience with roofers, being kind, is “poor”. Many have little idea of the technical details of what they seem to install and also seem to employee crews with few, if any, communications skills.
> While I am not planning on doing the roofing myself, I would like to become better informed before I chose a product or contractor.
> Any advice is welcome.
DT
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I would not recommend using concrete roofing in your climate. Your freeze thaw concerns are valid. If you do use shakes, understand that the underlayment on a shake roof is really the protection not the shake. Shakes are quite absorbent. If I had to put on a shake roof or something that simulated shakes (other than laminated asphalt shingles) I would choose the real thing. If they would let me, Id use cedar shingles over shakes. The shingle is the protection and they are less prone to natural splitting. You do lose some of the architectural features though.
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I have questions regarding fiber/cement roofing. It is used under several names here in so. CA (Nature guard, Cal-shake, Cem wood), but several of the mfr's are discontinuing this product. This leads me to believe that there is some problems w the material but I am still investigating. We aren't concerned about freeze-thaw cycles here in San Diego, but that certainly is a factor in your climate. Some of these fiber/cement roof products need to be recoated every few years(i.e. painted).
*I would avoid "new materials". They don't have a track record and you probably don't want to be the test case, or one of the gang in a class action lawsuit. Stick with materials that have 10-20 years of use. Remember LP siding. (LP sure does. They ran out of money to pay all the claims.)I looked at cement shakes in a condo development in Bellevue, WA. This was a rather new project, but already there were bit of shake coming off at the corners and edges. I would really worry about freeze/thaw in CO. Shakes - great for insuring that the whole house burns down. CA has lots of experience in wood roofs. All bad. Dramatic photo from the Laguna Beach fire of 94 (?). Only home left standing on one street had tile roof. Rest were all ashes.Having had shingles and shakes, I wish you the luck of them. It seems rather hard to get good materials any more without paying a premium. They crack. You walk on them, they crack more. I replaced the last shingle roof in 3tab. (Curiously, when used as siding, they seem to hold up. Must be all the paint.)The tip on underlayment is right on. I'd want a 100% overlap on the felt, just in case. It doesn't cost that much for felt.
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Interesting problem. I was a member of an architectural control committee in Colorado who was charged with finding a suitable substitute for cedar shakes under similiar circumstances. I found nothing that would handle the climate, be durable and have a manufacturer that would stand behind the product.
Several products were highly touted. One even offered a tour of the manufacturing plant until he found out we wanted real info. vs just pr.
That was 3 years ago so something satisfactory may have been produced since then.
Your best bet? Replace the roof with cedar shakes unlesss the covenants will allow something that doesn't look like shakes.
*I am using a cement tile product from Monier to roof my house. We live in Boise, Idaho, which has fairly mild winters, but we do experience some freeze/thaw cycles. Monier recommends that if you have freeze/thaw cycles that only tile that is colored completely through be installed. That limits the color choices, but we found something to our liking. I choose Monier because they have the longest track record in this area. We have been going to home and garden shows for over 10 years and they are always represented. Cemtile and the others seem to come and go. The local distributer for Monier has seen a dramatic increase in the number of tile roofs being installed in the past few years. Apparently some of the architectural committees have finally realized that cedar shake roofs in an arid climate don't last and more importantly they pretty much guarantee complete destruction in a wild fire environment. We are located outside of a fire protection district so grass fires are a real consideration. Also I was looking for a roof that I was not going to have to mess with in my lifetime. The cement tile was the only material that had any hope of meeting that criteria plus be affordable. Material cost are around $125/square contractor price, (tiles, roofing felt, flashing, nails, battens, clips). Labor adds another $75 to $100 per square. You could look at real slate tile, but that stuff was about $300 per square just for the tile, not to mention the copper nails and other accessories.
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Hi Dick,
Check out Gerard's stone-coated steel fake shakes.
I saw them in a local architect's office and got the free Gerard video.
http://www.gerardusa.com/gershake.htm
Good health, Weogo
*Several manufacturers I have talked with seem very reluctant to give me information. One obviously was downplaying a product that was recently recommended in a home remodeling magazine. Thus, your observations may be correct that some suppliers are having problems with the materials.Thank you for your reply.DT
*Do you know if there is an association that certifys roofing contractors? It may be lack of experience on my part, but roofing contractors seem to be one step up from used car salesman.References seem to be good but usually you are asking another uninformed home owner to help you make a important decision.I know very well that there exist excellent roofing professionals. The question is how does a non-builder locate one.DT
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>Not being a builder, I am trying to understand what new materials are available to reroof my home in Colorado. The roof is a 8/12 pitch and by home association edict, must be split wooden shakes. As new products have become available, the ever vigilant homeowners group has relented to the new materials being used.
> I have seen advertisements and disucssion about fiber re-enforced concrete products that look very much like wood shakes but have much longer life time. Then again, I worry about freeze cycles and hail destroying a possibly brittle roof.
> My past experience with roofers, being kind, is "poor". Many have little idea of the technical details of what they seem to install and also seem to employee crews with few, if any, communications skills.
> While I am not planning on doing the roofing myself, I would like to become better informed before I chose a product or contractor.
> Any advice is welcome.
DT