Roofing Question...

sk071077

I hope someone can help me out with this. I'm in the process of buying my first home. The roof is what looks asphalt with gravel on top. The roof is over 40 years old. I have a couple questions.

1) Is this type of roof any good, besides the fact it's ugly as hell?
2) Is it hard to strip, in case I want to shingle it?

If anyone knows any thing about this type of roof I'd appreciate your info.

loneframer

I worked on a roof like that, it was a pain in the aaaaaaaaaaaaass. That crap is so heavy, you won't believe it. Just so we're on the same page, it's like hot tar over base sheet with river pebbles embedded in the tar right? They seem to last forever, but when something goes, it's gotta go, repairs are not effective in my opinion. Hopefully someone knows an effective way to remove it. Sorry, I don't. Good luck.

johnk

easy to tear off,tear into managable strips with a wrecking bar,pry up with shovel, haul to bin.Sometimes they are very brittle ,if so you wont get the larger chunks...

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"A Roof is only as good as it is Applied"

Ed the Roofer

What kind of wood decking is there?

It will depend a LOT on whether or not the original roofing crew Primed the wood deck surface, prior to mopping any hot asphalt down for adhesion.

If that is the case and it is hot outside when doing the work, then a 2" putty knife and one inch at a time could occur. I speak from actual experience with those timwe factors to think of.

That is not typical though.

Is there any insulation board, sometimes called recovery board under the roofing plies?

You can have a roofer come out and do a core test and then properly seal the hole, by using mastic and fabric, along with the original plug cored out of it, just to check the thickness and how many layers and to see if the deck is primed or unprimed.

Then for the tear-off, even if it is not primed. I am sure you will not be purchasing a Roof Cutting Machine, but you could use a Stihl Saw with a Diamond Demo Blade to cut the roof into 2' x 2' squares to make handling them easier.

Otherwise, it is Axes and Elbows.

Ed

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roof-lover

Now you can talk to several hacks who call themselves profesionals who will put on shingles for you. You talk to enough people and you will get the answer that you want to hear.
I will not be giving you the answer you want to hear....sorry.
I will give you the correct answer though. But you wont like it.

The tar and gravel roof lasted 40 years and you are asking if it is any good. Is this a joke?

You have a low slope roof. Thats why you have a tar and gravel roof.
You absolutely can not put shingles on it.
Shingles are not designed for a low slope roof.

That was a great roofer that did that roof. Not ok. Not average. GREAT.

You can replace with tar and gravel but you said it looks ugly.
You can replace with several different options of low-slope roofing, all of which you will probably think is ugly.
You have a low-slope roof. You have to think function before looks.
Architect shingles(probably what you are thinking) will bring you leaks and rotten wood faster than you can possibly imagine. Do not do it.

I love architect shingles. I try to put them on every house.
But only on the roof pitches that will accept them.
Roofers every day are putting them on too low of slopes.
It does make me happy because that is job security for me.
Their roof will need to be replaced very soon and that means more possible work for me.

The way for you to have a quality roof and the looks would be a standing seam metal roof.

strathd

A friend of mine has this same problem. It's just starting to devolop leaks.
What is the minimum pitch for a standing seam roof ?

EPD

1/2-12 or 1-12 no problem
when you get smaller pitches then that its basicially flat,
and you run the risk of pooling water,

i do 1/12s all the time,

in december i took a 1500 sq ft 1/12 roof, stripped shimmed and plated the perimeter, and put a hip truss package on it, with 24" overhang to cover the plate height difference

looks awesome, also the house was 4 1/2" out of square and the big overhang helped hide all of that

left the old pebble roof underneith it all

sk071077

Your right that roof is actually 49 years old, I looked in the attic today and I didn't see any evidence of leaks at all. That is one hell of a roof.

I'd guess it's about a 3/12 whats the min slope for shingles?

My wife thinks it's ugly I could care less.


Thanks for everyones advice...

ncrouse

First, you need to determine the slope of your roof. If the roof is below a 3" in 12" slope, you will be defeating the purpose of a shingle unit application. There are a myriad of materials that will work on a low slope roof, in many different colors and prices. There are materials that can be applied for DYI's, but as a professional, I would suggest you contact a reputable roofer, that carries insurance and has a good repiutation to make the changes you need on a low sloped roof. The NRCA (National Roofing Contractors Association) is a good start, and they will point you to the closest local association to ask questions and hopefully provide a few names of the most reputable roofing contractors in your area. be sure to find someone that has been in business, under the same name for over 10 years, and has a clear BBB sheet.

I hope this helps.

Norm

buildpinnacle

Normally, a built up roof (which is what you speak of) over a wood deck will have a mechanically fastened #75 fiberglass base sheet with 3 to 4 plies of type IV or type VI fiberglass felt mopped in place over the base sheet in shingle fashion with approximately 25 lbs/square of interply mopping. The ballast (gravel for the shinglers) is applied over a pour coat of approximately 60 lbs/sq of asphalt at a rate of approximately 3.5 to 5 lbs per SF. The total system can weigh upwards of 600 to 700 lbs/square compared to 100 lbs/sq for most single ply or metal applications. IMHO, traditional BUR is the best system on the market and always has been. Let us not forget the man said this roof was 49 years old. That being said, there is a very good chance a roof that old is coal tar pitch with coal tar saturated felt. Tear one of these off, Ed, and you would be praying to be on your knees with a 2" putty knife. The men will have to douse down in pitch cream and wear pitch hoods or their ears and face will look like hamburger meat at the end of the day.

There are so many intangibles here that it would be impossible to figure out what the man has. If the roof is not leaking, I would hire a local COMMERCIAL roofing firm that specializes in low slope roofing to come by and perform a complete maintenance survey. Have them fix all the blisters, scours, fill pitch pans, etc and you should be able to extend the life even more. A low slope roof requires routine maintenance just like your vehicle. Take care of it and it will last forever.

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