advice on new roof

[lazydays]

It's time to replace my roof so I'm looking for some advice. We plan to live in this house for probably another 10 years. It is a colonial style house although not fancy. I know nothing (sounds like a line from a tv show) about roofs so advice regarding materials and styles would be greatly appreciated.

[BernDog]

Where do you live?

[Black]

Basics:
Do you need another layer of shingles or a "tearoff" where they strip it down to the wood first? Big cost difference.


You'll want to do 25 to 30 - year "architectural" style shingles.

Pretty much everyone is doing that so it would probably be the default with most roofers.

Color is going to be your main choice-- can you post a pic of your home?

[OWC Jamie]

white

[Paul F.]

Slate!

You'll need a second mortgage to afford it... but you'll be the only guy on your block with a slate roof! :-)

[rgG]

Get at least three quotes and really check out the roofing company's references. Make sure you get at least a 5 year warranty on the installation.

If you find a good roofing company, they will help you make the right decisions about what is best or most common in your area. Finding a good installer who will stand behind the work is the most important part of the job.

[davester]

Paul F. wrote:
Slate!

You'll need a second mortgage to afford it... but you'll be the only guy on your block with a slate roof! :-)

...and it will make an exciting noise as the entire roof flies one way and the house goes another way during the next earthquake.

[Paul F.]

davester wrote:
[quote=Paul F.]
Slate!

You'll need a second mortgage to afford it... but you'll be the only guy on your block with a slate roof! :-)

...and it will make an exciting noise as the entire roof flies one way and the house goes another way during the next earthquake.
Yeah! That'd be cool! ;-)

(part of that second mortgage would be for structural upgrades to hold up a bunch of slabs of rock on your roof....)

[mstudio]

rgG wrote:
Get at least three quotes and really check out the roofing company's references. Make sure you get at least a 5 year warranty on the installation.

If you find a good roofing company, they will help you make the right decisions about what is best or most common in your area. Finding a good installer who will stand behind the work is the most important part of the job.

I agree with all of this. I waited almost 6mo until my roofer was available. I'm glad I did, he did a great job that still looks good 9 years later.

[BernDog]

Paul F. wrote:
[quote=davester]
[quote=Paul F.]
Slate!

You'll need a second mortgage to afford it... but you'll be the only guy on your block with a slate roof! :-)

...and it will make an exciting noise as the entire roof flies one way and the house goes another way during the next earthquake.
Yeah! That'd be cool! ;-)

(part of that second mortgage would be for structural upgrades to hold up a bunch of slabs of rock on your roof....)
All joking aside, slate seems to be historically accurate for a lot of colonial homes. Pick a slate color of asphalt architectural shingles if you want to achieve that. We did our roof last year, and since the house originally had a shake roof, we went with "weathered wood".