What are the advantages and disadvantages of putting an aluminum roof on the house? We get ice dams every year with our shingle roof. Raking doesn't help. The ice dam just builds from the top of where the rake reaches.

-- Carol Hannah (carolh@win.bright.net), August 23, 1999

Answers

advantages 1 permanent-50 year+ life 2 wind resistant to the extent fastened down 3 fire resistant 4 light weight =less structure to hold it up or more snowload 5 slick - small avalanches as the roof cleans itself 6 may be fasionable

disadvantages 1 cost - copper highest, alum mext, then steel 2 painting - 20 - 30 years to first then 5 - 10 between coats for steel & alum 3 dents 4 slip hazzard - esp when wet 5 finding compentent installers - much harder than shingles 6 the contractor knows the lack of maint and may charge more yet. 7 fashion

-- dl (dljohnson123@mindspring.com), August 24, 1999.

I am not familiar with metal roofing, however, I would worry about sweating occuring on the underside of the metal. Make sure that you are well versed in insulation/ventilation issues before installation and it should work well.

-- greenbeanman (greenbeanman@ourtownusa.net), August 24, 1999.

We love our galvalum metal roof. Tar paper prevents sweating. Looks great, sounds wonderful, has a 50 yr. garuntee.My husband and his brother installed. First time for both but both are do-it- yourselfers from way back. We live in the south so I dont know about snow. Our roof is steep so it wouldnt build up anyway. Rebecca

-- rebecca (rburden@mindspring.com), August 25, 1999.

We have a metal roof and love it. The one thing you want to watch out for is what you use to seal it. Our builder used regular roof tar and we've found that doesn't work well. We developed some leak that look like they were bubbles in the tar. When the sun heated the roof up the bubbles broke leaving a small hole. There is a different type of sealant out now. I believe it is made with silicone but I may be wrong.

It is harder to walk on a metal roof and our galvanized one really heats up in the summer.

-- Sharon (Kaori11801@aol.com), August 28, 1999.

We had a metal roof on our house before it burned. We loved it. The sound in the rain is great. We never had a problem with the snow build-up, it just fell off instead of staying. The roof we had was on for over 50 yrs. My dad took old drop cloths and the aluminum paint and dipped strips in the paint and put it on the seams, and that lasted another 20 yrs. We're in the process of rebuilding now and plan on using a metal roof again.

-- Lisa Scruggs (lisafrm1@aol.com), August 30, 1999.

Aluminum roofs are wonderful,we built a small solar-passive home in the mountains of n.e. arizona where the wind and temperture extremes are incredible, if properly installed the roof should outlast the frame of your home. The snow will fall off as long as the pitch of the roof is at least slight. We did not use a plywood sheating beneath the roof to keep down on costs,and we used tar paper between the rafters to keep away from moisture problems. The only disadvantage to not using plywood sheating is you cannot walk easily on your roof. We also built a studio with a gambrel roof (barn roof) and used a metal roof, the installers did not securely attach some of the metal trim and the wind just picked up a small corner of the trim and ran with it, thus it is very important to secure all pieces properly! You will love your metal roof.

-- debbie debbie (gysydesigns@hotmail.com), November 20, 1999.

Dear Carol: Your problem with ice dams are not the roof material, it is the fact that your home (long the eaves in most cases) requires insulation. Heat from your home will melt the snow Turing it to ice and it will then build up. You should always make sure the your down spouts etc. are clean in the late fall. Another problem is that you require attic vents. Your new aluminum roof will still ice dam if you dont correct the problem from inside. Also, if you dont have the attic venting required you might end up with molds and wet insulation in your attic. Wet insulation will not insulate and it will stay wet. If you require or wish for more information please feel free to e- mail me or see my web site (http://www.ramdesign.on.ca). An aluminum roof is great, it is light weight and will last as long as your home (if installed in the proper way). Best regards, Andrew Masse

-- Andrew Masse (drafting@ramdesign.on.ca), November 23, 1999.

Andrew comes closest to answering your problem. Metal roofing is fine, but so are a number of others. Asphalt or fiberglass shingles, "onduline", cedar, metal or tile all are good, tempered by your climate. Ice dams occur when the roof is warm enough to melt the very lowest layers, which means that the roof is getting some heat from the house. If you have an attic, you should have good insulation in the highest ceiling, but none in the roof. If you don't have an attic (ie. cathedral ceilings)) then you should have a means of channelling cold air from the eaves to the peak. Idea here is keep the roof cold. If you don't, the roof melts the snow/ice (this is especially critical when outside temps are near freezeing) and it runs down the roof under the snow only to re-freeze once it hits the colder roof, typically the overhang. Solution? Be sure you have not stuffed insulation into the eaves to prevent a free flow of cold air from entering the attic through the eaves, to exit through the gable end vents or the ridge vents. If you don't have eave vents, this is even more important. Keep insulation over the uppermost living area, but be SURE it doesn't extend over the eaves. This'll fix it! e-mail me directly if I have confused you. Brad

-- Brad Traver (homefixer@mix-net.net), January 19, 2000.

Kirsten,

You sent me an email a few months ago but I was in the middle of singlehandedly preparing our house for sale and packing and moving 1500 miles away. I wrote you the following email but it was returned to me. I finally have had time to post my answer. Sorry I can't be of more help.

Kirsten,

Sorry it has taken me so long to answer you. I was in the process of moving and was very busy.

Metal roofs generally cost more than shingle but will last longer. You want to make sure it is installed with roofing screws not nails. The screws will hold the metal down in high winds. The worst ours ever had was about 80 mph and it did fine. I've known people who installed it themselves and they said it wasn't too hard. It's harder to cut to fit around vents and such but goes up faster than shingle since most of it goes up in full sheets. Sorry that's the best I can do. My roof was installed by my contractor when the house was built so I don't know the exact cost.

Sharon

-- Sharon (kaori11801@aol.com), August 29, 2000.