asphalt shingles or tin on old farm house

Anonymous-0

Well-known Member
Trying to figure out what I want to do next summer with an old farm house I own. This is a big, high, four bedrooms up and five rooms down house. The roof needs to be replaced. Presently it has ONE layer of wood shingles covered by ONE layer of asphalt, all over six inch boards with a slight gap between each. I don't live there. Might someday or I might rent it. Just an old house that needs alot of things. Foundation is ok, but limestone. Needs work on the siding, still OK. Probably needs window work too, but still functional. It is still a good house. Interior is very nice with a newer furnace and floor coverings. Trying to find the best reasonable repair for an old house.

Honestly, I know removing the old asphalt shingles, then the old wood shingles, and then putting down new solid sheathing is the right way for asphalt. Time and money.

I could put tin down on top of firring strips and a vapor barrior. Some people like tin, some people say tin is for barns not houses. I guess if it was the right color I would be OK with tin. This house gets alot of wind and I would be concerned about the tin. I really wonder how long tin will last on a house. Color wears off and then how many barns do you see that were tinned in the '70s and it is all ripped off by the wind.

I wonder if my best bet might be one more layer of a quality architectural grade shingle. Put on a new drip edge, throw any loose tabs off of the roof as you shingle upward, and just cover everything up. I might add that the roof it "old school" steep, so there is no problem with weight or sag. I wonder too since the roof is so steep that it might take shingles on shingles better than a newer style flatter roof might??

Lastly, I would like to do this myself. Asphalt would be the simplest for me, followed by firring strips and tin. I could do these two methods. I don't have the time or equipment to strip everything, re-sheet, and single. I would have to hire that done.

What you guy have done and/or any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
 
I would find the time to strip it down to bare minimum. Wood and asphalt gone. Then fur it out and screw on new tin. Because that is what I did. I don't worry about the wind here in MN, the sun does more damage. My last lifetime shingles lasted 5 years. Makes me wonder what a lifetime actually is anymore.
 
There isn't any 20 year shingles anymore. I replaced shingles with tin about 7 years ago on my house. All the barns got steel also. Around here new construction houses all have steel roofs. Hidden fastner steel for residential houses is more exspensive than barn steel but is no more effective for the extra cost. I'd hope all the shingle manufactures end up going out of business after screwing the public the last 20 years.
 
Here, you can't by code put another layer on that roof, it'd all have to come off anyway. Depending on where you are you may not have to deal with that. We do have a barn that has a layer of cedar shakes on lath under a layer of asphalt with a layer of aluminum on top of that, that has been on there since the 70s. Whoever did it did it right because no panels have come off, even in Irene or Sandy.
 
I would use standing seam powder coated metal roof
The projected life is way longer than for asphalt. It is pretty fast to install, and sheds both water and snow very well. Wind is not an issue unless it is beyond being just a roof issue. Jim
 
we put tin on our farm house 3 summers ago, i'd do it again... if your in a snow area remember to use snow stops above the doors... don't ask me how i know :)
 
I'd go with tin, you won't ever be doing it again! I just did tin on my barn last year, we'll see how long it last, vs the shingles I put on my house in 2008.??
 
I am not impressed with the new shingles. I see a lot of new houses around here where I am at with missing shingles from the wind. There are getting to be a few more with metal roofs. They look pretty nice if done right.
 
Around here Central NY., Code enforcement will not let you apply more than two layers of roofing material. Also if applying steel roofing some local jurisdictions allow furing over one layer of shingles with 5/4 min. furing, and others require complete tearoff, and a screwing surface of at least 1.5". We get heavy winter snows and the steel roofs shed the snow, where shingles do not. Most all new roofs installed in rural areas around me are steel. I was a general contractor for 10yrs.until I retired, and have reroofed many houses and barns, and built lots of ag pole type and light commercial all steel buildings, so I'm a bit partcial to steel.
Loren, the Acg.
 
And don't forget lightining rods! I think the code calls for a metal roof to be grounded too!????
 
A PS to my previous post. Make sure there is a sound moisture barrier below the furring. Temp differentials will cause extensive condensation under the steel. In a well insulated house the unconditioned air in the truss space needs to be tempered by proper insulation above heated spaces with vapor barrier so that the condensation point (temp diff) does not occure at the underside of the roof.
Loren, the Acg.
 
A old timer near me long deceased told me he watched the hip roof barn being built across the road from him. The year was 1910. He told me the barn had the original steel roof on and it still does.
 
Just put steel on my house 3 years ago with furring strips. Hired it done while its a smaller house 1100 sq ft it cost $3300 for everything facia included. Contractor was pushing shingles and quoted them too. Price difference was $200 and they were only warrenteed 15 years while the steel has 30 year warrantee on the paint. I could have paid a little more and had 45 year warrantee on the paint but didn"t. I personally love steel there"s just too much cost with shingles you even have to pay to get rid of them. Steel on the other hand if for some odd reason you need to redo the roof you can scrap the steel and get a couple bucks back.
 
i would do tin. did my house 4 years ago. skip the firing strips. on an uneavin surface like over shingles, use long screws and put them thru the ribs of the polebarn steel. screwing in the flat, it will pull down uneavely to the uneaven surface of the shingles. take a center punch and measure the sheets for the screws. the center punch will mark several sheets at once, and the screws will be all lined up
 
This has been discussed before on various sites. The experts declared that sheet metal should never be installed directly over asphalt shingles as the contraction & expansion of the steel will eventually wear a hole through the metal from the abrasive asphalt shingles.

Had a neighbor put down firring strips over asphalt, then put down sheet metal roofing - it only took him 2 years to stop the leaks. The sheet metal has to be installed correctly to avoid problems.
 
straping is waste of time and money just a nother place for bats to get in. lay tar paper up an down the roof as you go with the steel.that way you are never walking on it.
 
Our house has a 7 year old standing seam copper roof on it. Installers gave us a 40 year warranty, but emphasize it would last long after the warranty ran out. Life expectancy is something in excess of 75 years. The ONLY worry I have is that the meth heads don't climb up on my roof and steal it.

This past spring, we had a big hail storm. Everyone in the area with regular shingle roofs ended up re-roofing their homes. Ours had ONE dent and no other issues.

I have some of the original paperwork when the house was built in 1961. The copper roof cost ALMOST as much as it did to build the entire house back then.
 
I agree! We deal with metal roof problems quite often. The problems are 50/50. 50% installation problems, 50% barn roof metal proceedure/materials. If your going to put metal roof, do it right. Use high quality standing seam, and ice/water shield. All metal roofs condensate. The Barn metal roofs are getting more and more popular. And so won't the problems in time. I'd never put a barn metal roof on my own house.
 
With two layers of shingles, you already have a lot of weight on that roof. Given that rafters on old houses are often marginal, it is insane to add any more roofing on top of what's there. Architectural shingles weigh about 250 lbs/square, so if you do the math you'll find you're going to add the equivalent of a midsize car to the load on your roof. I don't think steel is as heavy, but it's certainly not weightless.

Another consideration with architectural shingles is that most are "metric" and won't match up with standard three-tab shingles, which will hurt their life. Best to go over three-tab shingles with new three-tab, if you're inclined to shingle over existing roofing. Personally I would NEVER add a second layer of roofing. It doesn't last, it adds unnecessary weight and it creates a bigger problem for whoever does the next roofing job (probably you). Most importantly, you can't see problems with the sheathing if you don't remove the old roofing.

In my opinion you must tear off the existing roofing. Whether you go back with steel or shingles is your business. If you decide to go with shingles, do yourself a favor and sheath over the existing boards with 7/16" OSB. Not only does it make a better surface for nailing, it also reduces the likelihood you'll fall through the roof. Go over the new sheathing with decent architectural shingles and that roof will be around long after you and I have left this vale of tears.
 
I vote steel. I am doing that on my house now. Will get the rest done in the spring. I had to strip it as 3inch screws would not hit any thing solid. Striped it put on that 1/4 inch foam insulation under the steel, on top of the roof boards for a vapor barrier.I ran it up and down the roof. As said before contrary to what they will tell you when you buy it screw it on the top of the ribs. You can get screws to match the color of the roofing if you want. The screws with a cordless drill will work best. Custom Metal Sales in Greenfield Indiana can get you 24 gauge material cut to length of your roof out to 40ft one sheet. They can also bend the ridge cap and pieces for along the ends. They have a foam seal for the bottom of the roof to keep critters out at the bottom end. It also goes at the top under the ridge cap to seal the wind and weather out works good. fits tight. NO I don't have anything to gain from this. Except you being satisfied you bought a product you are happy with. I DON'T OWN any part of Custom Metal Sales. I put 18 long on my house and have done 22or 28 at dads. Did some 30ft 29 gauge on the free stall barn 25 or 30 years ago.
The Screws are the only way to go holding it down. No dings from misses with the hammer driving nails. If you go with the heavy gauge steel you will want to drill it first. A drill about the size of the root of the screw works good. If you have access to a telehandler with a basket that is the cats meow for this work. You can put your sheeting or steel on the top of the basket and work from the other side. It will also move you up and down the roof so you don't have to climb or you can leave it at the bottom and lay a ladder up the roof to work off of.
 
Hmm. Shouldn't your handle be "Copper-Roof Poor"? I'm sure it's a beautiful roof, but here in Motown one would be nuts to put a copper roof on their house. Come home from work and find your roof missing.
 
Next roof on the farmhouse will be standing seem metal. I have it on all the out buildings now. Stuff lasts forever.
 
Was discussing a roof I put in a few years back with a roofing comtractor/supplier. Shingles had a 25 year guarantee. He said manufacturer no longer in business to honor the guarantee. Said they go out of business every few years to avoid guarentee issues. Still making/selling shingles under new name, and no longer responsible for old shingle issues. Sorry fella!
 
Standing seam metal will last the longest and be the cheapest. You can apply that over what you have there now. No need to rip anything off. Put down 1/4 inch styrofoam under it to keep nails on existing roofing from punching up through if they back out. Any color you want. Some colors may fade. I opted for black (white house). If it fades, so what, then it'll be charcoal, which is another color they offer. Two things about standing seam metal. 1. Snow slides off quickly. If you get a lot of snow, you will have snow piles along the sides of your house. In my case, I have a steep pitch and wide overhangs so the snow flies out quite some distance from the house. 2. When it rains, it will be noisier than what you've been accustomed to with asphalt. On the top floor, that is. The metal roof on our big barn, which was applied over wood shingles in 1915, was still in great shape in 2008. It had to be painted periodically because it wasn't pre-colored.
BTW: We refer to metal roofs as "Iron Roofs". Best there is and it is the most important part of your building. If it goes, the rest follows quickly.
 
There is an old barn by me and on the roof it is spelled out 1885 in red the rest is gray and it must be slate. I assume it is original ? and it still looks good too.

I also see many many houses going with the steel roofs. Not exactly sure why ? If it is cost or the fact shingles don't seem to be made good anymore ? Is it standing seam the metal ones with no exposed screw/nails ? This would surly be better. Our pole barns all over time had issues with a leaky nail here or there.
My house shingles are looking pretty bad. I'm very interested in all your reply's. Now if I only had some extra money to do something about it. I may end up with some buckets of tar and over coat it and try and get by ? But then will it help or make it worse ? Future tear off I'd think will be worse.
 
couple of things to think about,first will your insurance/building codes if any allow metal. many insurances wont cover a tin roof here.. second the slope/pitch of the roof. as i recall the min for tin is 2-1 pitch,in other words it raises 2" in every linear foot. anything less than this,(and often in a area where you get high wind with your storms) you wont keep tin from leaking. water simply blows up under the edges. third,and this will depend largely on your area and roof loads, best way if you were going to add solid sheathing, would be to remove the boards and all simply because of the weight. thats the general idea of the spaced boards,cedar shingle absorb a lot of moisture,thats how they seal.the spaced boards not only provide nailers,they save on weight also. and they provide air movement underneath to allow shingles to dry. lots of things to consider here, and its not all simply economic
 

I recommend standing seam. No screws through the steel, Held down much better if you are concerned about wind. HUGE difference between standing seam and regular steel.
 
I just replaced to house roofs. Put steel on both. Put the steel right on the asphalt shingels. No worry of condensation cause there is no air space.

You will never catch me putting asphalt on a building again. One roof was 16 years old and the other 11 and the shingles were junk and flying off with the wind.

Our barn was tinned with nails in 1954 and still looks great. Screws will hold tighter.

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(quoted from post at 07:14:19 12/27/12) Shingles. Steel - even standing seam, was never intended for a structure that is lived in.

Now why would you say such a thing?
 
Andy i am not going to go into whats best, THERE ARE MANY VARIABLES BUT If you have metal have a contractor do it and forget about that stuff in sheets you nail on. (might be ok for chicken coop, woodshed etc) Now same for shingles do some home work many grades/types on market. Get a good contractor to do it. Assuming you are not doing it yourself.
 
My Opinion, Take off all the old roofing right down to the roof boards put PLYWOOD over the roof boards not Osb. Osb is not recommended by steel roofing manufacturers because the screws wont hold. Also, there is a different shorter fatter screw to use with steel over plywood The long skinny ones are for 2x4 purlins. If your house has big wide mouldings,at the edge of the roof, get rid of it. When you get to the peak make sure you put something between the roofing and the cap to keep the snow and rain from blowing in.
The best most expensive steel roofing is standing seam. Regular steel roofing made these days is nowhere near as good as it was in 1955.
A couple of years ago I removed steel roofing off a porch on my house to change two roofs to the same pitch. On the back side it was stamped GUARANTEED UNTIL 1928. One section of my house still has that same roofing on it and there are no plans to change it. Read what the manufacturers say. Manufacturers have several different mouldings to fit most situations.
abcmetalroofing

fabral
 
Some guys say get a contractor to put it on what they should say is get a contractor who knows how to put it on. My house steel roof was put on by a contractor before I bought the house, and I think it was his first one, maybe his last too he's out of business now. Wood straps over wood shingles and a layer of asphalt and he didn't know what to do with the large molding around the outside of the roof.
 
Based on what? (I'm guessing an uneducated opinion) Some of the finest homes ever built have metal roofs. Copper being the best choice due to extended life expectancy. Metal roofs, when installed correctly, and roof structure is vented properly is more secure, more weather resistant, longer lasting, and some say better looking.

After a lifetime in the building industry, and seeing the long term effects of quality metal roofs vs the relatively short lifespan of shingled roofs, I wouldn't put shingles on a dog house, much less a home that is the largest single investment most people ever make in their life.
 
I helped my FIL to cover his roof with metal sheets in 1963. We put them over the old shingles. The home was sold in 1972 and that metal roof is probably still on that house. He bought the metal roofing from Montgomery Ward's. Hal
 
I have got plain old channel drain screwed directly to the 1x2 wood furring strips from the orignal wood shingles. About 15 years since I put this on and replaced the old coregated steel that was on for years. what I was conserned about was the old smooth nails were starting to get loose in the boards and afraid the wind would take it off. The barn roof is just nailed to the old wood shingles with many of the nails not hitting anything except the rotten shingle. Any tin fastened sollidly will last for years with no wind damage. And if you have any trees if a limb falls on it you are not as likely to have the tree in the bedroom sticking down in the bed with somebody under it. Also sparks will not set tin on fire.
 
Standing seam ridge roofs for me, I can't trust the asphalt shingle mfg to supply a quality product. No exposed fasteners for me on a tin roof.
 
With tin or new asphalt you really should strip the old layers off first.

Personally I'd strip and nail down 7/16 OSB sheeting with plenty of roof vents with white asphalt shingles. If I was going to spring for a metal roof I'd put it on a newer house.
 
Mike M:

Try Elastomeric Mobile Home roof coating instead of tar. Get the White, then you can add whatever color pigment you need to have it match your house. The Elastomeric coating when it is dry, completely seals the roof. It's like putting a large sheet of rubber on your roof & you don't have to nail or screw it down.
 
Asphalt shingles are terrible quality any more, friend had to replace in 9 years.

Tin is the way to go. The Decora type with asphalt on the tin will last your lifetime, look like regular shingles, great.

Sounds like you want cheap, so regular tin is fine, but looks worse, and if you have a tall house in snow country you'll likely kill someone when the snow & ice falls off.

A third layer of shingle isn't so good on a house, not actually legal in my state, but looks like you want easy as well as cheap, so lots get by doing it.

Paul
 
Depends on your plan. I only consider lifespan cost. Copper wins, works fine on lumber sheathing. I don't favor plywood. Last summer removed old crappy Onduline roofing and installed copper and some translucent panels that I recycled.

Had used more of the translucent panels on a tractor shed last year. A large oak came down on it last summer. Insurance co. is paying me handsomely to add the necessary 20' oak rafters, sheath with solid planks, and install copper standing seam. I milled the new rafters from the butt log of the tree.
CopperRoof_zps86fb5785.jpg
 
Look at the warranty of both. Any more singles are tops 25 year but the new metal roof stuff has a 40 year warranty so do the math 25 over 40 which is better. Of course that is all theory since who ha had a roof on for 40 years since the 40 year warranty is only maybe at best 10 years old as in that is when it was first used on homes
 
Copper suits me fine also. Current price here is $975/square from the small roofers, more from the large ones. But that's over half labor. Not much skill necessary when the tools self-align.

Nice to know that I won't be up there re-roofing again.

Mark B., there're a lot of reasons I don't live in your neighborhood. Copper-roofed outbuildings work fine here. My house got even better, a green roof.
 
Like anything else, there are good and there are bad shingles. If you go to Menards and buy the bargain stuff your going to be redoing them in a couple years. Ask shinglers what brand they prefer. Even some insurance adjusters will tell you which brands to avoid. If you do asphalt, it is time to strip the old ones off. Steel, maybe but think about how you are going to fasten the furring strips through the old shingles. I wouldn't waste my time with 1x4's. On any of metal roof jobs I have seen they recommended a good snow and ice dam type material be used, not tar paper. Makes you wonder how much moisture is getting under the tin. Just a 4 corner house might go on easy. If you have hips and valley's you will need to understand how to seal those up so they aren't leaking also. If dollars are a factor, the asphalts will be the cheapest and the standing rib will be the highest. Someone mentioned you can't get a 20 year warranty on shingles anymore. That isn't so. Certanteed has a pretty lengthy warranty on theirs now. I know they had a lot of bad ones just like everyone else but they paid out some money on the bad roofs and supposedly improved their new ones to meet the warranty they are now offering. Check the link.
shingle warranty
 
(quoted from post at 09:50:22 12/27/12) How many of you guys ever fight a house fire that had metal roofing?

I have a few times. Are you going to tell us how those metal roofs hold the heat in? That's OK, most fires give up too easy anyway.
 
You must be buying shingles at Wal-Mart.

Life time warranty on Timberline shingles.



http://www.gaf.com/Roofing/Residential/Products
 
On the old home place where I was raised there is a small building---a root 'celler'---built by my grandfather in the 1920s. It's still standing with its original corrugated tin roof. Yeah, it's rusty now, and probably leaking, but it's still there. In the surrounding area I can point to several old barns, sheds and even houses that were built as far back as the turn of the century with their original tin roofs. I've often thought that if that tin could have been turned over after about 50 years it would last a century.

When my parents moved from the home place I salvaged a lot of tin from my dad's garage/tractor shed/workshop that he built in the early 50s. That tin is now covering my tractor/tool shed.
 
Back when I was doing roofing for a living 25 years was tops but that was also 15 plus years ago. But either way most I see in this area is 20-25 years and that is it
 
Thanks for the tip. I will have to look into that. White would be fine as my old shingles were kinda that color and the house is fade light blue vynil siding.
Sounds like I could maybe even do it in stages and not try and get it all in one day ?
 
Agreed.

The other thing to remember is the darker the color the shorter the life of the shingle. I remember "helping" my dad reroofing a house back in 1976 with the plain old "Shasta White" 3 tab shingles that were probably rated at 20 years. Just now the roof is starting to "look" like it needs to be reshingled - 36 years isn't to bad. If it had a dark or black shingle they might have lasted half that.
 
I haven't tried to put out a burning metal-roofed building. But as a boy I watched an old wooden grain elevator burn down. It had been sheathed in corrugated steel, and after a couple of sheets fell down, the volunteer firefighters got the heck out of there.
 
"Are you going to tell us how those metal roofs hold the heat in?"

No I am not going to tell you anything. Just asking a question. I wonder if it would hold the heat in and make it harder to fight a fire or not.
 
(quoted from post at 14:30:08 12/27/12) "Are you going to tell us how those metal roofs hold the heat in?"

No I am not going to tell you anything. Just asking a question. I wonder if it would hold the heat in and make it harder to fight a fire or not.

No, it doesn't really make any difference because you can't go into a building unless it is safe, and it can only be safe for as long as most of the structure is still intact, as long as it is pretty much intact it is going to be very hot as in 1,000 degrees or better, regardless of what type of roof it has. Once you vent it to make it more comfortable to work in, you have to move fast and get to the seat of the fire with the water, because once it gets air it is going to burn up fast and become unsafe. Then you have to back out and spray water from the outside, which is not much fun especially in the winter.
 
You might ask around if anyone has ever recovered any moneys if there "40 year roof" lasted 40 years. I"m involved in managing a churc cemetery and we recently installed new fancy powder coated metal fence. Fencing was quaranteed for 40 years. Salesman came out and I asked him how long they had been in business, he answered seven years! Just sayin. This is probably the best place to get any suggestions..... EGBinOR
 

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