Need Help for Replacing the Roof Shingles

2187 Views 13 Replies 7 Participants Last post by Windows on Wash, Dec 29, 2012

Doost

Discussion Starter · Dec 25, 2012

Hello everyone,

We live in Kenner, La and me and my husband are doing some research about doing our complete roof job. And after doing all our research we got lot of information but we also get confuse on many stuff.

The info which we are looking for are as follows.

1. What is the difference between composite and asphalt shingles, and which one is better?

2. Our roofer provides us 3 brands, GAF Timberline, OC designers and Tamko. By reading on the contractor forum we learned about the CertainTeed. So we like to know that which one is better for our area where we have hurricanes a lot.

3. I see that all the brands have different types of shingles, like GAF has Timberline and Grand Canyon. So these are just the different design or the quality is also different.

4. If the different models in the same brand have different quality, which models are preferred for GAF and CertainTeed.

5. My roofer is telling us that he is only going to put felt paper underneath the shingles, but we also learnt about the underlay. So just the felt paper is good or we also need something else. Please note that my roof doesn’t have any dip corner, it is in rectangular shape with a 12ft ridge on the top.

6. What kind of felt paper is good, 15lb or 30lb. By the way what they do.

7. We read that these days the ridge vent is very popular but we have 2 power vents right now. And we also read that that having 2 types of vents on a single roof is not recommended as it will short circuit the ventilations, please correct us if we are wrong. So our question is, shell we go with ridge vent only or stay with the power vents or the both . If ridge vents only is more prefered, we only have space for 12ft ridge, is it good enough for 40sq roof.

8. Regarding the roofer, he is not from some company, he is just on his own. So is it a good idea to work with him. We got the quotation from 3 different companies and this roofer. If we compare the information which we receive from all these 4 individuals, this roofer provide us the most info. I understand that all the rep from other 3 companies is just the sales person. But I just want to know what should we look before giving this job to anyone. Obviously this roofer is cheap but he has done some jobs around in our area and doing this work from years, please advice.

9. Regarding this roofer, he is also willing to do what we want. I was reading on somewhere 6 nails are better than 4 nails, and I’m sure that if we ask him some extra work, he will not refuse it. Anyway if we have to ask him something extra for long life our roof, what should we ask him.

10. Do we need a permit to for replacing the roof shingles.

Sorry for the lots of questions, and we will be highly appreciated if we can get some expert advise. Please advise if we are missing anything. We also love if we can also get some help from the members of contractortalk.com.
Kind regards,

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Gymschu

· #2 · Dec 26, 2012

Doost, there are lots of experts here in the roofing section that will come along with some professional answers to all your questions. In the meantime, use the "search" function at the top of the page and you will find dozens and dozens of topics that will fill in the blanks for you.

In your neck of the woods I'm sure there are some stringent building codes due to your location in a hurricane zone. I would strongly urge you to thoroughly check references and inspect past jobs of the roofer you wish to hire.

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joecaption

· #3 · Dec 26, 2012

Going to have to call the local building dept. to ask any code questions.
Hope this guy has a state licence, and full insurance. Do not just take his word for and, get a copy of the policy and follow up with a call to the company to make sure it's in force and covers roofing.
The best shingles in the world installed wrong are going to leak.
Pick the brand of shingles and go on line to print out the install directions.
If there not followed to the letter there's no warrenty.

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Windows on Wash

· #4 · Dec 26, 2012

If you have a bunch of hurricanes, have you considered a non-asphalt option?

I would also recommend a synthetic underlayment for blow off and water protection.

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Freind

· #5 · Dec 27, 2012

Windows on Wash said:
If you have a bunch of hurricanes, have you considered a non-asphalt option?.

So which brand is the Non Asphalt.
And b/w the GAF Timberline and CertainTeed Landmark Premium which one is good.
Thanks,

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Doost

Discussion Starter · #6 · Dec 27, 2012

Doost said:
Hello everyone,

We live in Kenner, La and me and my husband are doing some research about doing our complete roof job. And after doing all our research we got lot of information but we also get confuse on many stuff.

The info which we are looking for are as follows.

1. What is the difference between composite and asphalt shingles, and which one is better?

2. Our roofer provides us 3 brands, GAF Timberline, OC designers and Tamko. By reading on the contractor forum we learned about the CertainTeed. So we like to know that which one is better for our area where we have hurricanes a lot.

3. I see that all the brands have different types of shingles, like GAF has Timberline and Grand Canyon. So these are just the different design or the quality is also different.

4. If the different models in the same brand have different quality, which models are preferred for GAF and CertainTeed.

5. My roofer is telling us that he is only going to put felt paper underneath the shingles, but we also learnt about the underlay. So just the felt paper is good or we also need something else. Please note that my roof doesn’t have any dip corner, it is in rectangular shape with a 12ft ridge on the top.

6. What kind of felt paper is good, 15lb or 30lb. By the way what they do.

7. We read that these days the ridge vent is very popular but we have 2 power vents right now. And we also read that that having 2 types of vents on a single roof is not recommended as it will short circuit the ventilations, please correct us if we are wrong. So our question is, shell we go with ridge vent only or stay with the power vents or the both . If ridge vents only is more prefered, we only have space for 12ft ridge, is it good enough for 40sq roof.

8. Regarding the roofer, he is not from some company, he is just on his own. So is it a good idea to work with him. We got the quotation from 3 different companies and this roofer. If we compare the information which we receive from all these 4 individuals, this roofer provide us the most info. I understand that all the rep from other 3 companies is just the sales person. But I just want to know what should we look before giving this job to anyone. Obviously this roofer is cheap but he has done some jobs around in our area and doing this work from years, please advice.

9. Regarding this roofer, he is also willing to do what we want. I was reading on somewhere 6 nails are better than 4 nails, and I’m sure that if we ask him some extra work, he will not refuse it. Anyway if we have to ask him something extra for long life our roof, what should we ask him.

10. Do we need a permit to for replacing the roof shingles.

Sorry for the lots of questions, and we will be highly appreciated if we can get some expert advise. Please advise if we are missing anything. We also love if we can also get some help from the members of contractortalk.com.
Kind regards,

:whistling2:

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AndyWRS

· #7 · Dec 27, 2012 (Edited)

Disclaimer - I am a metal roofer

1. In my neck of the woods comp and asphalt shingles are the same animal. Unless you really meant composite roofing, which is more a type of roofing material and is not short for composition. However, composition or asphalt shingles are included in the composite roof types.

2. A lot of talk on the forums about the "best" shingles, there are preferred shingles, i dont think the members here would agree on 1 as being the best. All 4 you mentioned seem very common in California.

3. Yes both. 3 tab is very flat looking as oppose to the Grand cyn, they also have very different warranties because of it.

4. Depends on your budget.

5. Sounds like you have no valleys if its a rectangle. It would depend on your local building code if you need I&W shield. If i was planing on reroofing and staying in the home for many years i would probably put it I&W anyway but it may not be needed in your location.

6. Differing opinions here, i would never use anything less than 30lb but i think i read a few posts here about 15lb being ok. Its a moisture barrier.

7. I will channel joe for this one :yes: Ditch the power vent and install ridge venting... making sure you also have plenty of soffit venting.

8. Sounds a bit iffy to me. I feel a red flag on this one and Joe in the 2nd post provides good advice on this matter and others infact.

9. Your paying so he should be doing what you want. Again, i am not a comp roofer so i will differ to the comp pros as to any perfered installation details. Their is an abundance of infor on this specific topic if you just try a search.

10. No brainer, absolutely. Do not ask the roofer if you need one, call the city and find out. There is a 99% chance you will get screwed if the roofer tells you that you do not need a permit when infact you probably do.

Freind - WOW is refering to metal as the non asphalt option.

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Windows on Wash

· #8 · Dec 27, 2012

AndyWRS said:
Disclaimer - I am a metal roofer

1. In my neck of the woods comp and asphalt shingles are the same animal. Unless you really meant composite roofing, which is more a type of roofing material and is not short for composition. However, composition or asphalt shingles are included in the composite roof types.

2. A lot of talk on the forums about the "best" shingles, there are preferred shingles, i dont think the members here would agree on 1 as being the best. All 4 you mentioned seem very common in California.

3. Yes both. 3 tab is very flat looking as oppose to the Grand cyn, they also have very different warranties because of it.

4. Depends on your budget.

5. Sounds like you have no valleys if its a rectangle. It would depend on your local building code if you need I&W shield. If i was planing on reroofing and staying in the home for many years i would probably put it I&W anyway but it may not be needed in your location.

6. Differing opinions here, i would never use anything less than 30lb but i think i read a few posts here about 15lb being ok. Its a moisture barrier.

7. I will channel joe for this one :yes: Ditch the power vent and install ridge venting... making sure you also have plenty of soffit venting.

8. Sounds a bit iffy to me. I feel a red flag on this one and Joe in the 2nd post provides good advice on this matter and others infact.

9. Your paying so he should be doing what you want. Again, i am not a comp roofer so i will differ to the comp pros as to any perfered installation details. Their is an abundance of infor on this specific topic if you just try a search.

10. No brainer, absolutely. Do not ask the roofer if you need one, call the city and find out. There is a 99% chance you will get screwed if the roofer tells you that you do not need a permit when infact you probably do.

Freind - WOW is refering to metal as the non asphalt option.

+1

Good answers and yes, I was referring to metal.

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Doost

Discussion Starter · #9 · Dec 28, 2012

AndyWRS: Thanks for the detail reply.

We were reading that the CertainTeed is a very good brand. Today we spent 1/2 of the day to find this product in our area but no one carry this brand. We even contact the CertainTeen and they provide us some retailers name and they also don't have it. Just few bundles in one or two colors. So I'm wondering that are they in business.

In our area humidity is very high and we only have thermostat for our attic fans. So in the winter it stay close. We found that for the power fan, thermostat with humidistat control is recommended, but is it worth for our areas also, pls advise.

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AndyWRS

· #10 · Dec 28, 2012

Ask them if they can order what you want and how long it will take to get it. Even here in the middle of OC, CA our suppliers still need to order materials sometimes...not everyone can keep them in stock if its a popular shingle and/or color.

I am not sure i understand the second part of your last post. Powered attic fans will work, but most of us feel ridge venting is more complete venting. Also, with power attic fans you have the cost of the power they use. You could go solar power attic vents, but your paying a lot up front for them. Your still not getting the more complete venting a ridge vent will provide.

Another shingle i see being used a lot here is the Malarkey brand. If i recall, it was well liked also. We have only one comp crew and it does seem like this is the shingle they do most of the time.

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Doost

Discussion Starter · #11 · Dec 28, 2012 (Edited)

AndyWRS said:
Ask them if they can order what you want and how long it will take to get it. Even here in the middle of OC, CA our suppliers still need to order materials sometimes...not everyone can keep them in stock if its a popular shingle and/or color.

I am not sure i understand the second part of your last post. Powered attic fans will work, but most of us feel ridge venting is more complete venting. Also, with power attic fans you have the cost of the power they use. You could go solar power attic vents, but your paying a lot up front for them. Your still not getting the more complete venting a ridge vent will provide.

Another shingle i see being used a lot here is the Malarkey brand. If i recall, it was well liked also. We have only one comp crew and it does seem like this is the shingle they do most of the time.

They can order minimum of one load of a truck which is 200sq. By the way if you have to choose b/w the Landmark and Timberline, what would be your choice?

I meant that we already have 2 power vents and they are controlled by a regular Thermostat. It doesn’t have humidistat control and they stay off during all winter. In our area the humidity is very high and we were reading that for the power vents, the humidistat control is recommended so it can take out the humid air during the winter. My question was, as we live in a high humid area, do we need the humidistat control for the winter? Please see the listing no 390462175403 on ebay.

We were reading about the ridge vents and everyone one is recommending it. I also read that with the ridge vents no other vents should be emplace on the single roof. But in a near neighborhood around I have seen all the house which has the ridge vents, also have the turbine vents and it makes me confuse. By the way if we chose to go with the ridge vents, we have to block the power vents, right?

2nd we only have 12ft of space for the ridge vents, is it good enough for the 40sq roof?

3rd, as we already have power vents, is the ridge vents is still recommended, if yes is it a good idea to have both types of vents on a single roof.

Thanks,

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Roofmaster417

· #12 · Dec 28, 2012

Windows on Wash said:
+1

Good answers and yes, I was referring to metal.

+ 2,,,,sorry needed that extra post for my count.Trying to catch up with Joe Caption by New years,,,its my resolution.:thumbup: Rotflmao

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AndyWRS

· #13 · Dec 28, 2012

Well 200sq would be alot of waste:laughing: so thats out.

I am not familiar with humidistat controlled vents, thats a first for me. The only ones i see in So California are thermostatically controlled. I will let someone else weigh in on that.

Ridge vents should always be used in conjunction with soffit / eve venting. You will find a redonkulous amount of info on this if you search the forum here. So much so it is pointless to repeat it yet again. By the sounds of it you have too little ridge venting to eliminate the power vents. It is hard to advise on this without knowing what type of soffit venting and how much you currently have. As for the neighbors ridge vent and turbines that is laughable. The two should not be used together. They should add more soffit vents if needed and eliminate the turbines.

Blocking the power vents will only be needed if your doing a ridge vent. 12' of ridge does not sound like enough to vent the attic. But i dont know how large the attic is nor how much intake you have not counting the power vents.

You dont use power vents with a ridge vent. The power vents turn the ridge vent into an intake instead of exhast. It should be one or the other. In your case with a short ridge, you may be better off with the power vents instead of the ridge vent. It would help to see a roof plan with the vents shown and also pics of the soffit so we can see the venting.

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Windows on Wash

· #14 · Dec 29, 2012

Roofmaster417 said:
+ 2,,,,sorry needed that extra post for my count.Trying to catch up with Joe Caption by New years,,,its my resolution.:thumbup: Rotflmao

Good luck. :laughing:

He is a machine....

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