Shingles vs. metal roof and other housing options

[MN Gardener]

We are in the process of planning the house we are going to live in until we get too old to live alone. We are 40 and are hoping to not have to make huge repairs to the house for the rest of our lifetime (I know....I am dreaming!). We are trying to decide which is our best option, a shingle roof or a metal roof and vinyl siding vs. faux rock and fiber cement board. We live in northern MN and will be building a one story house with attached garage on a slab with in floor heat. We are also making it handicap accessible in case we ever become unable to walk. Any suggestions? Lets hear them all!

[o&itw]

Originally Posted by MN Gardener

We are in the process of planning the house we are going to live in until we get too old to live alone. We are 40 and are hoping to not have to make huge repairs to the house for the rest of our lifetime (I know....I am dreaming!). We are trying to decide which is our best option, a shingle roof or a metal roof and vinyl siding vs. faux rock and fiber cement board. We live in northern MN and will be building a one story house with attached garage on a slab with in floor heat. We are also making it handicap accessible in case we ever become unable to walk. Any suggestions? Lets hear them all!

If you are going to have an inside wood-burning appliance, by all means, go with the metal roof.

[knoche]

There are a few questions in there...
I am a huge fan of metal roofs but not everyone is. They can be noisy of not installed properly. There are really two choices for long lived, environment friendly, fire safe roofing - tile or metal.
For metal I would tend to go with a standing seam continuous pan installation. There are lots of choices to make as to which metal and finish. There is also some concern as to what should go under it. My next home will likely have a metal roof.
My current house has light weight concrete flat tile. I had concerns about how it would hold up to high winds, hail and freeze/thaw here in Colorado but it has done very well and we have no issues. Traditional tile and slate (or there stone) are very nice too but natural stone is very expensive and transportation only adds to that. They are also very heavy requiring structural engineering adding to the cost of the structure.

Asphalt shingles are cheap and that is about all that can be said for them. Even the 30 year shingles generally only last 10-20 years and there is no guarantee the warranty will be honored (done that three times, not again). Not a good environmental choice either.
Oh, and they burn.
Wood shake should never be used. The only place they aren't a huge fire risk, they rot.

If you plan to add photovoltaics to the roof you need to think this through carefully.
A standing seem metal roof can accommodate traditional solar panels using clips that attach rails to the standing part of the seam. Traditional panels are more common and lower cost/watt.
Tile requires a different strategy. We have solar tiles from Open Energy where each solar tile replaces two of the lightweight concrete tiles and they integrate very nicely (except for color). We have 5kw on the roof now. Works well but choices are much fewer and slightly more costly.

Rain water collection is much easier with metal roofing. Ice is less of an issue.

For exterior covering I like stucco (what we have on our current house), fiber cement board, and stone veneer (synthetic or real stone). Our next house will likely use all three. The underlying structure for our next house will be ICFs and all interior framing will be lightweight steel with paperless drywall and plaster skim coat.

Good choice of radiant in floor heat. Also for the next house...

If you aren't in a city with a paid professional fire fighting service and sub 10 minute response I strongly suggest you make your dwelling as fire proof/resistant, inside and out, as possible. Our next house will be all electric with no combustion in the dwelling.
Beware of brush fire potential and manage as necessary.
Since your heating requirements probably dictate burning a fuel I suggest doing so in an out building or by making sure there are no combustibles in the boiler area and that it is air tight from the habitable portion of the dwelling (we have had quite a serious run of fatal CO poisonings here lately) and you have adequate CO detectors/alarms. Sealed combustion boilers are now common and far more efficient anyway.

Accessible design is always a good idea. You never know what may happen to change you life.

Good luck!

[Jenn]

I am so glad I got my metal roof. Not noisy, and while expensive I was getting real tired of having the roofer in every 3-6 months to replace more shingles every time it rained hard. Not all asphalt shingle roofs (ours was only 3 years old) are that crappy I must admit- they probably had the nailgun pressures improperly adjusted- but the roof cost about $1000 a year to maintain and our attic was a broiling oven all summer under the black shingle. Now under metal colored Galvalume the attic is cooler and no repairs expected for 50-100 years. Will pay for itself in roof repairs (adjusted for inflation) in 15 years. Also they have glue on flexible solar stuff I may get put on when we are certain we won't move for a while longer. (Though the trad solar panels ARE cheaper)

[The Paw]

I would absolutely go with metal.

Given where you live, my advice would be to make the pitch as steep as you can in your design. A steeper pitch with metal makes it much harder for snow to accumulate. If you do get snow accumulation, then make provisions for the periodic avalanches.

I have a 1910 metal roof on my front porch, on the leeward side. Every year about 10-16 inches of snow accumulates. Then a warm day comes along, and it slides off with no warning at all. Even though the porch is only 8 feet wide, it sounds like a freight train. Busted the front stairs up twice.

[MushCreek]

I agree with the metal roofing- it lasts way longer, and is fireproof. Same for fiber cement siding. We're even thinking about using steel SIP's- one less thing to burn, and even termites won't eat 'em!

[Common Tator]

Don't think of tile as fireproof. When we get our California wildfires we lose lots of houses with tile roofs. The wind blows embers under the tiles where water can't reach, then starts a fire in the attic. A strong wind can blow hundreds of embers under the tiles. A big fire will create it's own weather system and winds.

When we replace the roof at our mountain ranch, it will be with metal.

[Jenn]

Let me say again how glad I am with my metal roof- for a year or two I envied all the metal roofs I saw- got boring to whomever was walking or driving with me. Then we finally got ours. Every day I drive home to it and every time I see a metal roof I STILL feel happy and now kinship not envy with all the other happy metal roof owners. And I know building a new house is expensive, but every house going up I pray (and say if I know them) "Please get a metal roof!"

[Maura]

Metal. We were going to put metal on our present house, but just couldn't budget it. Metal is not only fireproof, but if your roof is struck by lightning, the charge is distributed across the roof rather than burning a hole in it.

I would not put a slab in. If you don't want a basement, I suggest a crawl space. The resale value is much better (you never know what will happen). More important (to me anyway) is the wear and tear concrete takes on your joints. Carpeting wears faster on concrete than on subfloor. Falling on concrete is worse for you. Florida did a survey some years ago and found that elderly people fared worse with a slab floor than a subfloor. Either way, in-floor heat is the way to go. We used RadiantTech.

Get the book, Building for a Lifetime. We used much of the advice given.

[arabian knight]

Metal, no doubt about it, as long as it is installed properly.

[Ramblin Wreck]

I love my metal roof too. As for siding, brick or rock is probably best. I have the faux rock around my foundation, and it has held up well. Folks here seem happy with the fiber/cement siding, and if I had it to do over, I'd probably go with that. I cut wood siding for my house, and it has been more maintenance than I would like. I painted it last year with a Sherwin Williams product called "Duration", which I hope will hold up for a while. One brother and one sister have vinyl siding on their houses, and they like it. I'm just not a fan of it, but it seems to work fine.

[soulsurvivor]

Ky is getting a reputation for huge ice storms, the one recently plus another hailstorm one some years back. The only roof to have is metal. We got ours put on 2 years ago and have never regretted it. It was expensive but at least we don't have to worry about repairing shingles or replacing the entire roof ever again.

well, unless a tornado comes along...

[Paul Wheaton]

Any suggestions? Lets hear them all!

Okay, this is probably going to sound crazy, but I do think it is worthy of consideration ...

A year ago I was looking into building a pole structure hay shed, and I might need to throw some straw bales in there really quick to have a place to live for a short while until I can build something better. Something to get me through a montana winter. I did lots and lots of reading and several books kept leading me to a book on a topic that I wanted nothing to do with: $50 and up underground house book.

Finally, I got a copy of the book just to get the info out of it that I was seeking. The book is really short and to the point. The first point is that he does not care for any of the other underground house designs and goes on a really long rant about that.

In the end, my thinking was that it wasn't really an underground house at all. But, rather, a pole structure house with a freakishly cheap green roof (about two feet of soil). He was getting light into the structure from all four directions.

My purpose was to build something really fast and cheap. It sounds like this structure goes up three times faster than conventional homes. And the cost is about a tenth.

Here is a picture of the inside of a home - the picture is taken with natural light:



If my memory is accurate, the house cost $8000 to build and has eight bedrooms.

[VERN in IL]

With the resurgence of "steel roofs" I am just wondering why did "Tin" roofs go out of style years ago?

[ET1 SS]

I went with metal.

Spray foam on the underside 2 inches thick, and then 9 inches of fiberglass makes it totally silent.

Our stove pipe goes through it, and I have to wonder, even if I had a stove pipe fire, who cares? it is a metal roof, and 2 foot of snow outside on the ground. When there is nothing combustible then what is the worry?


I think that metal roofs are the best.

[arabian knight]

Originally Posted by VERN in IL

With the resurgence of "steel roofs" I am just wondering why did "Tin" roofs go out of style years ago?

Because of just that, a switch from Cheap tin, to real good quality Steel~! And the metal roofs for pool barns are not of the same quality as those for houses either. For houses it is much better quality steel then used on barns or poll sheds.

[Freeholder]

Originally Posted by Paul Wheaton

Okay, this is probably going to sound crazy, but I do think it is worthy of consideration ...

A year ago I was looking into building a pole structure hay shed, and I might need to throw some straw bales in there really quick to have a place to live for a short while until I can build something better. Something to get me through a montana winter. I did lots and lots of reading and several books kept leading me to a book on a topic that I wanted nothing to do with: $50 and up underground house book.

Finally, I got a copy of the book just to get the info out of it that I was seeking. The book is really short and to the point. The first point is that he does not care for any of the other underground house designs and goes on a really long rant about that.

In the end, my thinking was that it wasn't really an underground house at all. But, rather, a pole structure house with a freakishly cheap green roof (about two feet of soil). He was getting light into the structure from all four directions.

My purpose was to build something really fast and cheap. It sounds like this structure goes up three times faster than conventional homes. And the cost is about a tenth.

Here is a picture of the inside of a home - the picture is taken with natural light:



If my memory is accurate, the house cost $8000 to build and has eight bedrooms.

I have this book, and love it. I've always wanted a sod roof (metal roofs are second on my list). You are right, his houses are more above-ground, bermed, and with a sod roof, than really underground houses. I'd build on top of the ground without digging down at all, then back-fill for the berms and the roof.

Kathleen

[Beeman]

Most roofs are improperly installed which is what shortens the life of them. Both metal and fiberglass shingles can be installed wrong, Much has to do with the construction of the building as much as it does the materials of the roof. Do a lot of research and question everything a contractor tells you, they are motivated by profit not perfection.

www.metalroofing.com is a good resource.

[VERN in IL]

Originally Posted by arabian knight

Because of just that, a switch from Cheap tin, to real good quality Steel~! And the metal roofs for pool barns are not of the same quality as those for houses either. For houses it is much better quality steel then used on barns or poll sheds.

Well, yeah if you don't do ANY maintaince to tin, it will rust away. But I'll bet you that a tin roof that is painted every 8 years with aluminum paint will outlast a maintance free modern roof in many years down the road.

What is a paint job every 8 years?(and the stuff comes coated)

The two main strengths of a tin roof are its cheap price and excellent durability against the environment.(Rainwater will not erode a tin roof because tin is not corroded by water and salt.) A properly installed/maintained tin roof is just as good, if not better than the pricey new steel roofs.

[Beeman]

I think we've got a little confusion here, A tin roof isn't tin. An old house might have a steel roof with a coating that might contain tin just like a tin can. What most are referring to is a steel roof with a galvanized coating. This is what you see on many barns. Either way it's all steel but the newer have durable paint and coatings that eliminate painting as maintenance.