Salesman is coming over to give me an estimate on a new roof for our house. Two-story colonial with no fancy dormers. I expect they will try to shaft us and sell us something we don't need. I want shingles with copper to keep staining down, and I want ice dam protection, but other than that, I don't really know much else. Are there any roofers on here who could give me a crash course in what to get, what to avoid? Thanks.

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2009 E320 Bluetec 117,000
1995 E300D 306,000 Sold
1996 Ford Taurus LX 130,000 Sold
1985 300TD Still 225,000 Sold
2016 Ford Fusion 24,900

Depending on your age and some other factors you might consider a sheet steel roof. Esthetically they look ok on some houses and look bad on others.

Good ones should easily outlast shingles several times. The life of shingles as a general rule depends on how much ventalation the roof has. If you have had ice dams your ventalation is possibly inadaquate. Even a peak vent helps.

Get the labor and prices for materials broken out ie: itemized, per square shingle pricing - for comparison with other contractors/outfits.

Ask for a copy of their insurance company liability insurance to be sent BY THEIR carrier company direct to you.

Make certain they are licensed and have workmans comp. with the state.

Last time around I elected to go with 30 year architectural grade shingles. They look nice, last a longer time than the cheezy 20 year base/entry-level shingles, and at the time were only $5.00 a square higher. A square is 10'X10' coverage, ie: 100 Square Feet.

Unless you have serious cosmetic or esthetic concerns, consider a metal roof. You do it once and you're finished with it for life and insurance will be cheaper.

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Is this going to be an overlay or a teardown?
Just a thought: My best friend needed a new roof a few years ago, so he went to Home Depot and contracted with them for the job. He had maybe an 1800 sf rancher. His job was a tear down to the sheathing. HD contrtactor showed up at 7:00 am and gone by 6 or 7 pm. You would have never known they were there.

A couple of years later I needed a new garage double door. Went to HD, picked the door I wanted, they shipped to my place, contractor was from 90 miles up the road. He showed up on time, changed the door and was gone with the old door in about two hours.

If HD or Lowes has what you want in roofing material, give it some thought. You will get what you want, when you want it.
I'll need a new roof in 3-5 years and I won't think twice about going there for a price.

This will be a teardown. Homeowner's association wont approve a metal roof. The Lowes or Home Depot idea is a good one. Thanks everyone.

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2009 E320 Bluetec 117,000
1995 E300D 306,000 Sold
1996 Ford Taurus LX 130,000 Sold
1985 300TD Still 225,000 Sold
2016 Ford Fusion 24,900

As others said, the metal roofs are the best. for every 10 roofs that was redone here in town, 9 of them have been done with metal roofing.

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Too bad about the Homeowner Assn Nazis, but you should have known.
For anyone else out there, down south, painted metal is the way to go. Out off white roof saves us about $15/mo in cooling costs and should never need replacement.

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80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)

I'm with the many others. Metals roofs are best. I put one on my own house 23 yrs ago and it's still like new. There are metal shingles available. Your homeowner's association might approve those. There's a house in our neighborhood that is about 120 yrs old. It still has the original metal shingles. Rusted now but still working.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

and have about decided to go with metal. Thinking green or brown. Wonder what red would look like? Any thoughts or suggestions on colors?

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Jim

2 years ago Lowe's Home Improvment had a one time 10% discount for up $500 worth of stuff you could apply for.
I appplied on their Website and recieved Mine, never got to use it as I Broke My Hip and it expired.
But, they may still have that discount.

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

there ya go.friends brother put them on his house.they are heavy duty to say the least.they look just like normal shingles.they have a 50 yr warranty.and will drop your insurance.BUT they are not cheap.i think they run something like 80 to 100 bucks a square.BUT you will never touch the roof again.

Look into Hardie Shake roofing shingles, if you're looking for some sort of upgrade to the tar shingles.

25 years ago, I was an indy repping their Hardie Tile Backer board in Texas/Oklahoma. Good stuff. Hardie materials are made utilizing a cement slurry base, mixed with wood/paper, then autoclaved for I believe 24 hours to cure the extruded building material. They are also able to be colored in the manufacturing process, so you can have a medley of colors in shades in your roof shingles.

Match the 911.

With the wall color of course any color on the roof would look fine. Red is more likely to fade than green, I believe, in general.

I'll be needing to roof my house one of these days and there is a lot of shingles on it and the carriage house. 60 squares or so. I have thought of doing metal. I'm not sure I'd like the look though of the less expensive metal roof systems though and the standing seam copper would cost hugely.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Metal roof products work better with a steeper pitched roof. A flatter roof is better with shingles. A flat roof is a built-up roof.

A complex roof with lots of hips and valleys would be tricky to roof with metal and should be attempted by only the best roofers.

Metal coatings can be paint or ceramic. Ceramic wears like stone but is brittle. Galvanized probably won't fly with the HOA.

Standing seam is better and I think it is not exclusively copper anymore. Copper roofs are crazy expensive. Shingles are way higher than they used to be too. Standing seam can be fabricated on site or factory seamed.

Be sure your roofer uses fasteners that are compatible with your roofing material. Corroded fasteners weaken and stain surrounding materials.

I need to refresh my building knowledge. We closed on our ten acre place and it is a fixer-upper from hell. That is what I get for being a cheap-ass bastard. I am going to have my own little farm with recreational areas and a vintage MX track. HOA? Zoning? None.