Roof Replacement
Hi All, Our Roof was ripped off in the tornado last week. We are in the process of working with the insurance company to replace it. It will be a full rip-off and replacement as 2/3 of the roof is literally gone. I have had 4 Roofer’s come by and all have mentioned different things….
Hi All, Our Roof was ripped off in the tornado last week. We are in the process of working with the insurance company to replace it. It will be a full rip-off and replacement as 2/3 of the roof is literally gone.
I have had 4 Roofer’s come by and all have mentioned different things.
1. Material. I am hearing TPO and SBS. They have not really given reasons why one is better than the other. One person said TPO gives me an energy star rating and a tax credit, but I have heard other issues with bad installations of TPO (it is heat welded together).
2. Insulation: There was not one bit of insulation under the old roof. 1 person said Roll R20 insulation in yourself when it is open and then put Tyvek over that. Another said screw foam insulation over the new plywood base.
Another said that the house absolutely needs that empty space in between roof and top floor ceiling to “breathe” and if I put R20 in the top floor would be very hot in the warm months.
Can anyone help me sort out the reality here?
Thanks
MarionG and BrklynRes Thanks. That was very useful. I have been offered the Firestone SBS modified Bitumen roof from a couple of roofers. I will make sure it is the white granular. How is this kind of roof for walking on? Or building a deck over in the future?
The roof is completely open so I could roll in insulation. No need to blow it in.
Does anyone know if putting R20 insulation in the empty space between and then a moisture barrier on top of that below all roofing materials is a good or bad idea? I have heard that it needs that airspace to exchange humidity with outside air.
Check your insurance policy. If you have coverage which pays for meeting local laws (Ordinance) you are entitled to a better roof than just replacing what was there previously. Insulation can be blown into the cock loft and R-39 is the way to go; will save you many bucks in the future. Proper venting must accompany this. As for color, go for a white granular modified bitumen which Firestone offers. No need to apply aluminum paint every few years. The Firestone warranty is worth the extra bucks for any possible material failure. If you don’t blow in the insulation the boards can be screwed down to the new plywood deck but R value is not as great. Make sure pitch and drainage is good and that your scuppers, leaders and flashing are properly installed. This is a one time opportunity to do a great job.
Good luck.
As always, I recommend you check with the highly reputable Premier Roofing before you hire anybody else..
Roof insulation in our region should be closer to R38 according to most of the documentation I’ve encountered. Insulating right pays for itself over time. You might have a good opportunity to do this now. Later might more difficult to do. Good luck.
From the insurance company’s perspective, they need to pay to replace your roof with substantially the same Kind and Quality of the one that was there before.
If you want to upgrade to a more energy efficient or higher quality roof, they will pay you what they estimate the roof should cost to replace based on what was there and you are on the hook for the difference. Unless you can point to a specific code issue that would prevent you from going back with the same type of roof you had, you are going to be out of luck.
Think of it like car insurance – You total your Chevy and ask for them to replace it with a Mercedes. What would you do if you were the insurance company?
If you are installing a new roof and filing the work with the NYC Department of Buildings, it will need to meet the current NYC Energy Code requirements. Just as the insurance company would not install a structurally unsound roof, now they must not install a roof that is energy inefficient.
remyching, sorry to hear about the damage, but it sounds like you’re going to get a brand new baby roof delivered!
TPO is basically a single ply rubber roof over insulation which has been fastened to the deck of your roof. Teh roofing plys are seam welded to cover the entire roof. Roofing penetrations are sealed in a similiar manner. I imagine the tax credit is a result of the ease of installation, including the optional white surface which would reflect heat.
SBS is a multi ply modified bitumen (usually hot tar applied) system installed over your roof insulation. If your roof structure is wood a hot tar applied system is not allowable by code due to the burning hot kettle needed. There are cold applied SBS systems that are mopped down which work very well. Roofing penetrations are sealed with the hot or cold tar (which gets everywhere, i mean everywhere) as well.
Insulation is usually a polyisocyanurate board about 2-3″ thick which should cover the whole of the roof. In addition to insulation the board is used to create pitches/high/low points around the perimeter of the roof to scuppers, drains, or gutters. Insulation will do its job, which is to insulate from the heat as well as the cold. Consider vents or an extra air conditioner if it gets unbearable for some reason.
If you want to, and depending on the roofing system, consider going for a 10 or 20 year ndl (no dollar limit) roof warranty. This usually involves a regional rep from the roofing manufacturer to inspect the roof before, during, and after installation to make sure it is installed to specification in order to issue a certificate. Johns Manville, Firestone(TPO), and Siplast are a few good systems to start with. If you do decide to get a warranty, make sure that the installer is certified by the manufacturer.
My Insurance company wants to do the cheapest roof they can with no insulation. Some of those opinions were from them. When I said I wanted a better roof hatch (like a bilco) since the old one was destroyed (Well you can pay for that…), When I said I wanted insulation for an Energy Star roof (well we will have to check on that to see if it is covered)
This is important, because there are new laws in place I have heard of. If you fully replace do not install an energy star roof and then sell your place, the buyer may be able to make you put an energy star roof on at your cost…
I don’t want the cheapest roof on if I have to fully rip off and replace.
I wouldn’t expect you would want to totally reply upon them, but I suspect your insurance company might want to weigh in here? Anyone?