August 20, 2009

"The New Roof..." Q & A

I had some good comments on my The New Roof... post, plus some interesting questions, one of which really needed pictures to answer, so here they are.

That question would be Dorothy's, and it reminded me of one of the things I love about blogging. The blogosphere is one place where folks from all over the world can meet and converse about every topic under the sun. Since I started blogging about our house, I've had several interesting conversations about homes and how they're built in different parts of the world. I love it.

She asked about OSB board, which I assume is also used in the UK under a different name. I'll be curious as to what that is!

This is what OSB board looks like.OSB = "oriented strand board." It is an engineered wood product, made of strands of wood glued together. It comes in 4 by 8 foot sheets in a variety of thicknesses (1/2 inch was used for our roof) and is usually used as sheathing for walls, floors, and roofs. It is currently more common in the US than plywood.

Usually it is nailed directly to the roof rafters but in our case, it was nailed to the wood strips that I showed in you this photo. Felt paper was put on top of the OSB board, and the shingles were nailed on top of that.

Our shingles were the common 3-tab asphalt kind. Below is a photo of a scrap I saved that the roofers cut off. Full size ones are 36 by 12 inches, the three lengthwise "tabs" being the exposed, colored part of the shingle.

A scrap of asphalt shingleOurs is the most economical type, the base being is fiberglass. This is coated with an asphalt mixture, and then ceramic-coated mineral granules are applied on top of that.

Close-up of asphalt shingle surfaceThese not only add the color to the roof, but also protect it from the sun's ultraviolet rays and increases its fire resistance.

That is a super-oversimplified description! For a more details about the history of asphalt shingles and the process of making them, click here.

Sharon wondered if we had friends put the roof on. I have to confess that no we didn't. We went with an area, professional roofing and siding company. We still wish we could have done it ourselves.

And for those of you who prefer metal roofs and are you are willing to do it yourself, or can find a contractor who would be willing to let you buy the materials, try Metal Roofing Source. The have suppliers all over the US. Their online estimator quoted us approximately $3600 for the materials to do our roof in metal. If we could have done it ourselves, this would have been about half the price of having professional roofers put on an asphalt shingle roof. They are very DIY friendly, numbering every part to coordinate with the included diagram and complete instructions. I don't usually do a commercial pitch, but if we had had the time, this is what we would have done.

Finally, Flower asked about how I plan to use my dehydrated summer squash. I will answer that next time!

"The New Roof..." Q & A is copyright August 2009 

8 comments:

Woolly Bits said...

I think OSB is available in the uk under this name, too! over here it is called plywood, but there are different kinds, so this probably runs under the same name. our roofing is done very differently: normally we have a layer of roofing membrane and this is covered by either real slates or manmade ones, the latter being far more economical. of course there are some thatched cottages around, but finding a thather within a reasonable time space can be impossible and it is also quite expensive to put up and esp. look after! cheap covers would be corrugated metal, but those normally only for sheds etc... I think the houses always show very well, which materials were and are available locally!

Julie said...

I so enjoy blogging just for that reason. I have enjoyed meeting so many people from all over. And learning and getting idea's from them for my house and my crafts.

Renee Nefe said...

Unfortunately I have way too much experience in roofing with asphalt shingles! I'm so lucky that my DH would rather pay someone to do it...and it probably helps that my mortgage company insists on us paying someone to do it also. LOL!

Roofing is not fun. I'm so glad you got your new roof.

How much more do you have on your list that the insurance company is forcing you to do? And did you get your new chimney for the wood stove installed too?

Michelle said...

When we built our house I REALLY wanted a metal roof, too, but we just couldn't swing it with all the other things that went over budget. Sometimes it's tough living with reality!

DEEP END OF THE LOOM said...

I appreciated the pics of your new roof, coming from hurricane alley and having my house reroofed two years ago. Hiring professionals for this type of work is always the better route, I watch them work on ours and would never have taken on that task.

Leigh said...

Bettina, thanks for taking time to share. I think it is so interesting to hear how things are done in other parts of the world.

Julie, I agree about getting ideas. The internet is a great place to share and learn!

Renee, we still have the siding on the house to do, which actually the rough part is only about 15 - 20% of the whole house. Most of it was already covered with vinyl siding before we bought the place. Interestingly, the only thing the insurance company folks want photos of is the trees and roof. The other items they haven't mentioned again.

Fireplace/hearth/woodstove is in progress! I'm taking photos and will get them online one of these days.

Michelle, it seems as though reality is the anchor of life's dreams! It's really too bad metal roofs aren't more economical, since they're supposed to be superior.

Deep End, the best part about having pros do it is that now it's done and off our "to do" list! There's enough to do around here as it is, without having that hanging over our heads as a DIY project. Still, I'd be willing to try it once in my life. :)

Dorothy said...

We were sketching plans for the next stage of work on our house last night, and talking about putting in some underfloor insulation, and I suddenly thought of your roof. Where's the insulation, or don't you have any?

Dorothy said...

p.s. enjoyed learning more about yuor roof, thank you!