Shooting shack construction underway!

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
I cannot imagine why a steel roof would run an additional $25K over shingles. The labor savings alone should have been in favor of steel. But, to each their own.

Shingles may be an affordable solution if we're talking 3 tabs over an existing roof. If you're talking good quality shingles then we're talking near twice the money or more depending on what you go for, and if you're talking having to tear off 3 or 4 old layers (or 7 in one case I saw!) then the costs even out. I would never put shingles on a new home up here. But I'm in wind and snow country. Maybe in milder climes shingles do better.
 

Winelover

North Central Arkansas
Metal roofs run way more than 50 year shingles. I priced them here and back in Michigan. Cheaper to do them with new construction, because a tear off is required..............unless you want the shingles to bleed through, after the sun beats down all Summer long. I saved about $15K by opting for Owens Corning Lifetime Architectural shingles, over quotes I got for metal, on this new house build. Figured the shingles would outlast me anyways.

Another reason is that metal will amplify hard rain and hail. Hail will also dent metal roofs, and we do get quite a bit of it, down in the South. If your in a heavy snow prone area.................you cannot keep gutters on your eaves. Snow builds up then avalanches down. Plus, you will have large mounds of snow where you might not want it. IE, in front of your garage doors, depending on which way your garage roof slopes.

YMMV, but this is what I found out, when I did my due diligence.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
Hail is a very real thing in the Midwest.
Not many steel roofs around here.
 

fiver

Well-Known Member
plenty of them here.
along with pitched roofs so steep you have to throw a rope over the top just to think about climbing the ladder to get on one.
it cost me 7500$ to have the metal roof done on my place.
it cost me about 500$ to do the porch myself. [a little more for the tar paper I put under it as a sound deadener]

a different type of metal and system is gonna be about 200$ to do my shed with the almost flat roof.
I want the metal to make it easier to pull the snow off.
 

Brad

Benevolent Overlord and site owner
Staff member
My nderstanding is that steel roofs and steep pitches are more common in the “far north” because the snow will slide off instead of becoming a a massive weight on the structure.
We don’t get that kind of snow.
 

Bret4207

At the casting bench in the sky. RIP Bret.
As I've said before, any hail that will damage a steel roof will also damage a shingle roof. I don't know why you are seeing steel so much higher, it's not much of a difference here in the end. And you want the snow to come off the roof, not stay there waiting for a nice rain so the roof will collapse. I think we've had this discussion before. If you can't keep your gutters on that's not the fault of the steel. Same for building a roof without a gable end over your garage doors, or at least "crickets". I have yet to personally see anyone with a 25 or 30 year shingle warranty get a new roof, but I've seen a lot of people try-usually 8-12 years into it. I put architectural, premiuim grade shingle on our house maybe 10 years back. They aren't going to last another 20, that's for sure.
 
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Winelover

North Central Arkansas
I'm in tornado alley. Owens Corning roof that I had installed rated for 220 mph winds, with a lifetime warranty. In eight years no sign of any damage, including hail. However, the aluminum trim on the front of the house is dented from hail, as is, the roof and hood of my van when it got caught outside. Had the exact same roof installed on the detached garage. I had built this Spring. Both match perfectly after 8 years. I'm satisfied and have home owners insurance to cover calamities. Insurance will cover storm damage to shingled roofs................not so sure they will cover cosmetic damage to metal roofs.
 

KeithB

Resident Half Fast Machinist
I live in south western Indiana, we get a lot of gusty blowing weather also. Our house has a shingle roof. Around here 20 years is about what you can expect from even the best shingles. The mini storage buildings we used to own (Morton buildings) had a steel roof. The first one we had built was 23 years old when we sold it and the roof was perfect. We get the normal amount of hail and blowing debris and yet there was very little cosmetic damage and no structural damage at all. That's why we were able to get top dollar when we sold it. Do not compare a top notch fully supported baked on finish steel roof to some kind of aluminum or thin steel hardware store panels.

Probably some difference in insurance coverage between commercial and residential properties.

We are putting up an all steel (including roof) building with the confidence that 20 years from now (I plan to retire and take it easy at 85) when we sell the business it will still have the original roof.
 

RBHarter

West Central AR
I get the high pitches up north and in the mountain west . But the short eves and steep pitches here in the T alley fringe and just out of hurricane reach make me scratch my head .

My best guess is the short eves don't catch enough wind to lift and the steep pitches run the water of fast enough to get it away from the house ......... Maybe it's to mimize nesting opportunity for spiders , wasps , and birds ......

Hail dents or not I'll take a metal roof every time .
I don't really see the need for much over a 4-12 pitch , it's about as steep as is safe for metal roof walking and other roof work . 12-18" snows will mostly slide off in a few days unless they hard freeze . While they don't "shoot" water off the edges they run plenty fast enough .

Gables , turrets , hips , and valleys are an engineers/architects revenge against a framers and/or roofers youthful error in judgement of a lady at the bar and getting caught .......why , why , why would anyone put over 4 pitches on any roof other than vengeance ?
 

KeithB

Resident Half Fast Machinist
Let me add that just from my own observations when we have a bad hailstorm around here you see a lot more damaged cars than you do damaged roofs. I'm not at all impressed with the resistance of modern car body sheet metal to minor impact damage.
 

KeithB

Resident Half Fast Machinist
There is an all steel-house just a few blocks from here. Is it some kind of trendy piece of architecture, or a pole-barn-turned-house,? Oh no. Its a SEARS & ROEBUCK house sold as a kit through a mail order catalog. Not sure if it was pre- or post-WWII but it is of that era so you figure the age. And it is in perfect shape. Not sure about any repairs over the years but it has a steel roof and exterior walls.

Rick, I haven't had a chance to get to site since Friday morning (no activity at 9am) so I don't know. I will check later today. Hired a tree service to cut out trees and treat weeds along right of way. Supposed to have chance of rain for next few days but dry from Wednesday on so they plan to spray when the wind is calm and no rain to wash off roundup. Progress is slow but it is real progress, just have to be patient.

I keep telling myself that patience is a virtue, but I never really wanted to be a virtuous SOB, just a half fast machinist. :headbang:
 

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
Ever been under a steel roof in a hail storm, Brad? I have. The noise level was literally deafening. We were at
the range, and the hail was nickel sized, yet we all had our hearing protection on, and it was almost impossible
to communicate. Max volume yelling at range of 12" would barely suffice. I suppose steel would survive large
hail better than asphalt shingles, but it would look so bad you'd probably replace it anyway.
We had 2.5-3" hail here a couple of years ago, new roofs on home and shop under insurance. The damage was
amazing. But it never leaked. I do believe that would have caused substantial cosmetic damage to a steel
roof.....but maybe not, perhaps it is tougher than I imagine. I have installed galvanized steel roofing on
a shop building with my father many years ago. It stood up for at least 20 years before we moved.

Keith, it would be interesting to know what surface coating is used on the steel house. Maybe just paint it with
oil based paint every 5 years or so? Of course much of that sort of exterior siding has some baked on coatings
which are supposed to be very durable.....but 70 years?! If it is original, I would be quite impressed.

I have never heard of that kind of a roof, winelover, that is impressive. I have done some engineering design
work for high wind loads on walls and the loads are pretty amazing. 220 mph roof shingles is flat out
amazing, must be a heck of a good design. Now, keeping the whole roof assembly attached to the
walls at that speed....a whole added challenge. And then keeping the walls attached to the foundation,
is the next issue. Most homes are held down by their weight and toenails of the studs into the plates
which are bolted every 6 or 8 ft to the foundation. There are better designs, but they are mostly ignored.

Bill
 
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fiver

Well-Known Member
oh man an open type steel roof is loud.
if it is under laid and backed, it isn't nearly as bad, not even by half.
 

Winelover

North Central Arkansas
My house is ICF construction. Reinforced Insulated Concrete Forms. Roof is the weakest part........Simpson hurricane straps tie it down to the wooden plate that is anchored to the cement walls, around the perimeter. Exterior walls are R-55 value. Two inches of foam on both sides of a 6" poured concrete wall that is reinforced with re-bar.
 

Winelover

North Central Arkansas
:embarrassed:I had my figures mixed up. Two twenty suck in my mind ....................that's the walls. Owen's Corning Duration shingles have a 130 MPH rating. Hell getting old.....................memory fades.
 

Pistolero

Well-Known Member
Even 130 mph is a heck of a roof rating. I was designing fiberglass stud walls for 185 mph wind, the design limit
was no more than 1" deflection, which will pop the sheet rock and cause an insurance claim. I got the design
done right, pultruded fiberglass I beams, 5.5" thick walls. I had to go to bonded joints, screwed ones had
too much slop. Rooskies were going to make the beams for a US company. Ultimately, the 20% added cost
over wood walls, even though they were 185 mph rated, didn't sell.
Simpson strapping is the way to tie stuff together, for sure. Sounds like a home that is hell for stout and
not going to worry about the big bad wolf huffing and puffing, plus it has to be easy on heating and cooling
bills, too.

And bulletproof, too. :)

Bill
 

Winelover

North Central Arkansas
The best thing is, ICF construction, runs only about 10% over stick built. Structurally, sound and better insulation. Pretty much tornado/hurricane, insect, and fire proof.