I put this in hip business in case anyone is thinking about getting a new roof , or needing one badly. My son informed me yesterday that Malarkey out of Portland (OR) is now making ALL their shingles rubberized. First time we used them was on sons house at the coast. Anyone that has been on a roof with regular shingles knows how much the granules come loose from the shingles. In fact , they can become downright dangerous to step on , particularly if the roof is steeper than 4 or 5 in 12. We lost no granules on the rubberized shingles that we could detect. We put them on my place in Springfield--same result. They were specialty shingles at 1st, but as I mentioned , they are all rubberized now. You can take them and roll them up, crunch them and they return to original shape. Can't do that with any other type that I've seen. Now mind you---I'm not making a nickel on bringing this up--I'm letting folks know because a roof is an expensive deal to go through, but I'm retired after a bunch of years roofing (yikes! almost 50!!) so I hope this will help make a good decision on choice. There are many, many other very good brands on the market and have been around for years and years and you can't really go wrong with them. It would be a smart idea to go on the net and check out any brands that you are considering. But IMO, rubberized is the way to go now. As I mentioned, roofing is costly, so I have known some folks that have those in their family that are capable of doing the work of tearing off the roofing prior to re-roofing--some money can be saved that way. I'm not recommending it--just sayin'. Get recommendations for your installer---and one thing to note--if you don't use a licensed contractor, you will have no recourse on fuck ups. Personal choice again. Ok--that's about it. I never liked installing comp shingles , although I have installed plenty along with hot roofing , the new types (vinyl--TPO for flat)that are sealed with heat guns, but I was mainly a wood shake and shingle man and I enjoyed it. I worked piecework when I worked for roofing companies before I started my own business. Wood has pretty much gone by the wayside these days--so it goes. ( if you bothered to read all of this--YOU PROBABLY NEED A ROOF!!)
You are welcome. I hope this helps some folks. I have some horror stories about roofing also!! It's been said that prostitution is the oldest trade. Uh-uh. Roofing is. Don't believe me? Next time you get a leak in your roof--call a prostitute!!
I hate flat roofing, hot asphalt is the only thing that lasts, but it is quite rare outside the commercial field. I use real slate with lead soakers and flashing, so my replacement roof on our family home is still fine after more than 50 years.
We have just had a Flat roof redone with rubber its guaranteed to last! before that we had our asphalt one replaced every fifteen years and the rubber ones can be repaired and weigh a lot less
But for how long and with how many loop holes in the guarantee. It is also dependent on the company still being in business if you get a problem. Most London theaters have a flat roof over the fly gallery to keep it in line with the pitched roof of the building. We use hot asphalt and most of them are 40 years+. It costs more than £20,000 for scaffolding alone to carry out any major repair, so the specification is high. It cost more than £250,000. for one of our flat roof buildings when the flashing's failed. I am surprised that you have had failures after 15 years. Did you use hot asphalt.? It is normally only felt and cold asphalt that fail in such a short time. Any finish can be difficult over wood, so perhaps that may be part of the problem.
Holy shit--250 bucks an hour for repairs!! The company sounds like a good and reliable company, but never heard of that pricing for repair.
I've gone to repair leaks where maybe the leak was a little failure on the neoprene collar of a plumbing stack, or something on the flashing that takes about 10 cents worth of caulking. I couldn't charge someone 250 bucks for a squirt of caulking that took me a few minutes to set up my ladder, find the leak and fix it. I just couldn't. Over the years I came across many like that and did not charge anything. Many times , we would get a call to replace their roof years later and many times they would use someone else. And so it goes. No biggie. We have an A-plus rating with the BBB, so there ya' go. An extensive repair gets charged accordingly, which is fair, IMO.
After 50 years, my new slate roof has a small leak at the edge or the lead valley. It seems to be running down the slate underfelt from further up and the felt may have failed. Unfortunately their is no internal access. If you happen to be driving through London, you will be welcome for a cup of tea. Needless to say, I may pick your brains at the same time.
Unfortunately, pretty well stuck in the states. Could use that tea. Good luck on tearing some roofing up--(probably)---Joel (Although , I would love a picture of what you think is the problem area up close)
Thats some pretty cool shit there @scratcho , almost makes me wish I needed a roof. On the bright side however my neighbor actually works with a lot of roofing contractors, act's as a go-between for clients & their insurers, I'll be sure to pass it along to her. Roofing That Fights Smog Pollution: The 50 Best Inventions of 2018
Thanks Fritz. Malarkey is tops in my book. All their rubberized shingles are what we use. ( I say we--I mean my boys--the fuckheads won't let me on the roof any more--just cuz I'm 81!)
