A Metal Roof

You may have noticed the sad state of our roof in past posts.  People (namely my father) have been telling me I need a new one for a while now.  Lucky for me, my brother-in-law Josh is a professional roofer.  He convinced us to go with a metal roof, which is more durable and will last longer than traditional asphalt shingles.  We are the first in our neighborhood to have a metal roof… trendsetters! 

Josh and his team came Saturday morning to install our new roof.  I want you to know that I woke up at 7am to get these pictures for you!  Well that, and my sister and my nephew were along for the day, so I had to get up to play with them! :)

We sat outside and watched the transformation.  First step:  roll out felt underlayment on the existing roof.  Our existing roof was needing to be replaced but not so bad that we had to tear it all off and start on the bare wood.  So they just put the new roof over the old one.  The felt was hammered into the old roof.  Riley didn’t like that part, she hid in the bathroom the whole time.  Bandit was under the bed. :)

Next, trim away all the shingles that overhang the edges and the gutters.  Don’t make a mess or you are fired! :) haha!  They didn’t make a mess, actually, that’s what the wheelbarrow was for.

Next, start putting the metal sheets on the felt.  These were screwed down.

After all the roofing is on a particular section, cap the edge with a piece of trim called a “rake” or gable trim.  There’s also a little piece of trim around the chimney.  When the whole roof is finished, a ridge cap goes on the very top peak of the roof.

Next you drill holes for the ice breaks along the edge of the front and back.  Ice breaks are these little metal pieces that line the edge of the roof and stick up a bit so after it snows and the snow/ice start to slide off a very slippery metal roof, it will be broken into small pieces before falling to the ground.  Without ice breaks the snow will come sliding off in one giant piece and if you happen to be walking under the eave at that exact moment, you will be crushed by the falling snow.  How dramatic!  Alternatively if no one is walking under, the giant wall of snow will crush my hydrangea bushes.  So hopefully the ice breaks will prevent that.  Anyway, drill holes, then put a dab of Storm Blaster sealant in each hole before screwing in the ice break. 

That is all, you are done!  Josh and his team finished our roof in two and a half hours!  And now I don’t have to worry about replacing my roof again for 40 years!  Can’t beat that warranty!  :)

The new black roof looks so nice with our black door and shutters. :)  Now I just need someone to come pressure wash my gutters!

It’s such an improvement over our old roof, which was really looking rough.  See?

Yay!  Thanks Josh and your team for your very hard work!

Disclaimer:  If I inadvertently forgot any steps or used incorrect roofing lingo, it is because I am not a professional roofer.  And I was in the house playing matchbox cars with Ruger for most of the morning, so my note-taking may have suffered.  If you are in the market for a metal roof and you live in the NC Piedmont, contact Classic Metals at (336) 248-2474.  They know how it’s done!