Shingles

[8-Ball]

How about the felt? Is it all the same? Im assuming 30 lb. felt, right?

[Gordie]

No it is not all the same there is 30lb and 15lb your first two rows have to be ice and water barrier and then you can use the felt and 15lb is fine unless the city you live in requires different.

I also like to use the water and ic e in the valleys.

[8-Ball]

Thx Gordie...

[chad austin]

8-Ball, what is the pitch of your roof?

As far as the Ice and Water goes, it must extend from the lowest edges of all roof surfaces to a point at least 24" inside the exterior wall line of the building. So if you have a covered porch that extends back 6' or so before you reach the interior wall, that will require more Ice and water.

[dougger222]

The insurance company will cover the cost of the permit for your roof. I'd be willing to bet money the adjuster is short thousands of dollars on your roof replacement. The software I use on insurance work is Xactimate and on average a 33sq roof will be around $11-13K. Of course the $2K swing depends greatly on pitch, height, number of vents, valleys, ridges, type of shingles, etc.

Are you hiring this job out or are you planning to do yourself? The reason why I ask is because if you do it yourself the adjuster/insurance carrier could knock 20% off the total job cost. This is because the carrier knows homeowners don't carry liability insurance and workmans comp insurance along with several other costs that self employed contractors have to deal with (osha/epa/dot).

$250 a square? OUCH!!! That was a good price 10 years ago! I wouldn't make much money at this price even on a cupcaker. My prices typicaly start at $350/sq and go get up to $500sq pretty quickly on very steep roofs.

As far as permit fee's for roofs I've paid from $25-375. Last week my wife pulled a permit for a siding job and it was over $600! It is a $50K job and the city based it's cost on job value. BTW, she's a licensed GC, I'm a licensed RR.

The city were you pulled the permit should have had a nice little handout stating the ice and water and flashing codes.

As far as roofing underlayment are concerned there are basicly 4 types,

15 pound organic

15 pound fiberglass

30 pound organic

synthetic

We run only fiberglass felt as it's stayed on roof up to 60mph wind. The felt also lays very flat during install and overnight which can't be said about most 30 pound felts. The downside is your arms can itch after papering in 30-40sq's.

[K_Josh87]

When the market was good we would frame 100 plus houses a season, each and every one of those we put certainteed landmarks on... I'm familiar with the shingle. and as previously stated certainteed does a good job of marketing their products, thus most of the yards carry them, and carry them at a good price, this being the reason for that statement, they are a decent shingle at a decent price...

Now, why do I personally prefer not to use them? IMO (and everyone here has one, and has been able to express them) There are better shingles on the market. Also, Certainteed as a company has burned to many contractors I work with on several projects in the past for me to be real nuts about using their product.

Do I think they got their ducks lined up in a row and fixed the issues they had with their shingles? Yup. They sure have... But, As for me, I will be sticking with a different company as my recommended product. Just as some will recommend the certainteeds, the malarkeys, or the timberlines...

[chad austin]

$250 a square? OUCH!!! That was a good price 10 years ago! I wouldn't make much money at this price even on a cupcaker. My prices typicaly start at $350/sq and go get up to $500sq pretty quickly on very steep roofs.

Dougger, I said $250.00 per SQ for the permit value, as the project value when pulling a permit should never include profit. So $250 x 33 SQ would be the project value for the city to base the permit value on.

[8-Ball]

Dougger- We are doing the roof and yes, I agree adjuster came in low on estimate. I told the ins co. that my roof was going to be higher than the adjusters est. He said no problem just provide receipts and document everything before turning in paperwork. Chad- I dont know pitch.. Typical split level home. I think maybe 5/12? Does that sound close? My biggest prob currently is people backing out that were going to help so I am scrambling trying to get bodies. Everyone is busy, has kids and soccer, etc. You know the drill..Praying for decent weather next Fri-Sun!

[K_Josh87]

8 ball, which ins. comp are you threw? Last few i have ran into have been real pains lately...

[8-Ball]

American Family.

[dougger222]

Oooh, Am Fam, you must really have had some damage to get them to buy your roof! IMO they were great until 2009. They used to insure both my houses and all my vehicles and toys both business and personal. After getting burned thousands of dollars on two claims dropped them like a bad habit. All the people I've referred to my old Am Fam agent have all switched to other carriers as well. Looking back sort of feel bad for referring them!

Other than Am Fam have had great luck in negotians and dealings with other carriers. As a matter of fact the last SF claim I worked they paid $10 over my estimate!!! IMO SF is one of the best to work with. Also have great luck with Auto Owners who now carries all my insurance except my roofing liabily policy. They insure my wifes GC business though. Travelers is top notch too.

I hate to say it but my experiance asking for more money from Am Fam is like pulling teeth. They've lied to me over OH&P and suppliment payments. A GC friend of mine can tell you the same thing... They agreed to up the settlement on his nieghbors house $5,500 only pay the final payment based on original settlement numbers.

They want you to buy a matching endorsement which excludes several shingles. They cap you at $20K for undamaged matching shingles and siding too.

I've had several AM FAM IA's who say they've really gotten bad...

[K_Josh87]

The last couple we have had to deal with are SF, and they have been nothing but a pain... But i really think it has a lot to do with the particular agent and if they will go to bat for you or let you hang.

[8-Ball]

Well, so far, so good w/ my AmFam agent...

[8-Ball]

Josh, Chad, Dougger: I dont have a chance right now to look back.. did any of you have an opinion on castlebrook by Atlas, or Owens corning duration, good or bad? Just wondering...

[1johntimm]

I dropped Am fam after trying to deal with them on a claim. They were terrible about everything, and their claims adjuster was the biggest %&^% I've ever met. We had the best coverage available at the time also, and it still was a tough time!

[8-Ball]

Guess I am lucky. Our agent has been very helpful and easy to work with...

[K_Josh87]

I install the Owens Cornings almost exclusively. I believe I have used the castle brooks once, and did not care for them as much, but I have not done much with them.

[kotadust]

OK I have not had the chance to read the last 2 pages,I read the first 3 and had my net drop for a while so am chiming in here quick now lol.

I am not going to go into specific details as to why or why not here just to cover my a$$ to be honest lol but i will just say this I personally worked at the GAF manufacturing plant in north Minneapolis MN for some time I was at the time I left a lead in a section of the plant now i will say this much it has been over 10 years since I was there I wont say exactly how long though

But I will say this, at the time that I left, and for the entire time that I was there(and for a long time before I came) the only people in the plant that would consider having the shingles we made on their own house were those who were getting seconds for free cause that was the only way they could afford to reroof their house ...... other then that not a person I knew in the plant would have considered putting them on their own house the majority of us would have went with either certainTeed or Owens corning and it was probally about a 50/50 split as to how many prefered either of those ......... just a little food for thought from some one who knows a little from behind the scenes (will say this much one of the problems bothered us to no end and was a constant argument in the plant was the weight of the shingles and how they were constantly trying to drop as much as they possibly could out of them it drove us up a dam wall)

[8-Ball]

Amid much debate, we have decided to get a roofing co. to do our roof. Just cant make the numbers work, between ins. co. inital materials check and how much more out of pocket we will have to pay upfront to get this thing going. Yes, we would be re-imbursed the difference we have to pay upfront when final check is cut, but its quite a large amount right now (for us). So, Chad and/or Josh.. could you pm me [email protected]

w/any suggestions of contractors? I had a few bids last Fall, but would like your guys opinions/suggestions. We want to get this done in next 3-4 weeks if possible... Thanks, 8-Ball.

[chad austin]

you've got mail

[luckey]

I read this entire thread. I will be replacing my son's roof soon and was very interested in all the opinions and information. I do have a "roof" story regarding Tamco shingles. My son had his roof replaced (with Tamco shingles)in 2008 after a hail storm. The roof FAILED an inspection by the local city inspector. In his opinion, the shingles were defective from the plant and he would not pass the roof job. This started months of communications between the company, roofing installer and us. This included sending samples etc. To make a long story short, we got no where. The issue became moot when another hail storm damaged the roof in 2011. BTW the insurance company is American Family and we had not issues with them.

I don't know about other manufactures but if you read all the discalamers in Tamco's warrentee, they can disqualify 99.99% of all claims.

Here are a couple examples.

Not a certified installer

Did not use 6 nails.

Shingles damaged prior to sealing (requires 6 months)

no proof wind didn't exceed limit (need official weather staion)

High winds occured within 50 miles (they use weather station)

not reported with in x days

your are not home when they come to check your roof.

There are more but you get the idea.

[chad austin]

Luckey, Just curious what city was this in?

[8-Ball]

Chad/Josh- Sorry I havent got back to you. Been a busy few days. Will contact you after the weekend.. 8-Ball.

[K_Josh87]

noooo problem :-)