On Fri, 10 Sep 2010 19:38:55 -0400, Tony wrote:
I'd never shingle a barn roof again.
Pre-coated steel, all the way.

Well, ours is a big ol' barrel-top one; it curves, but does have an
apex to it right at the top. I'm not sure what the options are there -
I've seen plenty of steel on ones with a peaked roof, or ones with a
semi- circular roof, but I'm not sure I could get something
off-the-shelf that'd fit ours (at least the corrugated steel panels,
anyway; flat would curve to fit well enough, but wouldn't be as
strong).

Other thing I don't like about steel is that I see so many with huge
rusty streaks and patches on them; maybe the steel's better these days,
but I think I'd rather see a few curling shingles than rust in 30 years
time :-)

My steel roof came with a 50 year guarantee on the PAINT! I think it
will outlast me. (not sure if that's good or bad?)

Hmm, if it really did 50 years, that would be very good. Ours was built
in 1950 (at least that's the date that the builders left engraved in the
slab) and I think it's only had the shingles replaced once. The ones on
there at the moment are around 15 years past end of life :-) (there's no
working farm here any more, so the barn sits in the back yard as a home
to the local pigeons)

The one thing we
did is measured and drilled all the steel on the ground. It looks great
with all the screw heads in line. I've seen ones with screws all over
and it looks like crap.

That's a good idea. Plus the less time I spend on the roof the better (I
really hate being up ladders)

There isn't much to rust anyway. The steel roof comes in sections as
long as your roof. (unless you buy it at lows or the depot).

Ours is a really short-ass barn; only maybe 40 feet from end to end. The
back wall's different to the others, and I recently found out that it was
supposed to be twice as long - but for whatever reason they never built
the other half, and just 'finished' the back wall with whatever they had
on site. Even so, 40' of steel sounds like it might be interesting to get
on (particularly 40' above ground level!)

A steel
ridge vent and what can rust besides the screw holes?

The old ones I see have huge patches on them too - maybe the old steel
just wasn't of as good quality as modern stuff, and after x years it's
starting to fail (the streaks are probably down to the fixings rather
than the sheets, I suspect)

It also bends a good deal. Talk
direct to some steel roof companies to see if a single sheet will bend
enough for your roof.

Yeah, I will! I really prefer the look of shingles I think, but if modern
steel can work and the cost and lifetime is reasonable then maybe I will
end up going for that.

By the way, I love the look of those barns on the
inside. Looks like the hull of an upside down ship.

:-) I always think of it like some huge beast's rib cage. Even from the
hayloft it's about 30 feet up to the roofline. Part of me wants to
eventually insulate it - but part of me doesn't want to cover up those
timbers...

cheers

Jules