On Apr 4, 12:24*am, wrote:
On Sun, 3 Apr 2011 20:14:09 -0700 (PDT), RicodJour









wrote:
On Apr 3, 3:31*pm, wrote:
On Sun, 3 Apr 2011, " wrote:

Not to mention where is he that a steel roof is that close in cost to
a standard shingle roof. *I'm at 27 years here in NJ and getting near
the end of life on my roof, but it's still OK. *And those were standard
shingles.
Presumably some of the newer heavier ones perform even better.
I've only seen steel widely used in places where heavy snow is
common.

Your replacement shingle roof will not last nearly as long as your
current roof. You can count on it.

Please list the number of assumptions you made to come up with that
assertion. *I stopped counting after three.

No assumptions. Experience



Sinse the asbestos fiber has been
eliminated, and asphalt content reduced, even the high end "asphalt"
shingles have become extremely dissapointing in the lifespan
department. The socalled "fiberglass" shingles in particular.

Asbestos is a silicate mineral fiber, just like fiberglass. *The
substitution of one for another has nothing to do with the longevity
of a shingle. *The longevity is affected by other factors.

Over the years I've installed shingles that run the gamut from lowest
end three-tab to 50 year architectural, and have found that you pretty
much get what you pay for. *Rated shingles are going to provide right
around the listed effective life. *If they're in an extreme climate,
the lifespan will be shortened a bit, but it won't be a 50% reduction.

Well, I put 25 year architectural shingles on my house and they
required replacement in 17 years. The original 3 tab "contractor"
shingles lasted about 16. The house is 38 years old. I put 25 year 3
tabs on about 5 years ago, figuring I might not need to change them
again in my tenure here - the wife wants a bungalow in the next ten
years.
In years past, (late sixties early seventies)I've installed shingles
that lasted 25 years or more - and they were not premium shingles. The
contractor that did my last roof said he has been very upset with the
lifespan of the mid eighties and later materials and would not even
quote me on less than the 25 year shingle, because he won't install
them.

The weather here is not what I would call "extreme" but we do get wide
temperature variations (from about -10F to 95F) and a fair amount of
snow some years - with lots of freeze thaw cycles

I think what you're seeing is the increased and improved testing of
shingles showing up. Improved being a manufacturer's term. If you've
ever noticed that things are generally failing closer to their rated
life, that's because of improved testing and engineering. We never
had so many choices of shingle longevity, and types, as we do now, but
shingles are like house paint as far as I am concerned. Buy the best
materials you can afford/justify as the bulk of the work is in the
installation/preparation, and the down side of shortened life is
usually delayed maintenance leading to far bigger problems.

On your particular roof - that's a fairly big swing in temperature,
but not the most extreme, so I'm curious why you're getting so much
shorter life. Has your roof been stripped to the sheathing each time,
or have they been roofing over the old?

R