metal roofs- advice needed

[Guest jen&ian]

Hi all,

 

I know metal roofs/rooves (is that even a word!?) are common over there are they OK on a par with standard tiled construction, I guess they must be or they wouldn't be used so much? They are just a totally alien concept to me . Any experience or advice gratefully received.

 

Jen:)

[Guest graandjac]

:)Hi Jen , as a roof tiler over here this is something that i have been trying to look into ,over here a tiled roof should give you 40 years ish life , and it seems that the tin/zink roofs over there will give you 25 ish , I think that they are starting to go over to tiled roofs as time moves on, and in my view tiled roofs look alot better than tin/zink/steel, hope this helps....Cheers Graham

[Guest Guest75]

It seems to be a question of choice as well.

 

You can do quite a few weird and wacky shaped roofs with tin - some have curved roofs like the old bomb shelters.

 

Weight is another issue,as tin is lighter some roofs can have some quite startling designs.

 

In the country zones you can only have tin roofing - for bushfire reasons.

Tin is lighter and less likely to cave in against tiled roofs.

 

[Guest guest569]

You do pay more for a colourbond metal roof aswell.

I went for a tiled roof so you don't hear all the movement as the sun comes out and warms your house up.

[Guest sarahsmartiepants]

I bet a tin roof is loud when it rains:rolleyes:. We have a small metal roof on the bay of our bedrom window, that always wakes me up when iot rains!

Here I notice the tiles are not nailed down at all and there is no felt under them!

Sarah

[Hayshake]

Having an Aussie friend, the question of types of roof have come up in the past, as he is presently building a new house and we have often discussed issues about this.

His view is that a Tin roof is best with the positives being :- more secure, the metal is fixed whereas as many properties are single storey tiles can be lifted and removed, and could be a security risk. In the heat of Summer, Tiles retain the heat longer and it takes longer to cool down at night leading to more expensive aircon. bills. Tin is more flexible and suits many of the Australian house designs, and finally he has just had to replace a tin roof on one of his Farm houses which had been on for about 80 years, having said that it had been painted many times over the years, but as he is at present selling up, thought a new roof would look best.

[Guest guest569]

All i can add is that my tiles are fixed due to the wind in the area ( maybe only every other one though ) and my tiles are cut to the shape of the roof as would be a tin one. How long it lasts i'll let you know in the hopefully distant future, i noticr there are company's around that paint tiled roofs to brighten them up in their old age !!

[Guest graandjac]

;)Mimimum fixing specification for inteflocking tiles any where is ,every other cource is nailed with 3 tiles from all verges nailed, if they are not the roof is not done correctly and any modern tiled roof should have some kind of underlay,underlay is not for waterproofing but for draft proofing, and any of these quick fix clean and spray firms going round is not a good option,it is advertised as prolonging the life of your roof it is just cheeper than the cost of a new one, and a short term quick fix. Cheers Graham the roof tiler

[Guest kendra]

Metal roofing has been used here I guess due to transport costs in early era

The early metal sheets were not as good quality as today and were a standard length, needing to be overlapped. These overlaps were usually where rust formed, but I have lived in houses where the 100 year old roof was still in good repair.

Todays sheets are produced in long lengths to eliminate the overlap problem, and are of higher quality.

I've lived in & renovated houses with both types of roof and would definitely go for the metal.

Tiles do hold the heat longer, and need more, stronger and more expensive truss structures to support their weight. Also I think they're worse to walk on if cleaning gutters or fixing your tv antenna - it might just be me but they feel as if they will crack at any minute (or I need to diet)

I also found they dont seem as good for rainwater collection - more dust, less water but that might have just been the weather that year.

good luck

[Guest sarahsmartiepants]

;)Mimimum fixing specification for inteflocking tiles any where is ,every other cource is nailed with 3 tiles from all verges nailed, if they are not the roof is not done correctly and any modern tiled roof should have some kind of underlay,underlay is not for waterproofing but for draft proofing, and any of these quick fix clean and spray firms going round is not a good option,it is advertised as prolonging the life of your roof it is just cheeper than the cost of a new one, and a short term quick fix. Cheers Graham the roof tiler

 

 

Are those regulations Australian?

We csme from East Sussex!!

[Guest graandjac]

:DHi smartypants, no there the specs that we have to use here in the uk but alot of the large interlocking profile tiles used in oz are the same,wher in east sussex did you live were in winchelsea beach ne rye......Cheers Graham

[Guest sarahsmartiepants]

The reason I asked is because we have no roof felt in our roof, neither do friends of ours nor the guy over the road ( this we know because hubby put his tiles back when they went away and left a hole in their roof).

Hubby has worked on sites and says they dont nail them down nor use felt!

 

We lived in Newhaven, just on from Eastbourne.

sarah