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Old 06-04-2007, 06:04 PM
 
Location: Sand Springs, OK
633 posts, read 2,534,210 times
Reputation: 247

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Through my experience growing up in OK and knowing the kind of weather the Dallas area gets regarding hail, I have a question regarding roofs.

What is the best material to have your roof made out of to prevent as much hail damage as possible, if there is such a thing?

I've seen metal roofs, which I suppose would work although be loud.

But I was wondering what most people use or what is considered the best other than metal.

Thanks
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Old 06-04-2007, 06:25 PM
 
Location: Kaufman County, Texas
11,816 posts, read 26,650,028 times
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Surprisingly, metal roofs are not loud in rain. They are well-insulated underneath! They are also impervious to all but the largest hail and they also save money on heating and cooling bills! We're seeing a lot more homes with metal roofs recently!

Tile, of course, is the very best. But it is also the most expensive and requires roof trusses to be reinforced to handle the weights.

Most North Texas homes are built with standard "composition" shingles which are easily damaged by large hail. Fortunately, they are fairly cheap to replace...
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Old 06-04-2007, 06:50 PM
 
Location: Topeka, KS
1,560 posts, read 7,125,237 times
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You say that, but I waited two and a half years in Milford for a "good" hailstorm to damage my roof. Man I hated those red shingles....
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Old 06-04-2007, 07:52 PM
 
Location: Lake Highlands (Dallas)
2,394 posts, read 8,565,472 times
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There are impact resistant shingles. They're basically a little thicker than standard shingles and should handle just about anything now-days and are a very nominal upcharge from standard shingles.

Metal roofs are obviously a good choice, and as was mentioned, save a good deal on cooling bills, since they block radiant heat pretty well.
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Old 06-04-2007, 09:29 PM
 
Location: The Big D
14,862 posts, read 42,671,273 times
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Composition are the norm. In most of your regular standard subdivisions your not going to see metal or tile roofs. The metal roofs are great and as said before not near as noisy as one would believe. You can find these alternatives for roofs in higher end custom home developments. If you stick to the mainstream HOA development they will dictate what color of shingle you have to use.

Another thing to look at on composition roofs is if it is a dimensional shingle or not. On your better tract homes they are going to have the dimensional shingles. On the lower end homes you will see the "roll roofing". Saw a house recently that was for sale and the entire neighborhood had dimensional shingles and they had replaced their roof w/ roll shingles. In other words after a bad hail storm they pocketed the money and went back w/ cheap shingles. They could get in trouble from their insurance company if they found out and if they still have it insured for 3D. If I were to buy it I would only buy it if they replaced the roof w/ the correct shingles. Being cheap and thinking they were being smart and pocketing the money may cost them the sell of their house.

If you want to know how to tell the difference it is very easy. With "roll roofing" the shingles are flat and there is no overlapping. Basically just a giant roll of composition shingles on tar rolled out onto the roof and nailed down. Flat looking. Also I've seen "squares" of the "shingle" part come off easily in high winds. Tar backing is still there but the "pebbles" are all gone. With the dimensional shingles they are in pieces and each one nailed down and they overlap. Has more of the old wood shingle look kind of.
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Old 06-05-2007, 01:57 AM
 
Location: Lake Highlands (Dallas)
2,394 posts, read 8,565,472 times
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Incidentally, there are still a decent number of homes here with wood shake roofs. Unless you enjoy paying a lot for upkeep and double your insurance, stay away from this roof material in our area. Easily damaged roofing, expensive to fix or replace, as there isn't the normal underlayment under a wood shake roof.

My brother lucked out. They bought a home with this sort of roof, but knew it up front and built into their budget the funds to replace it. A hail storm came around and the insurance company paid for a new roof... he got a 3D roof installed for free and his insurance went down well over a thousand bucks a year. Win, win!
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Old 06-05-2007, 11:13 AM
 
37,315 posts, read 59,474,655 times
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hope your brother in law took advantage of changing wood for composition and added the radiant barrier decking as well--we missed out on that several years ago when we went from wood to composition and now would be prohibitively expensive to pull of plywood decking to install radiant barrier sheets and then reroof...
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Old 06-05-2007, 02:41 PM
 
Location: Sand Springs, OK
633 posts, read 2,534,210 times
Reputation: 247
thanks everyone for the input, now I know what to look for
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Old 06-05-2007, 02:59 PM
 
16,087 posts, read 40,998,312 times
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Does anyone have experience with the new faux slate shingles?
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Old 06-05-2007, 03:28 PM
 
Location: Lake Highlands (Dallas)
2,394 posts, read 8,565,472 times
Reputation: 1040
I've been scoping Eco-Shakes out. Interesting product. 50-year transferrable warranty, looks a LOT like wood shakes (I love that look) and can be put over roof decking like standard shingle... and is made from recycled materials.
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