best roof

[bigmike]

During the past hurricane center what type of roof material held up best?

Tiles or metal? or any other roofing material palm fronds, tree bark?

[Myersgirl]

Our Palm frond chickee is showing day light, mabey not the ideal roofing

[mf_dolphin]

Poured concrete

[DoctorHurricane2003]

Ceramic tiles, while pretty, are the worst

[Orlando_wx]

rumor had it at one time the bob sheets instead finding the best material he built a house with two roofs probably not a bad idea.

I like that idea about concrete no worries then.

John

[bevgo]

Concrete--cracks and falls on you in your sleep. Not what I would want. I was considering a metal roof but after seeing the metal roofs just peeled away, I just dont know. Looks like I am gonna be replacing my roof now though so any input would be appreciated.

[bahamaswx]

Shingled roofs are fine, as long as they're done properly.

[m_ru]

Shingled roofs are fine, as long as they're done properly.

EXACTLY!!!

[huricanwatcher]

dont forget the hurricane straps to hold it on to the house.... ya gonna lose some of the roofing materials no doubt, but if it bad enough - least the ROOF will stay put..

[bahamaswx]

dont forget the hurricane straps to hold it on to the house.... ya gonna lose some of the roofing materials no doubt, but if it bad enough - least the ROOF will stay put..

Yep. If you're not using hurricane clips/straps, you're wasting your time worrying about whether or not the roof should be tiled/shingled/metal/concrete.

[TheShrimper]

Being a mausoleum contractor at one time, the ideal design would be to pour your slab with the approriate vertical rebar protruding from your footing through your slab. If you knew your window sizes ect, you would form up the exterior walls of the house and pour them, again with the steel protruding from the walls on top. It would be a forming nightmare for a novice, but with pole jacks and proper forming materials, the whole roof would be a pour in it's own. In essence, with the steel tied correctly, it would be continous concrete structure, even with the apparent cold joints. Of course, you would have to plan for your electric and water access into the house, but that is minor. TheShrimper.

[sprink52]

Concrete Tile...by far. Second would be clay tile. Shingles are no longer wind speed rated. I our neighborhood during Wilma, 80% of the shingle roofs peeled off (all less than five years old!!) The tile roofs received little or no damage.

[TheShrimper]

Tile, is just decorative. It is the hot mopped 90 lb felt, underneath, that is the waterproofing agent. Even if the tile blows off, you remain with a dried in structure.

[CharleySurvivor]

I heard at a meeting last year that apparently most 'older' tile roof homes had no problems with their roof but newer tile roofs lost almost all its tiles after Frances and Jeanne (that was said of houses on the East coast)

They said back in the old days, they use to install the tiles 'wet' and nowadays, are installed dry - the reason for the tiles not holding.

[Ixolib]

METAL!! Many metal roofs here in MS survived quite well with Katrina while those with shingles and tiles didn't fair so well. The new metal roofing material that's now available is pretty awesome, although about twice the material costs for shingle roofs, but there is a saving in labor if you're not doing it yourself. And if you are doing it yourselt, it's not nearly as laborious as a shingle roof.

I'm absolutely replacing my shingled roof (that was virtually totaled in Katrina) with metal. Lots of colors to choose from also!! I like not only the strength and wind resistence, I also like the way it looks - very crisp and clean, I think. Lots of styles to choose from too.

[kometes]

Tile, is just decorative. It is the hot mopped 90 lb felt, underneath, that is the waterproofing agent. Even if the tile blows off, you remain with a dried in structure.

There are new materials to replace the felt now. We had our roof done last year with a peel-n-stick product that is rated to 200mph. Of course, at those wind speeds, the roof would blow off completely but it would theoretically be waterproof where ever it landed.

It seems like a really good investment about now.

[bahamaswx]

Shingles are no longer wind speed rated. I our neighborhood during Wilma, 80% of the shingle roofs peeled off (all less than five years old!!) The tile roofs received little or no damage.

I haven't lost more than a few shingles in winds up to 140mph, meanwhile houses around me lost 50% or more of theirs. It's all in getting the job done properly.

[TheShrimper]

If that peel and stick white paper is what you are referring to, I want no part of it. They had just installed it on the new Publix here on Pine Island before Wilma. Well it's history now.

[inotherwords]

Don't forget that the shape of the roof is important, too. Hip roofs fare better than gabled ones. I agree that the underlaiment and the strapping/tying is key, what goes over it is more decorative than anything else. That said, if I had a choice I'd go metal.

[T-man]

A metal roof, fastened properly is a good choice. Fastening is the key. Ideally a roof with a plywood deck is stripped with 2x4's that are screwed to the roof rafters with 5in screws. Also the 2x4's should be no further than 4ft apart. The metal sheets are then fastened to the 2x4's, and stitched to each other with screws on the seam about every 18 inches. All of the eave flashing, gable trim, capflashing, etc, when properly installed should outperform any fiberglass sealtab shingle roof. However, I can't tell you how many times this year I Have seen entire metal roofs peeled completely off- the stripping was nailed directly to the rafters, no screws and no plywood caused the roof to fail in most cases. Once the wind finds a way under the sheets-a piece of gable trim blows off, then the wind gets under the sheets, if no plywood deck air pressure builds in house until roof blows off. That's why it's very important to have the roof installed correctly, especially on the Gulf Coast.....