Re: Home and garden projects
 

Well i'm happy the roof is all in and fine given the torrential rain we've been having. It has made for some good storm watching stood outside (under cover) with a beer.

Next home improvement to be made: attic insulation.

Re: Home and garden projects
 

We are mulling over a new roof - it will have to be fairly soon, but it isn't urgent, yet. :eek:

I have been looking at several types of metal roof "tile systems". They look good, don't cost much more than asphalt shingles, and for all practical purposes last forever, because I soooo want to break free from the stupid "new roof every 20 years" thing! :frown:
Good idea, but even though the temperatures have dropped a bit in recent weeks, I'd wait until October before venturing into the attic.

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I guess it depends on how long you think you will own the house for.

Yeah true. Although it will take me that long to stop procrastinating about it anyway.

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Agreed, well that and the price differential.

One of the reason that so much stuff on American homes keeps going wrong and needs to be repaired or replaced is that homeowners often seem to have a 2-5 year time horizon, because they figure they will likely have sold and moved on by the time the house next needs a new water heater, AC system, roof, etc. so they buy the cheapest junk. Or in some cases they do it immediately ahead of selling, and definitely buy the cheapest product they can find.

Worse, those wretched "home warranties" only pay for the cheapest junk - in the case of a roof, cheap shingles laid over the existing shingles.

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And yet in country areas, and places with very low property values in general, houses can stay in the same ownership for long periods. Just on my road - and there's only a couple of dozen houses - I can think of at least three that have been in the same ownership since they were built, pre-1865. That's a lot of crappy short lived roofs..

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Well if they have asphalt shingles on them then at some point the owners have been suckered into "upgrading" because asphalt shingles are a relatively modern invention, and I think only became popular after WWII. Certainly I know of several "metal shingle" roofs (not the basic "standing seam" style) in the town nearest me that have very aged metal roofs, and I suspect that they are original to each house, which likely puts them in the range 80-100 years old. Further out in rural areas I see old "farmhouse" style homes that appear to have original, or at least very old, standing seam metal roofs.

However I fear that most home owners put no thought whatsoever into the decision to replace whatever has failed on their home and just phone a plumber and say "I need a new water heater", or call a roofer and tell them to "install a new roof, and not too pricy!", etc.

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I've seen derelict houses where the roof is peeling off to reveal an earlier roof of cedar (or wood, anyway) shakes or shingles, which I assume were the major roofing option in earlier times. I've also seen (as you mention) metal shingle roofs, in really back-woods towns up in the hills here. I don't know when they stopped being used. They looked to be in good condition even though obviously very old.

Edit: galvanised tin, I believe they are, from looking online. They have a distinctive raised pattern on each shingle.

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Hey Pulaski,
Don't know how much sun you get all the way up there in NC, but have you looked at the cost of the Tesla roof tiles? I need someone to test them out before i try them :)

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Yeah, me too! :lol:

At the moment my biggest question is whether they make (relatively) low-cost dummy tiles for north-facing roof slopes.

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I haven't looked into it in any great detail, but i thought they did. Once my shingles start to go (not sure how i would know), i will take a harder look at the Tesla tiles. Although presumably by then, there will be a waiting list of 1-2 yrs

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Yes they do - well at least they make them, whether they are "low price" is an open question.

https://forums.tesla.com/forum/forum...f-dummy-panels

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Unless I win the lottery, my need for a new roof is almost certainly going to arrive before I can find the funds to finance a Tesla roof. :(

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I found this article interesting as well, it realy only works as a saving if you plan on being in your house long term and can afford the initial up front costs.
I have been looking at this as a viable option but I am lucky that my roof currently has plenty of life left so I can wait it out to see how it works.
https://www.greentechmedia.com/artic...-will-cost-you

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The biggest risk I think the "early adopters" face is that the price of the product collapses and that you could buy a Tesla roof, or competing product, for half the price, or less, a few years from now. While people might pay more for a house with a Tesla roof, exactly how much more will be substantially dependant on how much it would cost to put a Tesla roof on an otherwise similar home, and if that price is $20,000 less than you paid then that $20,000 is an irrecoverable loss.

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I agree 100%, for me as I said above I am in no rush to buy a new roof and I am also as certain as I can be that we will not sell this house. I have been looking at various options for solar and the Tesla roof so far seems to be the best option. Something else I have been looking at is this ,The world’s smartest solar solution | smartflower.