Energy Efficient Roofing Options

[Leon]

I am looking to replace existing roof with a new one. Two main goals in mind: prepare for the hurricane seasons and improve energy efficiency of the house. Energy is a special consideration as our 2nd story is a converted/added on attic and there is quite a bit of heat leakage from the roof into the house. Roof is conventional, sloping. No homeowners association gestapo in the neighborhood.

Two questions: what are recommendations for materials and can you recommend a good roofer? Thanks for help!!

[rbarz]

The right color makes the most difference for energy savings. If you choose a white roof you can reflect more than 90% of the heat absorption in many cases. If you can't make jump to white, GAF has a few products that reflect heat and have a traditional color. I employee professional, licensed roofers who only install roofing and they do a great job. There are many more options depending on your needs and wants. Give me a call an we can discuss them and pricing. Shane 832.754.8627

[RedScare]

White metal roofs are the most efficient in this climate. Whether this combination will match the architecture of your home is another matter. I cannot find it right now, but a study conducted by a Florida university (one of the mid-level schools, South Florida, perhaps?) found that a side by side comparison of a traditional 3 bedroom house with asphalt shingles and a one foot overhang with a white metal roof and a 3 foot overhang reduced air conditioning usage by 70%. Next best was silver metal. The bigger eave was valuable in keeping direct sunlight off of the windows. Not as big a deal on the north side, but huge on the south and west sides of the house. As rbarz mentions, the white reflects the heat. And metal does not absorb heat like asphalt does. Look for the SRI ratings of the products you look at. Here is an example.

http://www.englertinc.com/roofing-colorss.aspx?Page=2

[crunchtastic]

If you consider metal roofs, as we did, be sure to understand how they're fastened and what the wind ratings are.

Long story short, needing an entirely new roof after Ike, we ended opting for 30 year shingle over metal. We insulated the hell out of the attic and walls, though.

[keepitlow]

Traditional sloped roof = shingle roof?

#1 Consider adding a radiant barrier so the attic space does not get as hot as attics with no radiant barrier. 3 types: Laminated to decking, "paint" on & "rolled foil" style.

#2 Proper venilation of attic space (Soffit vents / intake and ridge vents / exhaust)

#3 Consider a "cool roof" composition shingle option such as Certainteed's Landmark Solaris or GAF's Cool Colors

Get the local Certainteed and / or GAF representative's contact information from the web and ask them who they reccomend as a competent installer. THEY will know who the real players are and who the average to below average players are.

www.certainteed.com (Mike Maltbie)

www.gaf.com (Mike Ratcliff)

And, for the record, The State of Texas DOES NOT license roofing contractors. Roofing contractors may be required to register with municipalites (pay an annual registration fee and provide a general liability insurance certificate) as in West U., Southside Place, Bunker Hill Village, Piney Point & Hunter's Creek.

INSIST on getting an insurance certificate SENT DIRECTLY TO YOU from your roofing contractor's INSURANCE AGENT and make any work on your property contigent upon the following:

A. General Liability insurance that is classified for roofing operations (many contractors will get GL for clerical staff only or some other construction operation (ie. carpentry or some other less expensive operation) and that fact is not shown on the certificate coming from the insurance carrier). Should there be a claim made against their work and they are not properly classified then you will have to settle in the court house. YOU WILL HAVE TO CALL THE INSURANCE CARRIER TO VERIFY proper coverage in stated operations.

B. Workers Compensation insurance IS NOT required by the State of Texas, however, you may opt to deal with only those companies that have WCI. Once again, you will need to verify that roofing operations are covered in their WCI policies.

C. Make sure your roofing contractor has a policy for owned, non-owned and hired vehicles, as well. Verify this as well.

Make sure that all policies are in effect and provide you with a cancellation notice.

Good luck.

[texas911]

How about a tile roof? OK bare with me, at first I hated the tile roof, but in doing research for our new house, I found that the concrete version of the tile roof is actually an energy efficient roof for our climate, and its durable, after all it is concrete. Apparently the shape of the barrel tile keeps radiant heat away from your decking, and its open construction allows air to cool the tiles. The only negatives are the up front cost and the extra bracing you need to hold up all that weight, but even then, its only the weight of 3 layers of asphalt shingles, or a soaking wet wood shingle roof. And to top it all off, its wind resistant as well.