32850 Days in Your Lifetime and 10950 Days Left

November 25th, 2011

If you live to be 90 years old, you will have about 32,850 days in your lifetime.  By today’s standards, that would be a long life.  If you are around 60 years old now, and make it to 90, you have perhaps another 10,000 to 11,000 days left.  Sounds like a lot, doesn’t it?  But it all goes so fast.  Here you are, 2/3 of your life spent becoming educated, working hard, earning a living, saving, investing, winning some, losing some.  Hopefully you have managed to create some stability for your family, even during challenging economic climates.

We hope so.  The question is, what are you going to do with the remainder of your life?  What will be the quality of that life?  You have your last third of your life remaining.  How about making it good?  Durable.  Strong.  Sustainable.  As low-maintenance as possible.  You may think those are things related to your health, and they are.  They are also associated with your house.  Your home.  Where you live.

Your residence should be a place of warmth, love and laughter for your lifetime and beyond.  Designing your house to be Sustainable has to do with low maintenance, higher levels of insulation, creatively and properly installed, durable materials that won’t rot, because they are properly detailed and constructed, low energy consumption, and even perhaps some electrical power generation from the very skin of your house.  Strong relates to your foundations, reinforcing, connections, quality of materials and how they are put together to reinforce each other in high winds, tremors and other adverse situations.  Durable relates to materials that will wear minimally and with little need for maintenance and replacement for lower costs.  Proper detailing and specifying by a residential architect make it all possible.

Each decade you have left will have 3,650 days in it.  Spend those days in comfortable surroundings: your house.  Does your existing residence make you feel comfortable?  Does it have pleasant views?  Adequate natural light?  Adequate storage space?  A grand kitchen?  The workshop studio you have always wanted?  A home office?  A bunk room and Family Room for visiting grandchildren?  Access to the natural outdoor areas around your house?  Adequate vehicular maneuvering?  Places for guests to park?  Outdoor living spaces protected from rain, snow and pests?  A covered Summer Kitchen on your deck?  That nice big fireplace you have always wanted?  A nice walk-in Pantry/Laundry?  That Mud Room you have wanted?  A nice Foyer with Powder Room and coat closet for yourself and your guests?  Nice large windows framing spectacular views?  Tight construction with energy efficient features that lower your monthly power bills?  Materials that last for decades, if not a lifetime?  If not, your residential architect can help you plan these wonderful features.

Give Rand Soellner Architect a call: 1 . 828 . 269 . 9046.    Or e-mail:  Rand@HomeArchitects.com   website: www.HomeArchitects.com

Does your house have a fireplace?  How about one or two inside and also outside?  All of Soellner’s house designs feature this as options.

Does your house have nearly maintenance free tile grout in your showers?  All of Rand’s design specifications have this.

Do you have a special piece of ground somewhere in the country, that you bought a while back and travel to once in a while, have cookouts there and dream about when you can have a custom house designed and built there so that this wonderful place can become the center of all future cherished family events, like graduations, birthdays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and extended family vacations?  Isn’t it about time?  The clock is ticking: you have about 10,000 days left.  Use them wisely.  Invest in yourself and your family in something durable, lasting and enjoyable: your dream house.

Oh… what was that about energy from the skin of the house?  Rand Soellner Architect is one of the few residential architects in the World with a relationship with one of the main producers of PhotoVoltaic Roof Shingles.  If you wish, this cutting edge technology can in installed on your roof, in place of regular roof shingles, to help supply up to perhaps half of your electrical energy needs in your proposed residence.  On good days, perhaps the power company might be paying you!  This incredible arrangement is currently in development and will be available soon on future Rand Soellner Architect houses.  Talk about sustainable!

Enjoy your remaining 10949 days!

tags: custom, house design, atlanta, reno, canada, tacoma, portland, charlotte, charleston, jacksonville, boulder, big sky, timber, beam, post, frame

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The American Dream and Your Residential Architect

November 24th, 2011

The American Dream: OWNING YOUR OWN HOUSE may be slipping away for more people these days.  What to do?  A competent residential architect can design your house to cost less than many “builder” houses, can be stronger, be worth more, be more durable, require less maintenance and in a nutshell: give you more bang for your buck.

A residential architect knows how to plan your new house to be simpler, and deliver more square feet for less cost.  That is, if your house architect happens to be Rand Soellner, AIA.  He makes a religion out of creating affordable house designs that feel larger than they are, and cost less to build.

Soellner is the first to say: “Sure, any builder can decrease the cost of any project by cheapening the structure, using weaker concrete, thinner walls, less steel connectors, cheaper insulation, shoddier construction.  It takes the architect to know the line to walk between durability, cost and durability.  Minimum building code does not make a good house.”  Soellner is one of the World’s leading open space house architects, having learned lessons about open space planning from one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s main apprentices.  “Why do so many “builder” houses blow down in high winds and during earthquakes,” asks Soellner.  “That’s how Building Codes are gradually improved over the decades: one catastrophe after another, until the loss of life is so outrageous that the public demands Code improvement to hopefully prevent it from happening again.”

What Soellner does to cut costs while improving his houses’ strength and durability are things like using economical steel strapping to tie together his floor and roof joists to beams and walls.  “It’s the joints that have to be surgically reinforced with economical means like this,” said Soellner, ” but these little strips of steel cost only pennies each, and put the nails into shear rather than pull-out, and their shear capability is far greater than wood fibers’ ability to hold the shaft of the nails by mere friction.”   It is this intelligent use of materials that allows this residential architect to help offer better houses for less, understanding that some builders may resist these simple techniques under the pressure of some homeowners who want to cut their costs at any means, even throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

There is a zone of compromise that yields the Best house for the most reasonable cost and that’s the zone that Soellner strives for in his projects.

Insulation types and techniques is another category in which Soellner excels at improving “R” values for minimal additional cost.  Soellner is also adept in Super-Efficient space planning, not wasting a square inch.  There usually aren’t many “hallways” in Soellner designs, unless clients request them, because Soellner considers them wasteful of client dollars.  He tries to use every square foot for useful purposes, rather than squandering them on mere dedicated circulation.  More on these subjects in future posts.

If the American Dream is something you still want for your family, call: Rand Soellner Architect at 1 . 828 . 269 . 9046   Rand@HomeArchitects.com

Soellner also mentions that people who want their American Dream but on a budget, need to take responsibility for their desires.  They need to realize that wanting their house large makes it more expensive.  That wanting certain materials and spaces can make it more expensive.  People need to understand that they probably will need to compromise on size, materials and several other things in order to arrive at a designed and built solution that works best for them, including their budget.

tags: custom, house design, american dream, chicago, atlanta, cashiers, boulder, aspen, hendersonville, newnan, orlando, las vegas, timber, post, beam, frame

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Look for Design Style & Quality Online, Not Plans

November 18th, 2011

Yes, I know: you have been looking online for your perfect floor plans and can’t seem to find them.  Gee.  Do you wonder why?  The American Institute of Architect has said that the design of a house is one of the most complex design activities in which an architect can engage.

Why? There is a lot going on between the walls.  More, than in an office building, grocery store, restaurant and even a hospital.  Rand Soellner should know, he has designed ICUs (Intensive Care Units), and ICNs (Intensive Care Nurseries), optical laboratories for NASA, Air Force projects, and a host of other extremely technical projects, and hundreds of housing units.  And yet he has chosen the design of houses as his main interest.

Let’s get back to the main premise of this post: that you are Not likely to find your perfect set of existing floor plans (especially for free!) just posted out there on some design website catalog that you spend dozens of hours pouring over.  Why?  Because no 2 houses are exactly alike.  The land is different; the people’s needs are different; the colors are different, the materials are different, the kitchens are different, the bathrooms are different, the outdoor living spaces are different, the garages are different, the exterior and interior materials and styles are different!  And that’s not all!

So much goes into a house.  Thousands of things can vary from one to another.  Yes, we know.  You really want to save, so you are determined to find your plans online for free, print them out on an 8-1/2 x 11 piece of paper, give them to a builder and tell him to build from that.  When your contractor finishes laughing, he will explain that he can’t build from that.  He needs detailed dimensions, R-values, a host of selections of insulation values and types, cabinetry, building sections, wall sections, roof plans, door schedules, finish schedules, specifications for hundreds of things, a Site Plan, structural layouts for foundations, framing for floors and roofs and much more to just obtain a Building Permit and actually construct your house.

So, your time spent trying to find “free plans” is really pretty much a waste of your time.  Especially since you aren’t going to find exactly what you want that way anyway.  For gosh sakes, break down and talk with and visit and hire an architect to design your house!  They won’t bite!  They are pretty nice guys (and gals).  They can actually help you save money, from all those really expensive scraps of articles you have torn out of expensive residential magazines (houses in most of those magazines can be very expensive to build, so do yourself a favor and talk to your architect before you fall in love with features of a house that are way over your price point).

For instance, give Rand Soellner Architect a call: 1 . 269 . 9046.  Let a professional help you get the house you want.  That’s why they are there.  www.HomeArchitects.com

Look at the websites of architects whose design imagery you admire.  Stop worrying about the floor plans.  The architect you hire will create that for you.  Stop thinking you are going to save anything by trying to second guess the architect and try to do his job.  You will probably take up more time having your architect explain simpler, better, more attractive and more cost effective ways to do things that what you come up with, anyway.  Why?  Because architects do it for a living!  Do you?  What do you do for a living?  Accountant?  Doctor?  Lawyer?  How would you like it if your clients came in the door with operating tools and their surgery all mapped out?  Or had researched some legal online source and “figured out” how you need to try their case?  You’d have to explain to them that they really need to let you do your job…

Same thing with architects.  Relax!  Explain to your architect what you are after and what things that architect has done that attracted you to his work in the first place.  Talk about the number of bedrooms and bathrooms you want, number of cars in the garage, the orientation of your main views looking over your wonderful view property, that wonderful kitchen you have in mind: things that really mean something.  Let your architect work out the details and the floor plans!

Try it! You are bound to enjoy the process much more than wasting your time studying “free plans” in the Internet.  Instead focus on the Style and Qualities of architect’s houses that “speak” to you.  That will be much more fruitful than bargain shopping for “plans.”

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Zinc Strips on Your Roof Keep it Looking New

November 10th, 2011

I have heard this bandied about between roof cleaning companies and home inspectors and roofers.  The fact is: it Does work.  Zinc strips on your roof keep it looking new.  The question is: for how long? Some say for 4 years, other claim up to 20+ years.

zinc roof stripsSome of the examples pointed to by  detractors of zinc strips, illustrate galvanized steel strips, which can rust after a few years.  And the roof cleaning companies appear to be correct about those.  However, the difference appears to be: there is zinc-plated (as in galvanized steel with a thin zinc coating: it’s the zinc that makes it “galvanized”) and there is nearly All zinc.  There is a difference.  Some zinc materials are made to be used on roofs for the specific purpose of keeping the roofs clean of mold, bacteria and other organic, growing things, that could otherwise darken and streak an asphaltic fiberglass shingle roof.  Pure zinc seems to be very good at doing this.

There are superior zinc strips that can be approximately 99.5% pure zinc.  These are not the same thing as a zinc-plated piece of steel.  In the nearly pure zinc strips, some of the trace materials might be copper or even titanium.  The zinc-plated (as in galvanizing) steel sheets are Not nearly pure zinc and these strips will likely begin to rust after the thin zinc coating wears in several years.  Although, many galvanized coatings on rooftop equipment can and do last for decades sometimes, even with such mundane pieces of equipment as rooftop fans, vents through roofs (for plumbing), flashing around penetrations like chimneys and other apparatus.

zinc roof strips

This photo courtesy of Massachusetts Home Inspections (David Valley). It illustrates how galvanized roof equipment (even old equipment on old roofs) can effectively keep shingles downhill of them cleaner than not.

To the left you can see old, boarded up houses, obviously older than 20 or 30 years, perhaps even 40 or 50 years or more older, and they have what appears to be original galvanized steel equipment on the roof.  Here’s the interesting thing: the old roof has nasty, black, dirty streaks all over it (mold and other organic growth): Except exactly downslope of each of the rooftop galvanized (zinc-coated) pieces of equipment!  This means that there is something in the residue of the zinc that washes off in rain water and condensation on it, that is toxic to organic growing material downstream of it on the roofing.  This is interesting, in that zinc is used in foods and even vitamins for humans.  This is because the free zinc ion in solution is highly toxic to plants, invertebrates and even vertebrate fish.  Only 6 micromolars of the zinc ion will kill 93% of Daphnia in water.  The free zinc ion is a powerful Lewis acid including up to a corrosive level.

zinc roof strips 2

Photo courtesy of Massachusetts Home Inspections. This is the other side of the roof of that same old house, further illustrating how galvanized (zinc-coated) materials on the roof can keep areas of the roof cleaner downhill from them.

Zinc is a metallic chemical element, with the symbol Zn, with the atomic number of 30.  It is the first element in the 12th group on the Periodic Table.  It has some similarities to magnesium, as it has an ion of similar size and its common oxidation state is +2.  Zinc is the 24th most abundant element in the Earth’s crust and has 5 stable isotopes.

The important thing to know is that using nearly pure zinc strips located very close to the ridge line of a residential roof, can keep the fiberglass and asphalt roof shingles below them essentially clean of mold and other organically growing “plants” & bacteria/algae.  Some people have indicated that the effectiveness might be 20′, but we have not seen any precision in such estimates.  As you will see on the posted photos, even galvanized coated (zinc coated) sheet steel in cheap roof components appears to continue to effectively keep the roof shingles clean for decades.

We are now indicating nearly pure zinc strips to be located just under our co-polymer ridge vents, with perhaps an inch or so exposed over the lower roof shingle below the ridge vent.  This should successfully allow for free zinc ions to be washed in solution downslope and keep the majority of the fiberglass-asphalt roof shingle look clean, hopefully for a long time.  Nearly pure zinc strips are relatively inexpensive: about $36 for a 50′ long strip about 2-1/2″ wide (per Zinc Shield literature 11/2011), check on today’s costs in your area.  That’s 72 cents a linear foot, and if installed at the same time along with your continuous ridge vent, the added cost should be negligible.  If you had 75′ of roof ridges, multiply x 2 (both sides of the ridge) = 150 x $0.72 = $108 for the material.  Some of the detractors of zinc strips indicated that installing zinc strips was expensive; I am not sure where they got their information.  Do Not use ordinary nails, which could cause electrolysis.  Use the zinc nails you can obtain from the zinc strip manufacturer, although you may not need many, as if you are clamping the zinc strips under the lower edge of the ridge vents, the ridge vent will likely secure the top edge of the zinc strips.

One manufacturer claims that their 99%+ pure zinc strips will continue to function for 20+ years.  That doesn’t sound like much of a gamble, and there is much to be gained for such a small investment.  Some people have their roofs pressure washed to clean them and they should know that this seriously reduces the life of their asphaltic fiberglass roof shingles.  Why? Because little stone granules are imbedded in the thin top layer of asphalt over the center fiberglass core.  That is how fiberglass roof shingles are made.  The reason for the stone granules: to protect the asphalt from degrading in the raw sunlight.  When you wash away the protective layer of stone granules, the thin layer of asphalt is exposed and degrades all the faster.  So: no pressure washing!  Something with near magical properties like these zinc strips is by far a better solution.

Be careful with copper gutters, however, the zinc solution can be corrosive to these, we have heard.  We would suggest you monitor your gutter systems perhaps once a year, to see if they are performing cooperatively with the zinc.  Installing these zinc strips BEFORE you have algae growth is preferred.  The manufacturers of the zinc strips are not claiming to be a Mold Removal device, but rather, a preventative measure.  Even so, We have seem compelling photos from some people testing this theory, and the zinc strips did in fact have a toxic effect on existing huge actual moss growth!  The zinc also seems to work well on wood shingle roofs, like cedar.

Note: do Not install zinc strips with exposed nails on top of exposed roof shingles!  You will be asking rain to leak through those exposed nail heads.  That is why we specify the zinc strips to be tucked under the edge of the co-polymer ridge vents, which are nailed or screwed down to the roof deck, then have ridge shingles installed and overlapped over the ridge vents, giving a fairly watertight installation.

This is just one of the constantly increasing knowledge base systems of the custom residential architects at Rand Soellner Architect: 1 . 269 . 9046.  www.HomeArchitects.com . We are always looking for and finding ways to make you house look better and last longer.

Links: Massachusetts Home Inspections , Contact Rand Soellner

 

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Architectural Design for Hurricane Victims

November 4th, 2011

architectural design for hurricane victimsRand Soellner Architect is now offering to provide architectural design for new houses and for renovating existing residences for people whose homes have been damaged or totally destroyed by hurricanes.  Soellner is offering his firm’s Basic Services, which includes Programming, Schematic Design – Design Development and Construction Documents at a discounted rate, to assist those in need.

Architect Soellner mentioned that he just received a phone call from a Hurricane Irene 2011 victim, who had just received her insurance payment for her family’s destroyed house.  She wisely decided Not to rebuild the house in the same manner in which it had been built previously; the results of which were a pile of sticks scattered over a 3 county area.

Many people believe that just because there are historic houses still standing that have managed to weather less severe storms, that they can have flimsier construction that meets minimum code.  The ugly truth is: Minimum Code Does NOT a Good House Make.   Home builders can build your house with thinner foundations, with less steel reinforcing and with fewer hold-downs.  And yes, you can save a few thousand dollars cutting these corners.  Do you remember Dirty Harry’s chilling phrase that made Clint Eastwood a box office smash: “Do you feel lucky?”  Having your local building department perform quick visits to see if your builder has complied with “minimum code,” does Not mean that your house can weather a severe storm, or even a light to moderate earthquake.

Most people are surprised to discover, for instance, that Minimum Code does Not require any sort of earthquake resistance if you are in a moderate to light earthquake zone.  Nothing.  Virginia recently experienced a 5.9 tremor that was felt all the way down into North Carolina.  Our entire planet is made up of large sloppy slabs of irregular continental fractured rocky plates that are continuously sliding over and under and into and apart from each other.   For instance, the USGS estimates that the distance between America and Europe is continuing to expand at the rate of about 25 kilometers every million years.  That’s 2.5 kilometers every hundred thousand years, and 2.5 meters every hundred years.  2.5 meters = 8′+.  Plate tectonics is not necessarily a gentle, smooth peanut butter kind of thing.  No.  These are miles-thick gargantuan rocky masses, the size of continents.  Sometime they get stuck on the edges of each other, building up pressure, then they violently snap in one sharp, gut-wrenching bang.  Perhaps if your area hasn’t experienced a significant earthquake in a hundred years (and widespread building codes only really got going in the 1930s and 1940s), it might be about time for big adjustment.  A Bang.  Could your existing house deal with that?  Do you feel lucky?

The bottom line is that there are many reasons why the IRC (International Residential Code) has minimums, not the least of which has to do with the ability of millions of people to afford housing.  This means that it normally takes a real disaster to change the Code.  Like huge fires in big casinos in Las Vegas decades ago, which resulted in much loss of life and property and resulted in major Fire Code updates, making future buildings safer.  Same thing with houses.  It takes a major loss of life and widespread residential destruction to bring about code changes that cost even a little more money, because these efforts are resisted by strong builder lobbies whose mission is to cut costs and eliminate as much regulation and oversight on what they do as possible.  Not all of these builder initiatives are bad; they are trying to assure affordable housing, and that is admirable.  Unfortunately, along with lack of improved building codes for houses, there is always the lurking risk of the next big storm or earthquake or other calamity.  Minimum Code does not, at the present time address these issues adequately.  Do you really want to wait until your house is blown down or shaken to its foundations for Code to catch up with reality?  Just because weaker, cheaper residential construction has “gotten away with it” for decades, doesn’t mean that tomorrow’s big storm isn’t coming to adjust code writers’ perceptions of what should be in the Code.  So don’t think that just because your house complies with minimum code that your house is safe.

Architects and Engineers know what could happen to your house, therefore they indicate more reinforcement and other precautions beyond code minimums to help your residence have a chance to cope with such potential dangers.  Therefore, those who can afford to reinforce their houses, are certainly welcome to do so and architects and engineers encourage them to make their residence at least strong enough to resist the environmental forces they may encounter during one’s lifetime, living in them.

For instance, would you feel that it would be okay if a 50 year storm or a 100 year storm happened to flatten your house while you and your family were living in it, perhaps celebrating Thanksgiving or Christmas or Uncle Jack’s birthday?  Since it only might happen once or twice in your lifetime, would that be okay with you?  … Probably not!

If you find yourself in a situation in which your house has recently been destroyed and you are now wondering what to do, Call An Architect!  If you have been lucky enough to escape that “Minimum Code” house you inherited or bought from a budget builder, just before it collapsed, you have a great opportunity now.  You can have an architect design it to withstand reasonable forces and remain intact.  Most importantly, to keep your lives and your loved ones and your home.  You have been given a second chance.  Use it wisely.  Do it right this time.

Rand Soellner Architect : 1 . 828 . 269 . 9046  .  Give Rand Soellner a call or e-mail (Rand@HomeArchitects.com) and get started creating your new dream house.  One that will last this next time around, and weather the storm.

tags: design for hurricane victims, New York, Lakewood, New Jersey, New Haven, Connecticut, Bridgeport, Stamford, New London, Maryland, Atlantic City, Pennsylvania, Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Ocean Pines, Nantucket, New Bedford

 

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Roof Shingles on Houses

October 21st, 2011

During the last several years, manufacturers have changed how they make roof shingles, in particular: asphaltic fiberglass roof shingles on houses.

Some people are only concerned about the cost of roofing.  Other people are just interested in the appearance.  Most people may not know what the typical kind of roof shingles are made of these days.

WHAT ARE ROOF SHINGLES MADE OF: The answer: first there is a fiberglass sheet, which is then coated with asphalt on the rear and top, then mineral granules are impregnated into the top surface.  Then asphaltic adhesive stripes are applied to the nailing zone, about halfway up the 12″+/- shingle height.  There are typically at least 2 of these layers adhered together to result in an architectural laminated roof shingle today.  Laminated roof shingles result in heavier weight, more durable construction, more water resistant capabilities and deeper shadow lines for improved aesthetics.

HOW LONG DO ROOF SHINGLES LAST: How long do they last?  Perhaps 10 years to 50 years, according to manufacturer’s warranties.  Or even your “lifetime.” From this architect’s experience, perhaps 15 years is normal, and maybe 25 years is nearing the upper end or so, for the thicker, heavier products.

WARRANTIES:  Rand Soellner, AIA, just reviewed the product data sheets from some of the major residential roofing manufacturers and also talked with major material suppliers in the SE USA.  For their middle-upper end fiberglass asphaltic roof shingles, it appears that you can obtain a warranty that completely covers labor & material to replace a roof that has manufacturing defects for the first 10 years of the installation.  Then the warranties typically become prorated coverages after that.  So when you get down to the last few years of a 50 year warranty, there might not be very much economic value associated with those last few years.  Also, the likelihood of anyone keeping asphaltic fiberglass shingles on their roof for half a century without developing some serious problems is unlikely, despite what any warranty might indicate.  Also, the main answer to how long fiberglass-asphaltic roof shingles last mainly depends on how thick and heavy the materials are in the manufacturing of the shingle, along with the quality of those materials, in particular the flexibility and durability of the asphaltic coating, the composition of the fiberglass sheet, and the mineral granules and any added materials to provide additional positive characteristics.

ALGAE RESISTANCE AVAILABLE:  For instance, zinc and/or copper granules can be added to the limestone granules to provide some resistance to algae growth on your roof shingles.  The calcium carbonate in the mineral granules is sure to propagate algae growth without something to curb that effect, so having an algae-resistant shingle is a wise investment.

WEIGHT & THICKNESS:  Also, it is smart to obtain a heavier, thicker shingle as well, if you can obtain this information from the manufacturer.  It is becoming more difficult to get answers to questions about the weight of roof shingles these days, as it once was one of the main determinants as to the quality and durability of an asphaltic fiberglass roof shingle.  However, some companies, like GAF will not provide this information, as they feel that their latest improvements in the quality of the asphalt they use in the manufacture of their shingles should be the most important factor, and there is some logic behind that theory.  CertainTeed still posts their roof shingle weights and that is helpful.  Their “Landmark” series offers 240#, 260# and 300# weight roof shingles.  These weights are per “Square”.  A roofing “Square” = 100 square feet.  So, the installed weight of the “best” Landmark roof shingle = about 3 psf (pounds per square foot).  CertainTeed offers a “Lifetime” warranty on their “Premium” (300#) Landmark shingle, 40 years on their Landmark Plus (260#) shingle, and 30 years on their Landmark shingle.  GAF’s comparable to this is likely going to be their “Timberline” series, which is the outgrowth of the previous Elk Prestique II family.  Elk was bought out by GAF within the last several years and their product re-formulated within GAF’s latest technology to reinvent and hopefully improve asphaltic fiberglass roof shingles.

COSTS: being largely a petrol-chemical product, asphaltic fiberglass roof shingle prices will be varying widely from week to week and month to month, as the oil that went into their manufacture varies in price.  One of the major material providers for residential construction in the western North Carolina area, Jennings Building Supply, told Rand Soellner that their pricing was “good for today”, whenever they quoted numbers to contractors these days.  All of these products discussed in this post are architectural grade, not the low end and not the upper end.  They are mid to upper-middle products.  For a 240# architectural grade asphaltic fiberglass laminated roof shingle, the price (for today) might in around $94/square (that’s $0.94/sf of installed area) and that’s just for the material, no tax, no delivery and no installation.  For the thicker, heavier grade (300#) today’s price might be somewhere around $130/square (that’s $1.30/sf of installed area), once again not including tax, delivery or installation.

So, if your roof happens to be 40′ x 60′ of actual surface area = 2,400 sf.  Then, for the upper mid-grade roof shingle cost of $1.30/sf, your new roof  material might cost about $3,120.

We have heard that perhaps for a new roof, the labor cost might be in the $0.80/sf range, not including other factors, like high-performance waterproof underlayments.  So, excluding the underlayment, a new roof of the sort described herein, upper-mid range might cost about $2.10/sf to install.  Multiply that times a 2,400 sf roof = $5,040.  If you are replacing an existing roof, that will be an additional cost.  We have seen numbers for the tear off and clean up for a medium pitch roof in the $1/sf range.

So, labor being not something that should vary significantly based on the shingles involved, it is actually a better buy to use a heavier, higher quality roof shingle, because it just might end up lasting a very long time, much longer that the cheapest, lightest roof shingles.

INSTALLATION: Nails.  NO staples.  The nails, if galvanized or aluminum should last as long as your shingles.  Staples are thin pieces of bent wire and will probably rust clean through or pull out in high winds.  You will void manufacturer’s warranties if you use staples.  Wind resistance is a combination of the weight of the shingles, plus the number of proper nails installed along the nailing strip, plus the quality of adhesive along the nailing strip.  On most asphaltic fiberglass roof shingles, there are adhesive strips of asphalt along the approximate mid-point of the shingles, which is where the nails are to be installed.  When the sun heats the shingles, this adhesive melts, and secures the top shingle over the bottom shingle, providing greater water penetration resistance and wind tear-off resistance.

FIRE RATINGS:  you might as well select a roof shingle with a Class A fire resistance rating.  This comes with most asphaltic fiberglass roof shingles these days.

WIND RESISTANCE: you can obtain 130MPH wind resistance and even more, depending on the weight, type and thickness of roof shingle and the number and type of nail used to install them.  For instance, according to at least one shingle manufacturer, the difference to get a roof shingle from a normal lower rating up to 130 MPH is instead of using 4 nails, use 6.  Big deal.  It is worth another couple of nails per shingle to obtain a higher wind resistance that could occur if your house greets a tornado or hurricane, or simply gusty storms in your area.

See Rand Soellner Architect for guidance on your next roof and your next house design:  1. 828. 269. 9046

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