Aluminum shingle roofing inspection

[Brandon Whitmore]

I am scheduled to inspect a home with an aluminum shingle roof. I have never been comfortable inspecting them because of the lack of good access.

How many of you would walk an aluminum shingle roof? I am usually concerned with dining the material.

I have never been comfortable not walking any roof because of the amount of issues that I see on them that are not visible from the ground/ edges.

Hopefully this link will work for a picture of the home through RMLS

http://www.rmlsweb.com/v2/public/report ... d4aQ%3D%3D

[Jim Katen]

Originally posted by Brandon Whitmore

I am scheduled to inspect a home with an aluminum shingle roof. I have never been comfortable inspecting them because of the lack of good access.

How many of you would walk an aluminum shingle roof? I am usually concerned with dining the material.

I have never been comfortable not walking any roof because of the amount of issues that I see on them that are not visible from the ground/ edges.

I've walked many of them with no problems. That one looks a tad steep for my comfort zone.

With these shingles, you should check to see that every shingle is connected to every other shingle with flat-lock seams. Likewise, every piece of flashing connects to the adjacent shingles with flat-lock seams.

I'd look carefully at the sides of the dormers. The shingles should be locked to the sidewall flashing and the valley flashing.

If you find any spot where the shingle and a piece of flashing simply overlap each other, it's wrong.

These shingles last a long, long time. About the only thing that kills them is corrosion.

The only supplier I know is The Aluminum Shingle Company in SLC, UT (801 269-9405).

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[Chad Fabry]

Since Mr. Katen answered so effectively, I'm going to skew the topic.

I noticed the taxes were almost $7,000 on a home that costs 1.1 million. Here, to pay 7,000 a year in property taxes, one must own a home that's worth about $150,000. We have the honor of having the highest property taxes in the nation.

[Brandon Whitmore]

Thanks Jim.

I have walked them in the past only because they already have some visible dings, marks in them, etc. My concern is that this home looks so clean I do not want the homeowner complaining to me that I left marks on the roof.

Have you had any problems with leaving any marks when walking them?

[randynavarro]

Aluminum roofs aren't all that common here. If I came across that roof in my locale, I would throw in some reporting language to the effect that it is a "unique" roof to our area and I'm not too proud to admit I wouldn't know much about its install details, life expectancies etc.

I would do some common sense look-sees, (flashing, corrosion, etc.) but be very clear with the client its important to track down the mfr. and the contractor that installed the product so they can get any warranties and additional product information.

Almost every time a client has done this, the contractor is no longer around and about half the time, the mfr. is no longer around--their product-to-end-all-roofing-problems product just didn't take off like it was supposed to.

And lastly, yes, I would love to become an expert on any and all unique products I come across, but until then. . .

[Brian G]

Originally posted by randynavarro

Aluminum roofs aren't all that common here. If I came across that roof in my locale, I would throw in some reporting language to the effect that it is a "unique" roof to our area and I'm not too proud to admit I wouldn't know much about its install details, life expectancies etc.

I would do some common sense look-sees, (flashing, corrosion, etc.) but be very clear with the client its important to track down the mfr. and the contractor that installed the product so they can get any warranties and additional product information.

A sensible approach, and right up-front with the client. Sounds good to me.

Brian G.

Know What It Is You Don't Know, and Admit It [:-angel]

[Brandon Whitmore]

Thanks for all your opinions/ information.

Brandon

[Brandon Whitmore]

I just wanted you all to know that I contacted The Aluminum Shingle company. They were nice enough to send out a couple copies of their installation training video, as well as some other info.

You can contact them at www.aluminumshingle.com, or call them at 877-319-7999 if any of you are interested. I had to contact them for this info., since their installation instructions are not available on- line (at least not that I could find).

[chicago]

Dead link

[Bain]

It's just that the "g" is missing from shingle in the URL.

[Les]

Brandon, ya left the "g" out! www.aluminumshingle.com

[Brandon Whitmore]

Sorry guys. The link is repaired.

[Jim Katen]

Good golly! They make those things in copper. Can you imagine what that must cost?

- Jim Katen, Oregon