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Er, whadda ya mean? Asbestos cement tile roof on a pre-WWII house?
Where are you located?
If the above, it's not fake slate, just a stupid real estate agent. (Rare, of course, but it happens) You need to talk to someone who knows your local market, laws and practices.
*Authentic RoofSorry Steve, I've never seen it.
*Steve, the builder just roofed the last house that I did with a fake tile. It is a manufactured material. It looks great.And the roofing contractor got himself a pre paid legal insurance membership too! He's using it to chase money now.The roofing system seems good. The contractors bids were very high. They ranged from about 70k (labor only) down to about 30k. The builder wasn't willing to use the low bidder because the other guy was about 60k. I think the middle guy did the job.blue
*Da wumor is dat de wubber she will curl. Maybe not de TPO?I still remember Supradur - so try to sell me on fake products.JeffNote that the company indicates that using their product may reduce UFO activity - those Canadians!
*Steve,Put it (Authentic Roof)on my house.Very easy to work with.Pretty expensive and, in my case, had a 3 month wait to get it.Looks great though. (2 years no curling/cupping) Everyone thinks it's slate.Craig
*Craig, out of curiousity...what was the material cost per square?Mongo
*Everyone except me. It costs $250 to $270 per square. We can get PA real slate at $300 to $350 per square. While you don't have the weight of the real stuff, it's not quite the same. A yet unproven product........
*For another comparison, Duraslate from Royal Building Products is $254/square at my local distributor.http://www.royalbuildingproducts.com/Duraslate.htmI thinking about "trying" this myself on a small rear porch (6x6) and an enclosed porch roof (12x16) after I finish my Cemplank job. I could be asking a few questions then.
*i A yet unproven product ...I agree with you Tim. But let's hear back from Craig in a year or two - I hadn't seen the TPO type before, only rubber.
*Steve,The roofing outfit I work for is about to start a 65 square, 12/12 pitch house using Owens Corning MiraVista Slate. It's a fake slate product that is something like 60% powdered slate (the real stuff) and 40% something else. I think it's a concoction of resins, fiberglass, and other stuff. It's a lifetime roof (50 yrs) and looks like the real stuff. It's a light grey. It's also available as mixed bundles for a multi-colored roof. When it first came out, it had a shiny look to it and homeowners didn't like that shine so OC "weathered" it at manufacture and now it looks much more natural.It installs like a shake roof would using shake liner. You don't have to worry about swelling. Install butted against each other. Use a siding gun or even hand nail. You can also drop every other piece in a row one inch for a very attractive staggered look. There are marks on each piece to do this right on every time. One problem that can arise upon installation is breaking it while walking on it funny or carrying heavy stuff over it. Replacing pieces that have already been installed is a pain! Just walk on the butts like you would a tile roof. It's also very slick when wet. Not sure on the price. I have no part in the bidding or purchasing . But I do know that it isn't cheap. This is one of those "new" roofing products that still needs the test of time. It may catch on and it may not. Hope all this is helpful. You could check out Owens Corning's website for more on it.
*I don't know this specific product and it might be great but a few other fake slates I have seen are not quite all they're cracked (no pun intended) up to be.But" ...sold through distribution. This was done so that the consumer could buy the material from a distributor at the best price and get competitive prices from different contractors on their job. It is the first upgrade roofing material that offers the true aesthetic value and durability of real slate without the extreme weight and with affordable installation costs. We at Crowe Building Products prefer to,..."When I read something like this where they are trying to by pass the professional installer to make a sale direct to the cunsumer and let him/her find an installer on their own, red flags go up! A professional roofer will know about what questions to ask and how to preview a product. A homeowner will not so it will be easier to pass a bill of goods off.
*Yup, looks like authentic fake slate to me.
*Thanks for all the feedback. I saw this being used on one of the home shows. I'm not so much after slate as I am something easy to install (or at least work with), light (my roof is not built for slate) and will last. Currently I have shake which is a pain to maintain with all the rain we get and trees (Maple and fur) I have. The shakes are ready to be replaced. My other choice are the asphalt shingles. A neighbor had a higher grade of those installed and their roof looks great.Sounds like these 'Authentic' are still pretty new.steve
*Steve, Mongo, Tim,I don't remember exactly but it seems to me it was more like $300 - $325 per square. This included a LOT of hip & ridge cap which is the same product with a reduced thickness down the back to allow easy bending.As I said it is really easy to work, can't crack and so far looks great. I began the install in the fall of 2000.By the way, this stuff will not let snow accumulate if you have much pitch on it. My roof is a 8/12 and the first winter a 6" snow came off all at once (I thought a train was running through my backyard) Of course I wasn't insulated then and it hardly snowed last year, now I have some snowguards on, they look good and should stop the avalanches too.Craig
*I have a friend who redid his roof with this stuff.Looks like slate but ofcourse it's not.He had considered slate but the installation cost was what changed his mind. There was also the matter of having to pay a certified contractor to remove and haul away the old aesbestos shingles.His house is in a historical neighborhood and it's one of the largest ones. It's also about three stories high so at that distance it's impossible to tell that it's the "Authentic" slate.(One wing of his house is clad in copper on the roof.)I'm guessing the Authentic Slate could be walked on without worry of cracking them like real slate.
*Does anyone have an idea of the labor cost for real slate installation?
*Terry, In PA, where we can get slate from a quarry 20 minutes away for $350, you can expect to pay $1000 per square installed. I have heard that the fake stuff can get you down around $750. Never got a firm quote. Around here it is really a tough sell with the quarries so close. The biggest problem is getting the quarries to make the slate for you. They are very busy and they do whatever they please whenever they want. I have heard of 3 to 4 month waits for large orders.
*I have two questions: isthe $300 or so per square including installation? and is this a job for the DIYr? It didn't look that hard to install but they don't show everything.steve
*The Authentic Slate stuff seems to be DIY if the homeowner chooses to tackle the job but as with any roof job, it's probably not going to be a solo effort.My friend was up on the roof with the installers and he mentioned the material is a lot easier to handle and install then slate.(Being a university town, slate roof is everywhere.)And he's not one of those homeowners depicted in commercials who hover over and get in the way of trades people. He was acutally up there working as part of the crew and is a very skilled in all aspects of homebuilding.I believe there is a 50-year warranty on the stuff and the recycling aspect of the manufacturing process is appealing to some folks.(Or am I mistaken about the recyled raw material ?)
*50-year warranties -Supradur had one too. I have 8 year-old pieces that I keep (from someone else's project) as samples that show cracking within the material itself due to freeze-thaw cycling (not from being walked on). Their 50-year warranty wasn't worth squat since the company went bankrupt.Jeff
*I wrote about these shingles in FHB 131, p. 132. I remember it well because of the flak that I caught. First, I'd seen the stuff on TOH, which fact I mentioned in a tongue in cheek manner to lead off the piece. This brought a letter from the producer of TOH to my boss (at least we know they read us) complaining of my flippancy. Then, I got a letter from a reader (FHB 133, p. 8) telling me that I'd gotten something wrong; Authentic Slate shouldn't be pneumatically nailed. One of the best aspects of my job is the practically unlimited opportunity to embarrass oneself in front of 305,000 readers.Not a bright spot in my career. However, my enthusiasm for building products that contain recycled content remains undiminished, and that's one of the attractions I found in Authentic Slate.Andy
*Andy - you shouldn't be embarassed that you watch TOH ............. well ............. maybe .........: )
*Andy -I remember your piece as well the corrective comment from the reader.Anyway, my friend's installation was done hammer and nail, as recommended by the manufacturer.The curling/cracking may be of concern in some parts of the country, but then again I can't imagine this type of product in Arizona or New Mexico or even in California.Maybe more in the Eastern half of the country.We live in southwest Virginia.Alan
*Andy, It wasn't your fault and I have proof. They pnuematically nailed the stuff on TOH and I've got the show taped to prove it. I don't know how the stuff could crack because it's so flexible. When you let it drape over an edge 6" or 8", it sags like licorice. As far as DIY install, it's the same as any shingle roof. Everything but the flashings can be taught in about an hour. Guess where the roofs always leak. Get professional help with the flashings and you'll be set. Andy, if you want a copy of the tape, I will require a brown bag filled with crisp tens and twenties............
*BTWThe one downfall to this product is its class C fire rating. I don't believe it would pass code in any fire prone area.Craig
*This reminds me of a smoldering pile of tires that burned for over a week couple years ago...
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Anyone have experience with this yet?
steve