Wood and finish carpentry is more of my cup of tea but I have installed a steel roof on some of my timber buildings. I’m no longer in the business full time and my new line of work has taken me half-way across the country. Recently one of my co-workers asked if I would help him install steel on his house. Where I came from, everyone installed the screws through the ribs or peaks if you will and not on the flat spots which seams wrong for many reasons. Does anyone have any input?
Thanks,
P.s. thanks piffin for the advice on the chimney flashin
Replies
You are correct. Feel affirmed? Hope you bet him a cold one.
"If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man." - Mark Twain
Thank's RW there was actually no doubt in my mind. However, I met the local pro here and I was talking to his #1 who showed me the screws he was using to do this. They were not much longer that an inch and certainly not long enough to go thru the rib. I can only assume they are for wall applications and that he does it this way to speed things up. The scary think is that all of the steel roofs around here have been done by him.
nice quote, sad but true!
Edited 9/1/2005 10:39 pm ET by wolverine
Been over 5 years since I installed a steel roof, but the manufacturer of the delta rib we used specified the the screws were to go in the flat. the short screws mentioned above are called stitch screws, they are used to tie adjoing panels together and not to attach to the roof.
Why not screw on the ridges? I have no idea, and it seems very logical
Screwing on the ridge will tend to warp the sheet . If you overdrive there is the funnel effect for the leak to start.
If you screw on the ridge you will fall off.
In the end most of us will be glad if we can screw. And won't be too particular as to where we do it.It had to be said.
Seems like I had heard screw in the flat and nail on the ridge.
You know, that could be taken out of context.
I was going to say nail'er" on the ridge but decided not to. Would not want anything to be misunderstood.
40334.33
as Buddha said to the hotdog vendor .... "make me one with everything"
Ribs is the wrong place for roofing tek screws.
Ever consider reading manufacturers specs?
Welcome to the
Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
where ...
Excellence is its own reward!
Greetings Wolverine, I'm glad to meet another steel roof convert.
Last year I finished off the metal roof of a building I've been working on for a while. The roof deck sheets were screwed to the frame with self-drilling screws (aka TEK) driven through the flat areas of the sheet at the prescribed spacing called out by the mfgr. Near the peak & eves the screw spacing was reduced to 1/2 of that used in the main sheet field, (as was the center-to-center spacing of the purlins underneath the same area). I used a caulking tape to seal the sheet-to-sheet seams as well as stitch screws.
The screws (thousands of them!) were all driven with a cordless HITACHI impact screw driver which worked well (in spite of a shorter than optimum battery run time). I was especially careful of the sheets in even the slightest wind, we quickly learned to lift only 4-5 sheets to the roof at a time and clamped them securely to the framing with Vice-Grip style locking C-Clamps until just before we removed 1 sheet at a time from the clamped stack. (I still shudder to think of a 3' X 21' sheet of thin steel kiting through the air at any speed)
After 10 months, the only leak I've had was due to my tardiness at putting up the ridge trim. (I think this is due to the care taken to drive the screws just enough to compress the sealing washer & not overdrive the fastener as the co. warned against) That little HITACHI can snap a 1/4" dia. screw in a micro-second if you're not paying attention!
Hope this muddies the water for your concerns about screwing on the ridge or in the valley!
LOL
Why show ANY fasteners that might wallow out? And Leak.
See this yet?
http://forums.taunton.com/tp-breaktime/messages?msg=60932.1 Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Hi Sphere! The short, quick answer to your query was NO. Now the answer is YES. I have now checked out the thread in question. Truly an impressive piece of work! (Meant in the literal sense!) Can't say I have ever seen such a roof in my travels. I can certainly appreciate the long life inherent in the material and methods of a roof made to last for generations.
Why indeed take chances with any exposed fasteners; valley OR ridge?
Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your perspective) my roof deck sheets came by way of a father who has since retired from a steel fab. Co.
Westeel-Rosco has since been bought out and we have lost all the inside contacts my father once had. Before he left, however, I was able to secure 40 square of M38 profile roof deck for scrap metal prices. (A left-over coil had been in inventory for longer than the bean-counters could live with, so I only had to wait until the roll-forming line had set up before they could run the material w/out a setup charge)
Since this is not a standing seam decking I'll just have to take my chances with future leakage at the fasteners.
Keeping my fingers crossed,
regards and LOL.
Re: "I still shudder to think of a 3' X 21' sheet of thin steel kiting through the air at any speed"Knew a roofer that had a horizontal scar all the way across his forehead just above the eyebrows. Seems many years ago he was working as a helper. The guy he was working for yelled something and he jumped up on a sawhorse to stick his head above the roof line and see what the commotion was about.Come to find out the commotion was a guy fussing with the sheet roofing losing his grip on a piece. Which was sliding down the long roof. The edge of the sheet steel, moving at a considerable clip, creased his skull and laid him out.He said his clothes were covered in blood. On the up side the doctor pointer out that if he had been just a bit quicker the sheet would have hit his eyes and blinded him or his neck and taken his head off.This guy's, with the scar and the story, advice was that if you hear someone call don't go peaking over the roof line to find out what is going on. And you always walk either well away from the building or under the eaves when the roofers are up there. You never know what might come at you off a roof.On the up side it was a dandy scar and a good war story. Good for a beer or two at least. And you know the ladies love scars.
We have a rule. If it goes, it is warned. A SHOUT of "Headache"! is often heard. I don't care if it is a clamp or a hammer or a snippet with sharp edges..it gets called out.
A real shame the HO's dogs are deaf and blind, they have to rely on instinct and luck.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
I'm with Piffin on this one.
Follow the specs for both lap direction and fastener placement. Don't over drive the fasteners.
Most manufacturers have a rib on one edge with a support leg that returns to the deck and one with a short overlap leg that is a slightly different profile to create a drainage channel that breaks the capillary action that occurs between the sheets and draws in water.
Good Luck
Garett
Good point. I have seen countless DIY and semi-pro jobs where the male lapp is on the bottom and wind can drive water intop the lapp to leak. Generally when i talk to the installer HO or other "contractor", the answer is that they either never reda the instructions or that they knew more than the manufacturer did and ignored them on the lapp. So a carefully designed element gets thrwon away or abused.
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
W,
Follow the instructions that accompanied the metal or go to the manufacturers web site and print off a set.
I was working with a family of builders a few years back that had a 50' x 130' pole barn to put up. We started on the roof and were 10' to 15' across the roof when "hewho" ( he who thinks he knows everything) shows up and asks what dumb a$$ put the screws in the flats. We explained that we felt that nails go in the ribs and screws in the flats and that the instructions confirmed that. Hewho said we didn't know anything and neither did the manufacturer so the rest of the roof was screwed down using short screws in the ribs. Thankfully I was the cut man and material feeder so I didn't have to place any of the screws. I'm waiting for the day that the rib screwed area blows off and leaves the 10' to 15' that we started.
Saw
Thank's for the input gentlemen. I will be sure to fallow the manufacturers instructions when we tackle the job. I'm certainly not a know it all, especially regarding things I know very little about. I want to install my friends roof correctly that's why I asked for your help. Thank's again.
Randy, a.k.a. Wolverine
P.S. Having been in the business, I feel it important to mention that I am not taking work from anyone, the local and only contractor has failed to show up for the last year and a half.
Have a metal roof that was screwed down through the ribs with 2" screws with rubber washers and the roof survived an F1 tornado as if the tornado never happened. No damage at all. Can't say that for the neighbours houses with shingles. They lost shingles and decking. House is still standing with no leaks after 125 years. Roof is probably newer than the house. Don't know if snow on the roof makes a difference to the correct answer.