The owner of Distinctive Metal Roofing just added a beautiful new Kassel and Irons “KasselWood” metal roof to his home in Avon, Ohio in July. And he can tell you first hand, there’s absolutely NO difference between the sound of rain on this roof versus his old asphalt roof. The home was built in 1999 with a CertainTeed roof having been installed, showed severe algae streaking in 2005, and failed in 2011. Planning on living in his home for the long haul, metal was the only smart and logical choice.
Check out http://www.failedroofclaims.com/ for a plethora of useful information regarding asphalt roofing. We’ve never lived in a time where a product that’s falsely advertised so blatantly, and fails so prematurely, permeates the market as the “popular choice”. Doing what has been done before just because we don’t know the options seems to be the norm. We know that in 8 – 10 years, asphalt roofing will cease to exist because manufacturers of it can’t add any more filler to it than they already do. If they did, the shingles would disintegrate before the installers got them to the top of the roof! Proof will be in our next post. Meanwhile, check out the Website above. Let’s get realistic to what we’re being sold when it comes to VERY temporary asphalt roofing products.
If you’re a homeowner that lives on Lake Erie, the Portage Lakes, or any other body of water, your home probably takes a lot more abuse from the elements than the average home. While metal roofing is the perfect choice for all homes, it’s an especially logical choice for a home that sustains a great deal of wind and sun exposure. We see it everyday – shingles torn off and badly curled from the excessive exposure to the elements these homes sustain. Metal roofing will never curl and can with stand hurricane force winds. Coupled with the energy savings a metal roof provides and the decades of beauty they’ll provide you with, metal roofing is the smart choice for lakefront homeowners. Call today for your free estimate!
Historically, asphalt roofing prices double every 10 years. Not the case anymore as they’ve doubled in the last 3 years. This week, a major local supplier sent an email to all of its customers that talked about the fact that GAF had a price increase of 8 – 10% in April with another coming in the 5 – 7% range in May. Greater increases have and will occur from CertainTeed. What’s this mean to you as a homeowner? First, and foremost, it means that in 12 years, when you replace your asphalt roof with another asphalt roof, you’re going to be paying through the nose. Between today’s roof and the one you do 12 years down the road, you’ll pay quite a bit more for two asphalt roofs (and they’ll will look bad much earlier than 12 years from now) than you would a metal roof. Einstein said “The definition of insanity is doing things the same way and expecting different results”. If you’re staying in your home for the long term, break the cycle of replacing your asphalt roofing every 12 years and buy your very last roof today… a metal roof from Distinctive Metal Roofing. It makes SO much sense, it’s scarey! You don’t need to be an Einstein to figure this one out either. (see letter below)
That’s a loaded question because if you do have a favorite roofer, it’s because you’ve probably used them once or twice before. Do you realize that if you put on a metal roof the last time you roofed, you wouldn’t have to do it again in your lifetime? Do you also know that you would have saved anywhere between 20 – 40% between your last roof and the one you have to do today if you had done a metal roof the first time? And do you know that your roof would look and protect your home and family as well as it did the day it was installed? Metal roofing is a no -brainer if you’ll be staying in your home for another 10 years. Call and let us show you how it makes sense with a free estimate. You won’t be sorry…promise!
If I tell you that I’ll warrant your toaster against manufacturing defects for 30, 40, 50 years, or a “lifetime”, do you think your toaster will last for 30, 40, 50 years, or a “lifetime”? Notice, I didn’t say I’d warrant your toaster’s serviceability for a “lifetime”.
Time and time again, I’m told that someone has replaced their roof with a 30, 40, 50, or “Lifetime” asphalt roof. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the only thing that’s “Lifetime” about an asphalt roof is that you’ll be replacing it over and over again…for a LIFETIME. What’s really covered for those time periods? Do you know? Well, if you’re like me and want to know what you’re buying, you’ll research expensive purchases pretty thoroughly. Most people don’t, unfortunately. They’re the ones who keep buying asphalt roofs and wonder why they’ve failed “prematurely”. The thing is, they haven’t failed prematurely in most cases, they’ve just failed against a homeowner’s unrealistic expectations that they’d last 30, 40, 50 years, or a “Lifetime”.
Asphalt roofing warranties will typically tell you that most things that can happen to an asphalt roof (blow offs, failure to seal, granule loss, streaking, etc.) are only covered for a VERY limited period of time, and often pro-rated during that time, or immediately after. What IS covered for 30, 40, 50 years, or “Lifetime” is manufacturing defects.
When’s the last time you used a warranty for a “manufacturing defect” to get a replacement for anything you’ve purchased? Yep, that’s what I thought. We’re too smart to be fooled by asphalt warranties that have been used as marketing ploys for years by the asphalt roofing industry. Metal roofing warranties really mean “lifetime” when they say it….your lifetime, and even then, many are transferable to the next owner. Please call me and I’ll send you an asphalt warranty and our metal roofing warranty and you’ll see exactly what I’m talking about once you compare and contrast the two. An excerpt from one of the major asphalt players appears next to this post. Unfathomable that they say “lifetime” and “15 years” in the very same sentence, no? And later in the warranty, it tells us that the algae warranty is pro-rated after the first year. Tricky stuff!
It’s amazing! There are about 15 homes that directly surround me on my semi-circle type street. Some of us have received settlements for a complete roof replacement (and then some) and others haven’t! Yet all have seen the same weather issues (excessive wind/hail), all built our homes 12 years ago within months of each other, and we all need new roofs. Fortunately, I was one of the lucky ones and will be replacing my ugly asphalt roof (that needed to be replaced 2 years ago, after only 10 years of service) with a metal roof, of course. I plan on staying in my house for the long haul so it makes perfect sense to never replace my roof again, as will be the case with a Kassel and Irons “KasselWood” roof. So if you’re in doubt about whether your roof will be covered based on your neighbor’s experience, don’t hesitate to call your insurance agent and file a claim if you’re constantly replacing blown off shingles or believe your roof has been hail damaged, regardless of the age of your roof. It may be worth it in a BIG$$ way!
Lots of streaking going on, and we don’t mean the clothe-less type. These photos were taken in Highland Park, an Avon, Ohio community. Clearly, the “algae inhibitors” didn’t do much good. Since approximately 1/2 the view of all homes is the roof, think of how much nicer these once beautiful homes would look with no streaking. Metal roofs never streak, of course. Not now, not 50 years from now.
Verbatim, this is a printed statement from a GAF Smart Choice Shingle “Lifetime” Limited Warranty. If you’ve installed asphalt shingles of any kind since September, you have cause for concern….
“All self-sealing shingles, including GAF’s, must be exposed to warm, sunny conditions for several days before they completely seal. Before sealing occurs, shingles are vulnerable to blow-offs and wind damage. Shingles installed in fall or winter may not seal until the following spring. Shingles installed in the fall or winter may not seal until the following spring. Singles which are not exposed to direct sunlight or to adequate surface temperatures or that are not fastened properly may never seal. Failure to seal, blow-offs, and wind damage under these circumstances result from the nature of self sealing shingles, not a manufacturing defect, and are not covered under this warranty.”
Integrity of an installer means everything. We’ve seen many asphalt roofs installed this winter by unscrupulous asphalt roofing installers. Did you get a “better deal” because the company was slow in the winter? The best asphalt roofing companies simply DON’T install asphalt roofing in the winter months. Fortunately, metal can be installed any time of year as there are no “blow off” or “sealing” issues related to metal roofing.
