In a message dated 5/14/00 4:22:05 PM Central Daylight Time,
[log in to unmask] writes:

<< B) What are people putting on new "townhome" roofs these days>>

There are umpteen million different types of roofing systems available.
Generally people prefer to take care of the facade, that they can see, and to
neglect the roof, which usually needs attention. In NYC very little flat seam
metal roofing occurs on townhomes except in high end restorations. All
roofing materials can be applied poorly and stupidly, or with intelligence
and skill.

Lowest end -- resaturants. Liquids you pour on to restore the old rolled
roofing. Worth another 6 months to a year in defered maintenance if you are
lucky. Are you lucky?

Low end. The most common method in NYC. Rolled roofing, 90 lb. granulated
building felt set in cold mastic, is the cheapest alternative and lasts 3-5
years. People seem to recover it on a 15 year cycle. Put down by unskilled
labor and usually without any idea of how to handle flashings. Inferior to
everything, but cheap. Cold mastics have a tendency to melt in high
temperatures, as occur on a roof, and can flow out of the roofing system and
into the building.

Modest end. Modified bitumen, torch down (the contractor has to be cautious
not to burn the building down), for which you get a 12-20 year warranty. If
smooth then coated with alumination (hopefully nonfibrated alumination w/out
asbestos fibers in it), or granulated and looks just like the cheaper roll
roofing, but is supposed to last longer. If done properly & maintained these
roofs should last 30 years. Who does anything properly & maintains it? Not
inferior to metal, in my opinion, if taken on a cost/duration comparison. I
prefer to combine modified bitumens with a high R-facter insulation and to
use copper regleted cap flashings. Modified bitumens can take a light amount
of walking on, and can be easily adapted for application of roof terrace
structures.

Sometimes. Hot tar asphalt and plies of felt. The tars are not as good as
they used to be and it is a hassle (hot kettles are difficult to get up onto
roofs) for a relatively smaller townhouse. I've done asphalt for base roofing
layers, installation of insulation, then modified bitumen on the final layer.

Rarely. EPDM, the large sheet of rubber type of roof either with our without
ballast. Ballast to keep the balloon from getting sucked off the roof.
Unprotected EPDM is subject to punctures. Finding a leak in ballasted EPDM is
a real pain. I hate EPDM roofs and we try not install them (you gotta
concentrate on measure & layout), we do repair them. Sometimes EPDM is used
for gutter liners, ok by me.

High end. Kemper, polyester felt and resin based liquid. Can get a 20 year
NDL (no dollar limit) warranty. Said to be able to last out to 50 years. Easy
to do flashings and occasionally it is combined with a hybrid system of
modified bitumen, with teh MB as field and the kemper as flashing.

An added hassle to the bitumen mucking problem of our predecessors is that
the bitumen muck often contained asbestos fibers and legitimate removal of
the asbestos impregnated muck, which is now dried out and possibly or
possibly not friable, can double the cost of a reroofing project. Therefore,
encapsulation becomes an important alternative.

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