home maintenance

[cellio]

The roof is nearing the end of its lifespan. No acute problems, but it's about time to start talking to purveyors of replacements. There are books on the third floor, after all. :-)

If you have comments (pro or con) about roofers in the Pittsburgh area, I'd appreciate hearing them.

If you have favorite resources (particularly if they're on the web) that will help us make whatever decisions are involved (materials, what else?), I'd definitely like to hear about them.

Comments

All those things s/he just said, plus...

[(Anonymous)]

* If you've ever thought of putting in sun-tunnels (http://www.veluxusa.com/products/sunTunnels/ , circular sky-lights that gather light and reflect it into the room, giving much more light from a smaller opening than a sky-light), do it while the roof material is off. Most roofers now can do them, and they are fabulous.

* Ditto solar. Look into the tax incentives, anything your local utility district maybe offering, etc. Solar can help offset the cost recovery of the roof/materials -- not hugely, but some.

* Ditto a whole-house fan if you don't have one.

* Ditto putting in insulation in the attic/roof/walls/wherever you want to do it that having the roof off would make it easier.

Re: All those things s/he just said, plus...

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

I have some friends that installed two "sun tubes", and the difference those have made in the home is impressive.

There are some new exotic-materials shingles out there, which at least one person local to me has recommended strongly. Rubber tiles with 50-100 year warrantees. If you plan to keep the home for a long period of time, it might be worth the investment.

(I cannot fathom how one will make a warrantee claim in, say, 80 years....)

Re: All those things s/he just said, plus...

[cellio]

I'm assuming that the "sun tubes" have to run in a straight line down from the roof to wherever they're delivering the light?

Re: All those things s/he just said, plus...

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

Apparently they do not. That's the cool part.

Re: All those things s/he just said, plus...

[cellio]

Hmm! Ok, that makes a difference. :-) (Our roof is above the attic, which in turn is above the second floor, which is where we would want the light (attic is storage). But the straight-line paths mostly don't come out in useful places.)