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Last summer we put new panels over sunny side of our 20yo terracota roof. Since the roof is just overlaid "bricks", we only had to remove some of those, use scr

Last summer we put new panels over sunny side of our 20yo terracota roof. Since the roof is just overlaid "bricks", we only had to remove some of those, use screws to fix hooks to underlying structural wood, and put the roof tiles back on. On the hooks we install metal wireframe, into which the panels were seated and fixed. Apart from raising the panels to the roof and fixing them in place (brother helped), we did it just me and dad. Panels are just too heavy/bulky for 2 people. The terracota roof have 0 new openings, as the hooks are in the space where two tiles overlay, so there is 0 fear of long term damage trough water ingress. The hooks and aluminum wireframe fixture were the most expensive part of roof instalation. So, cheap, fast (3 weekends total?), and fun. I am surprised some people have totally different experience

wharvle 3y ago
House roofs in the US are often quite steep, and typically asphalt shingles over plywood. Terra cotta exists but is rare outside certain regions (and not that common even in those). Wood shingles exist but most are terrible, most still around now were installed after we ran out of wood good enough to give them their supposed 50+ year lifespan (we ran out in the 70s or 80s), so people tend to replace them with asphalt when they go to shit in 20-30ish years rather than paying a large premium to replace them with more (bad) wood. Slate, copper, et c., exist, but are basically "exotic"—no normal person has those on their house unless they bought a very old house in a bad neighborhood (a house with a roof like that's likely to be crazy-expensive if it's not in a bad neighborhood). Most people in the US don't work on their own roofs. You need safety equipment most people don't own, plus protective equipment to keep from damaging the shingles, and to be proficient with it you need to use the stuff more than once every couple decades. And even then, it's pretty dangerous.

wharvle 3y ago

House roofs in the US are often quite steep, and typically asphalt shingles over plywood. Terra cotta exists but is rare outside certain regions (and not that common even in those). Wood shingles exist but most are terrible, most still around now were installed after we ran out of wood good enough to give them their supposed 50+ year lifespan (we ran out in the 70s or 80s), so people tend to replace them with asphalt when they go to shit in 20-30ish years rather than paying a large premium to replace them with more (bad) wood. Slate, copper, et c., exist, but are basically "exotic"—no normal person has those on their house unless they bought a very old house in a bad neighborhood (a house with a roof like that's likely to be crazy-expensive if it's not in a bad neighborhood). Most people in the US don't work on their own roofs. You need safety equipment most people don't own, plus protective equipment to keep from damaging the shingles, and to be proficient with it you need to use the stuff more than once every couple decades. And even then, it's pretty dangerous.