Three most over rated products

I might take some heat ( pun intended ) but I think ridge vent is one of them.

Then there's I/W shield or storm guard which I use but its mostly to appease my clients.

And last but not least synthetic underlayments.

I'm sure some of you commercial guys, slate and tile, etc. can add to the list.

What do ya's think?

Specializing in repair work, aka problem roofs, I've been seeing the worst of the worst for about 15 of the 30 years I've been in the business.

I had installed roofs for 15 years before I began specializing in repairs. Of course like everyone else, I thought I already knew it all and had seen it all.

Reality however revealed to me that repairs were a whole different animal.

Most of the poor installs that I'm called out to look at were gun nailed but that's probably just because most roofs are gun nailed and have been for many years.

Nailing too high and imbedding the nails into the shingles are the biggest problems.

I've also seen many hand nailed roofs with nail pops protruding through the shinlges causing leaks. This is of course from not driving the nails down flush.

When it's all said and done, gun or hand nailed, your either a skilled craftsman who cares about your work or your not.

I have also discovered that 99% of all homeowners could care less if you use a gun or a hammer.

(1) Electroplated nails. Seen too many rust to nothing in a few years.

(2) 5 in 1 pipe flashings. Those just aren't right.

(3) Ridge vent. With our wind driven rainy season, too many leak.

Low end roofer here. :laugh: I have no idea what to add to the thread. I still buy the UL 30# which is twice as thick as a roll of #15, much less #30. I still use boards, which I think some here and elsewhere have no knowledge of, and 100 year old slate. I'll be tearing off a slate roof soon installed recently over something called plywood, or OSB, I forget which. I'll use GAF Hi-temp since it might be open for a while and 1x8's for the decking.

OLE Willie Said:

On the flip side, some roofers cant hand nail worth a crap either so what do you do?

I have always said that it ain't the tool but the man behind the tool that counts. There are several "high end roofers" in my area that promote that they only "hand nail". There is a home improvement guru on the radio that promotes hand nailing for the simple reason that it is impossible to detect when the nail hits a void in the decking otherwise. I have seen some pretty bad roofs that were hand nailed. In fact, I have seen very few roofs that were properly fastened regardless of the type. Roofing by the book says that if you hit a void, you discard the shingle, patch the hole in the underlayment, then make sure you hit solid decking with a new shingle. Wanna bet these "hand nailers" do that? ha.

The fact is, roofing is a delicate and demanding profession to get it done right. I use a coil nailer on sheathing, staples on plank decks, and hand nail on my hip and ridge shingles. I mark the seams in the deck just so I don't hit a void.

It makes me sick to see these production roofers slap on roofs when I know dam well all of the mistakes they are making just to finish in a day. They disrespect the profession.

Welcome aboard Stelting!

I'm a residential guy so I won't argue with anything you said because I don't have very much experience with those products. ;)

TPO, in fact all single ply membranes are over rated. The very idea of one ply protecting your building is a joke.

Non reinforced liquids, i.e. coatings are worthless. Reinforced coatings have created some of the best roofs I have seen. But, building a membrane on a roof 2.5 gallons, scrim 1.5 gallons, let dry 1 gallon, then 1 gallon of white - well boys let me tell you that isnt cheap. Might as well do a 2 ply sbs modified. EXCEPTION coatings are great on metal.

SPRAY POLYURETHANE FOAM - INSULATION IS NOT ROOFING! :( :(

TPO membrane is the most over rated product in the history of roofing. A single ply to protect your building?

PVC is a close second.

Non reinforced coatings (except for on metal R Panel and standing seam) are worthless. Reinforced or liquid membranes are great.

Infact, any single ply is just about worthless. Any non reinforced liquid system is just about worthless.

Mike, you mean the black spray stuff in the can doesn't work? Tell me it's not so! It fixed the leak in the boat on the tv commercial. :laugh:

I agree that most caulking is improved, like Geocel and NP-1 but the plastic roof cement took a nose dive several years back. :unsure:

Caulking and underlayments of all types. And just to disagree with other posters, hand nailed roofs.

RooferMan, I'm an old school hand nailer and I never liked nail guns either.

However, I have seen some roofers who can really use them well but probably just as often as not they will just use them to slam through a job with little to no care.

On the flip side, some roofers can't hand nail worth a crap either so what do you do?

Hey twill, I've got 14 pallets of I/W for sale at a bulk discount. Would you be interested? :laugh:

natty, I've installed ONE solar powered fan in my whole life. lol The customer had already bought it and just wanted it installed.

I don't know how it turned out but I've never heard from him since. ( only been a year )

He has my number!

The price of those is MUCH higher also.

I'll catch heat for this, but I'd add roofing nail guns. so many blow-off repairs due to over driven or in the wrong place or in a sheathing joint.

One thing I can think of product wise that is overrated is a solar powered fan. They only run if the sun is hitting the panel and they don't draw that much air.

Besides, I rarely see any house that has proper intake ventilation. The ridge vents that are baffled are fine but I rarely see them installed correctly. It is amazing what roofers will hide because they can get away with it.