New Roof - TPO vs EPDM vs PVC
Hi Everyone, I had to remove my old membrane and plywood due to unknown leaks after the hurricanes last year. I'm am now in the process of figuring which membrane I want. There is a lot of informa...
Forum Discussion
Gjac wrote:
If it were me I would just put an EPDM roof on. It is cheap compared to Al, FG or TPO. The EMDM roof will last you 20 plus years with some maintenance and will be a lot easier to work with than Al, FG or TPO. Think about how you will cut holes in these materials.
For some reason folks seem to be under the impression that aluminum is hard to work with..
Aluminum actually is very easy to work with, cuts far easier than steel, bends easy.. Hardest part is getting up on the roof and getting it lined up straight before unrolling.
Pair a decent "tin snips" a drill and a few drill bits (locate the roof openings with a drill from the inside then you can use the drill hole to start the tin snips and go to town.
On the sides, just bend the aluminum down over top of the siding and replace the trim/drip edges.. Finish off with caulking.. Gets you a 50+ yr roof and you will never need to mess with it other than checking the caulking periodically.
The downside to aluminum is the upfront cost and the hassle to get it shipped but it will easily outlast 4 or more soft roofs.
My current TT had a aluminum roof, however as I was rehabbing it I discovered the previous owner had shot thousands of tiny nails through the roof when they attempted to remodel it.. Yeah, they used a pneumatic air nailer!
I went the soft roof route and have regretted that choice ever since. When new, it is soft, tears easily and when it gets old, shrinks, gets hard/brittle and you still have the caulking going bad which is the same as aluminum. So to me the only "advantage" to a soft roof is lower upfront cost, but with that lower cost you also get far less "life" from it.
