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TOPIC: Wind concerns

Brick home remodel

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We have just purchased a small brick ranch home that we plan to remodel. Our plans (currently being drawn up by an architect) are to add an addition along the rear of the house that will be 2 story and will house a vaulted family room, mudroom, 2 car garage, with 2 bedrooms, a bath, and a loft. The original home is only 1400 sq feet. We will also be adding a porch across the front and one side of the original structure. One problem that our architect pointed out is that the front of the house faces a very large, open farm pasture and pond (the veiw is wonderful) and at the rear of the house is a dense tree lline. He says that the potential for heavy winds coming across the pasture is pretty good thus he suggested covering the new porch with a metal roof because the pitch will not be too steep. We mentioned to him that we aren't really sure about having a roof with 2 different roofing materials . . . he didn't seem phased by this but said that we could cover the entire structure with metal, if we desired (I like this idea) but we have some questions: 1. Are there situations where a combination of roofing materials is acceptable and if so does the result look discombobulated or awkward? 2. If we chose to install metal roofing on the entire structure, would a metal roof look funny on a brick home? It is a red (very red) brick home, do you have any color suggestions? 3. The current roof was replaced just last year before we purchased the home. Can a metal roof be installed over the current roof?
Krys Smith

6/6/2004
Actually, one of the more common "farm house" looks in recent years has been to put vertical seam metal roofing on the lower porch roof and standard shingles on the main roof. If you contact some metal roofing manufacturers direct, they may be able to search their photo archives and show you some homes similar to yours. Most of the homes my company provides roofing for are brick or stone. Keep in mind, particularly if you re-roof the entire home, that there are many interlocking metal roofs which resemble shingle, shake, slate, or tile to choose from as well. You are not limited to vertical seam roofing. Many metal roofs can, with an appropriate underlayment between the two, be installed over asphalt shingles. Good luck!
Guest User

6/6/2004
Thank you for your response. I don't know about mixing shingles and a metal roof for the porch but it may be a good choice financially. Based on your response I have a couple of more questions: 1. If we leave the current roof on the main house and add metal to the porch, can we go back at a later date and add the metal roof to the main structure without having to replace the metal roof on the porch? 2. Considering that the house is a red brick and the current roof is done is architectual (what ever that means) black asphalt shingles . . . what color would you suggest for the metal porch roof? I would really like to stay away from black because of the heat attraction. Actually, I think we are considering re-roofing the entire house in metal. We were thinking hunter green (though my husband seems to think it will look like a Christmas house) or a brown color. What do you think? Thanks again for your input.
Guest User

6/25/2004
Without knowing the exact configuration of your house and roof, I would suspect that, yes, the porch can be done now and the house later without any trouble. If a period of several years were to lapse, there would be some color difference. Also, if you go this route, when you select the porch roof, verify with the manufacturer that they do not anticipate any color or profile changes in the next couple of years. As far as color and just doing the porch now, I would select whatever color you want for the entire roof and use it, regardless of whether it looks quite "perfect" right now. On a red brick house, I have seen many roof colors work very well. Green can certainly work well -- keep in mind that there are many shades of green available, most of which would not give a "Christmas colors" look. Also, dark or medium gray can look nice on red brick and, in fact, some of the darker red colors can look great on red brick as well, even though that may sound odd. Generally, I am not sure how brown would look but that depends ultimately on the exact match-up between your brick color and the brown roof color. Again, as you look around, you will find many color variations in metal roofing.
Todd Miller
Isaiah Industries, Inc.

6/26/2004