Is anyone in the Seattle area and getting a solar roof installed on an existing home? I’m wondering how long the process took/is taking so I can time my order for spring/summer. I’ve tried to Google for Tesla solar roof installers because I also need to have some electrical work done during/prior and I thought I’d try to get estimates before ordering the solar roof on the Tesla site. Any ideas or guidance would be greatly appreciated!
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Seattle Solar Roof timing
- Thread starter chrstna4
- Start date
It seems like timelines are highly dependent upon local crew availability - so your request for information from others in Seattle is a good one. That being said, all the solar roof installs I've seen on this forum have taken at least 3 months from order and usually much longer. I live in northern Virginia, ordered in July, and am starting tear down today. If I'm lucky, the roof will be installed within the next couple of weeks and then I get to wait for PTO.
We started in late October 2019 and they installed in March 2020. I am not sure if anyone but Tesla installs the Solar Roof. And Tesla did a great job with ours. As part of the pre-install work, they sent someone to inspect the house for 4 hours. They looked at roof structure, every electrical panel, size of connection to the grid, etc. Only then did they commit to a rough timeline. So if you are doing some major electrical work you might see if you can coordinate this with Tesla so you don't end up redoing it.
If you are interested you can see this google doc with links to photos of our install.
If you are interested you can see this google doc with links to photos of our install.
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@jboy210 I went through your Google doc when you posted it elsewhere and it’s great!
I’m hoping it’s true that Tesla is training more people and timelines will shrink. I don’t like the idea of having my roof removed in the middle of a rainy Seattle winter so starting the process feels like a game of chance. Ha! Perhaps I can request a starting month...
I’m hoping it’s true that Tesla is training more people and timelines will shrink. I don’t like the idea of having my roof removed in the middle of a rainy Seattle winter so starting the process feels like a game of chance. Ha! Perhaps I can request a starting month...
Obvious thing to consider ... solar "glass" roof is very challenging (even dangerous) to install in wet weather. I would be surprised Tesla would have any plans to do any solar roofs during the winter in Seattle (with the continuous drizzle up there), as opposed to other roofing products.
Good point.
Hopefully, if they can find a few consecutive days to tear off the current roof and get the underlayment down. They just switched underlayments, but I believe the roof still is waterproof as soon as they get the underlayment on. We had parts of our roof covered with just underlayment through several rainstorms. There were no leaks because the stuff is self-sealing.
FWIW, the completed solar roof is not 100% waterproof and has drains at the base to let any water that gets past the tiles drain away. So the underlayment is a critical part of keeping the roof waterproof.
A crew is putting the new underlayment on my roof this week. My packing label simply lists it as 'FT Cobalt FR' but the optimistic consensus from folks here is that it is Tesla branded FT Synthetics Cobalt Ultra ( Cobalt Ultra I FT Synthetics ) which can sit exposed to UV for up to 6 months before becoming compromised.
We're not "there yet" for solar roof but it's on our radar. We have a flat roof (with solar panels and battery backup installed in 2014) and intend to "unflatten it", which would include adding crawl space an insulation as well as ducts for A/C and heat, and replacing the existing solar + backup with Tesla Solar Roof + Powerwalls.
Any idea if this (roof shape change, insulation, etc.) is something Tesla would partner with a local roofer, something Tesla would take on as part of the project, or something we'd need to manage ourselves "just prior" to the solar roof installation?
Any idea if this (roof shape change, insulation, etc.) is something Tesla would partner with a local roofer, something Tesla would take on as part of the project, or something we'd need to manage ourselves "just prior" to the solar roof installation?
My guess is Tesla would prefer you to deal with putting the roof structure up until at least the decking was on. However, maybe they would coordinate the timing so you don't have to put one roof one just to rip it off for SolarGlass. They may also be working with local roofers to install SolarRoofs. Ours was installed by a local roofing contractor and Tesla team.
You should do a search since someone else previously asked a similar question about new construction and a SolarRoof.
