Sudre
Active Member
This is getting a bit off topic except for it's relevance to Tesla solar roof. I too am looking at roofing options. The house I need the roof on does not have solar yet and the 20 year roof is on year 22 so I contacted Tesla online. It's been a month and no one has gotten back to me. (there is a serious labor work shortage in my area) I am guessing I will have to contact the three installers myself at some point. Since then I did look at 50 year roofs to add solar on top of for comparison pricing.I've always heard that the companies don't last that long, so that's how they have really long warranties - they last a good amount of that time but the company is sold or closed or the previous owner dies and no one remembers or whatever before the long term warranties are claimed in case of failures.
Most of the composite roofers I got bids from have been in business for 50+ years. One offers a 50 year warranty and then if you sell the house or someone inherits it they give that new person an additional 50 year. They truly want it to be a lifetime roof. Down side is it's $32 a square foot. Another company with a 50 year warranty composite wants around $9 a square foot not including underlayment so that's probably almost $15 after all is said and down. A 30 year architectural shingle roof (what I have on my primary home) is around $4.2 a square foot. All that priced in my area naturally.
Now comes the part about the out of business thing. If the advanced metal roof (first one I mentioned) needs repairs I can ONLY get it fixed be them. It is a unique product they designed and offer. The composite roof I got a quote on from the manufacturer can only be serviced by three vendors in my area. The architectural shingle roof can be repaired by almost anyone. Those are important factors considering the roofing company that installed my architectural shingle roof on my primary home went bankrupt 10 years after the install. I've had only one flashing repair so it wasn't a quality thing.... it just happens. I mention all this because a tornado was within feet ( <1/4 mile) of my house just a few weeks ago and this is becoming much more frequent as this thing which does not exist continues to get worse (GWP). Two years ago 3 trees were shredded 5 feet from my house and I got lucky the "down draft" wind was going the right way.
Now that leads to the Tesla solar roof. It is at least 100K to install it from what I have been reading. That is over $40 a square foot including say 9 kw. That is more expensive than any of the above roofs plus the solar install in my area.... on par with the advanced metal roof. If there is an issues, and from what I have been reading/experiencing there will be issues (tornadoes, wind down draft, etc), I have to rely on the three companies to stay in business and have enough workers. Basically I could end up with a Tesla warranty but no installers to fix it in my area so I'd have to wait thru the horrible Tesla solar experience line to get someone to come to my state and fix it... all while my roof is leaking from a tree that was picked up and thrown at my house.
Side note.... On my primary house with regular rooftop solar, when I discovered I needed more solar to offset my EV charging needs, I just got upgrades. With a Tesla roof you get what you get forever. You can not add more for a reasonable price.