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Thread: Galvanized roof was at least laid in 1952 or earlier

  1. #1
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    Galvanized roof was at least laid in 1952 or earlier

    I am replacing my roof. The galvanized is stamped with Tennessee Coal Iron and Railroad Co. They went out of business in 1952. Keep in mind that I live three blocks from the ocean and since 1952 who knows how many hurricanes have passed through.

    86211355-C25E-4418-ADF5-3F6F729C944F.jpg

    ...it was fastened with slotted screws.
    Last edited by Malcolm Schweizer; 01-08-2020 at 6:42 AM.

  2. #2
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    Yep. I'm in an area where Slate was a very common roofing material circa 1900. Many, many of those roofs are still in service in our area, despite our freezing weather conditions. Ice is a slate roof's greatest enemy. We also have quite a few Flat Lock Steel/Galvanized still around. These roofs are a testament to the generations of tradesmen before us.

  3. #3
    That's one heck of a sturdy roof - you get some really scary storms. (I remember your posts describing the last two.) Wish I could see its physical construction - I'll bet there's some things I could learn about building strong. Would also be interesting to see how they attach your solar panels to storm proof them.

    Good luck on your big project!
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    Ugh, can you imagine installing a whole roof with slotted screws. And those would be driven by hand of course.

  5. #5
    Throughout the Shenandoah valley there are hundreds of old houses, sheds and out buildings with Terne standing seam roofs. Usually painted dark Green or red, they have lasted for a century with no problem. A small addition to my grandmother's house has terne roofing. I painted it when I was in high school on a late May afternoon. Dang hot job. The stuff will last as long as kept painted.

  6. #6
    That's pretty impressive! What will you do with the material you are removing?
    I hope it can be re-purposed rather than go into a land fill.

    Wouldn't it be a great story if the galvanized went on to be a roof again for someone in need? If a roof could talk, imagine what stories yours could tell.

    Anyway, good luck with the project,

    Edwin
    Last edited by Edwin Santos; 01-08-2020 at 10:25 AM.

  7. #7
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    Even in that photo, the material looks really, really well preserved! I bet it's a whole lot thicker than almost anything one can buy on the market today, too.
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    I'm guessing that picture is of the underside??

    We have some 5V tin on an old house here that I have not been able to find anyone alive who knows when it was made, or has even seen any like it before. The edges of the sheets are embossed with a chevron pattern, all the way across, so that the lower edge stays tucked down tight to the sheet below.

    It's also much softer than modern sheet tin roofing. A corner can be bent back, and forth many times, easily, and not part at the bend. The galvanizing under the bottom still looks like it was dipped last week. All the galvanizing is long gone on the exposed surface, but the rust is very slow penetrating. I'm thinking it's much lower carbon content than what we are used to, these days, just judging by the softness, and slow rusting.

    The company that produced Terne coated, Follansbee Steel, that Perry mentioned, went out of business a decade, or so, ago. Roll formed panels made that roofing obsolete.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Frank Pratt View Post
    Ugh, can you imagine installing a whole roof with slotted screws. And those would be driven by hand of course.
    The probably used Yankee push drivers, the cordless screwdriver of the day.

    jtk
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  10. #10
    The Harley Davidson dealership in Lindon Utah was pretty much entirely built from leftovers reclaimed from Geneva Steel before China got the rest of it...
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    hdout1.jpg
    hdout2.jpg
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  11. #11
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    They found a sheet stamped 1875. Wow.

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    So now that I’m home, it turns out the piece had a date stamped at the bottom. Also has a “to” and “from” stamp that is hard to see.

    If that is truly the date, then this has been up there for 145 years, but the slotted screws would be unusual that far back for roofing. Nails would be more common. Certainly they could have been added later, and there were also nails. Screws would have been a real luxury item before the 1900’s. My house was built by a wealthy sea captain in 1836. He sprung for other luxuries, such as red brick skinned outer walls, which would be imported from GB, and glass windows. My home was one of the first to have glass windows, hence the street was named “Krystal Gade,” i.e. “Glass Street.” His brother built the one next door, and supposedly they retired here.

    I am open to discussions on the contrary, but it sure says 1875. (The 7 is a bit faded). It sure seems to be the date. The fasteners being slotted surely says to me it’s old.

    AA2AC3E3-3A3A-4817-B1AB-7510727A5D4F.jpg 84A73CAD-0769-4586-95E5-8D44ABBA4711.jpg983CBCCA-7BC1-47B3-B807-77739045C106.jpgAC6BB079-5331-41C0-A9D1-7FDB89880155.jpg

  13. #13
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    Jan. 8, 1975??? I see now that the intact galvanizing was under an overlap. Is the metal soft, or more typically stiff compared to late 20th Century tin?

    Edited to add: I googled "US Steel company history", and found a lot of infomation, including this copied, and pasted:

    Founded March 2, 1901; 118 years ago by merger of Carnegie Steel with Federal Steel Company & the National Steel Company
    Last edited by Tom M King; 01-08-2020 at 7:04 PM.

  14. #14
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Koepke View Post
    The probably used Yankee push drivers, the cordless screwdriver of the day.

    jtk
    True. I hadn't thought of that. I remember my dad using one of those extensively. I was amazed at how fast he could drive screws with it.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Tom M King View Post
    Jan. 8, 1975??? I see now that the intact galvanizing was under an overlap. Is the metal soft, or more typically stiff compared to late 20th Century tin?

    Edited to add: I googled "US Steel company history", and found a lot of infomation, including this copied, and pasted:

    Founded March 2, 1901; 118 years ago by merger of Carnegie Steel with Federal Steel Company & the National Steel Company
    Look up Tennessee Coal, Iron, and Railroad.
    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenn...ilroad_Company

    Merges with US Steel, defunct in 1952. That said, the merger was in 1907, so perhaps my 1875 isn’t a date. To have both company names, it seems it would be no later than 1952, but no earlier than 1907.

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