We are having a white standing seam metal roof installed on our house. According to experts, Reflective White Roofing Cuts Energy Costs 20%. Our savings won’t be that great because we don’t run an air conditioner in any case, but it will certainly contribute to the comfort level of our home during the hot parts of the year.

Because of the energy savings, there is a Federal Income tax credit of 30% for going white roof. That means I can deduct 30% of the cost of the roof directly from the bottom line taxes owed, ergo means a discount on the roofing of 30%.  We usually don’t make enough to owe any Federal income tax but this year is the exception because we did get some gas lease signing bonus money so we decided to spend that money on a new 40 year roof and use the tax credit.

A 40 year roof means it will outlive me and so no more worries about the roof needing repair when I am too old and broke to do it.

The 30% tax credit also applies to solar installations so we are having a solar thermal collection system installed to provide our hot water.  The roofers should finish today and the solar guys are coming tomorrow.

We shopped around for the best price roofing price and ended up hiring a young Amish guy. He is in the rumspringa stage of life which means he drives a van, has a cell phone and an gmail.com address.  He is the youngest of 16 children. 1 has moved away, 14 are married and doing the Amish culture thing, and he can still go back. Pretty good retention rate.

They hired a guy who came and formed the roofing right on site.

It forms it by running the flat sheet through a series of rollers.

It has a punch to make the holes for the screws and a shear at the end to cut it off at the measured length.

The roofers tell him the length and he forms what they want so there is no end waste. There is some as they go around smokestacks, vent pipes and sky lights but it is minimal.

They had some really grippy rubber overshoes because there was ice on the roof but managed 3 days of work without falling off the roof even once!

They would speak English to me but between themselves they were speaking Amish.