Roof work at Cogswell's Grant

: As the new roof is installed the flashing around chimneys and other features is replaced to make the building watertight.

The asphalt shingle roof at Cogswell’s Grant is being replaced thanks to the Preservation Maintenance Fund. In keeping with our preservation philosophy, we are replacing the asphalt shingle roof with asphalt shingles. Some may wonder why, since, at first glance, a wood shingle roof might seem more appropriate for a house built in 1728.

At Historic New England each roof replacement is done in compliance with our preservation philosophy and our overall interpretation of the property. At Cogswell's Grant, we present the property as it was used during the 1980s when Bert and Nina Little were using it as a summer residence. During this time they had an asphalt shingle roof on the structure and, in fact, the asphalt roof to be replaced dates directly to their ownership.

Please consider supporting our preservation efforts at the historic properties through the Preservation Maintenance Fund.

Read more about our philosophy on replacing roofs in-kind.

Poor roofing

Posted by Bill on August 02, 2010

Any roofer who has been in the business long enough knows that there are too many hacks in the trade. Well, this guy is just another so-called roofer who is far from a craftsman. First of all, he is doing this flashing with aluminum. Second, any metal against Ice/water will melt the ice/water in a summer week. Any roofer who has confidence in his work will not want to back up his work with ice/water. Ice/water is an all-trades-mans fix-all!!! This should be done in copper, which is an active metal, and the only metal that has always worked on the salt air of the North shore!!! This aluminum will be deteriorated in 15 years, this roofer will be long gone and the purveyor will be wishing he did it right the first time in order for it to last 100 years as it should... Also, Aluminum will not expand and contract with with drastic weather changes, it will only crack and break down...Any craftsman of a roofer would know this.. Copper is a "Live" metal, it Will exand and contract and last 100 years if done properly. Way to go Essex, waisting Our Tax money just to do it again in 15 years!!!
For shame, for shame....

Roof

Posted by mike on August 03, 2010

In reply to the last comment.
This may be lead coated copper. and if so, you are wrong. Yet you are still correct in knowing about the craft. If this is indeed LCC, this guy is not soldering this properly with a soldering iron, he is using a either a torch or a small gauge iron, not nearly enough to sweat thru the Solder enough to bond the metals. Also, the ice/water he has around the chimney is on top of the paper that is on top of the sheeting which is "Against" the water!!! that is the first rule in roofing!!! Dont take photos of your work with simple mistakes like this... You chimney may last 15 years, but if your upper shingles blow off, you are against the water@ the chimney...
Agreed, poor work.....

Roof Work Clarifications

Posted by Ben on August 04, 2010

Thank you for your comments and we thought we would address some of your concerns. As you were not seeing a finished product in the photo sometimes the information conveyed can be misleading. As points of clarification we are using lead coated copper and not aluminum. In this installation we specified the bituthane not in the traditional application, direct contact to sheathing with subsequent membranes and shingles applied on top, but rather as a self sealing membrane for any fastener penetrations that occur in an area that is a traditional point of failure on all roofs. We take the protection of historic fabric very seriously and sometimes double and triple protect vulnerable areas and we placed the bituthane on top of the felt paper to allow for reversibility - an adhesive backed bituthane membrane will permanently bond to a wood substrate. Our experience to date has not shown summer sun to melt the bituthane under the hot flashing however you have given us something to investigate! We are always looking to improve the protection of our historic resources so thank you for your feedback.
Ben Haavik, Team Leader of Property Care, Historic New England

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