It's time for a new roof...what do I need to know?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I think it’s finally time for a new roof on my house. The one I have is “OEM” so to speak. That puts it at about 20 years old. One advantage I have, right now, is that I don’t have any major problems, so it’s not that I need to get it replaced or repaired, say, before winter/spring or before it rains again. I have some time. A few years ago I noticed a very small bit of ice damming, my skylight leaks about once a year when conditions are exactly right and a few weeks ago I noticed that 3 or 4 shingles were missing. Even with all that going on, when I poked my head up in the attic, I noticed a bit of mildew in the area where I suspected the ice damming had occurred, but other than that, all the decking looked to be dry and in good shape. From the outside, the decking does appear to dip in some spots. I’m not sure if that’s an issue or not though.
So, I have some time. Like I said, it’s 20 years old and starting to show it’s age, the granules are all still there, but some of the tabs are just barely starting to curl and it appears to have been slapped on in a hurry. Things like pipe boots (the black plastic/rubber things around the plumbing vent) and the attic vents were stapled/nailed on and I’ve even noticed a few nails put in directly through the tops of the (exposed) shingles (no idea why).

I’ve emailed one person that a friend couldn’t speak more highly of. I have another friend in the roofing industry (not a roofer himself) that gave me the name of his guy and I’ll email him. I’ve also requested a quote on Angie’s List and got nothing back. 24 hours later they sent me an email saying ‘oops, looks like no one responded, here’s some people you can talk to’ and it was about 6 roofers that all just happened to start with the letter A.

Anyways, what I need to know, is what do I look for in a quote?

Do I did mention in the emails that I’m not in a huge hurry, hoping they won’t ding me, thinking ‘this guy needs a roof this week, he’ll pay anything’. But other than that…
1)I’ve only got one layer, if I can afford it, do I do a tear off? Some people have said that it’s not worth it, some people have said that I might as well so that I can use this opportunity to put Ice & Water up higher or even all the way. OTOH, with no real leaking issues, maybe it’s not worth tearing off the current layer…I really don’t know.

2)Do I mention the few sagging plywood boards or do I figure that these guys (the people doing the quotes) are pros and if it needs to be done, they’ll notice it. If I mention it, it’s probably a sure thing that they’ll do it, even if it’s not necessary.

3)Somewhat unrelated question…I asked my insurance company if there’s any certain type of roof I should look at (for a discount), they didn’t seem to think so (it’s a broker, I should probably call the actual company), but they did tell me I need to tell them when I put a new one on. I’m curious if I’ll pay more since the house will be worth more or less since the house will be better protected (that is, a ‘new roof’ discount). Don’t get me wrong, I’ll tell them, I’m just curious. In fact, I’m going to go over the broker’s head and call the insurance company directly and ask them both those questions. My homeowners insurance isn’t all that high, so spending thousands more for a savings of a few dollars a month isn’t worth it, but I’d still like to know.

4)How much more am I looking at for metal roofs. Looking at some websites, the prices are all over the place. Some say 20% more, some are triple the price. I’d love to put one on and be done forever, but at 3x the price, I probably can’t afford it. I’m also surprised to learn that there’s more than standing seam metal roofs, but metal roofs that actually look like asphalt shingles, granules and all. I assume the granules are cosmetic, so it doesn’t matter if/when they come off, but these asphalt looking ones seem to go on like regular shingles. Do they protect against ice damming?

5)How much stock do I put into facebook reviews? For example, one company I looked at (haven’t emailed yet), had a great website, but okay Angie’s List reviews and not very good FB reviews. It could just be a matter of happy customers not writing reviews and angry people complaining in public.

6)My skylight needs to be replaced. Can I expect the roofers to do that as well, as part of the job? I know at least one of the people I’m in talks with is a roofer by trade, but also (from what I understand) a very good handyman, do I’m sure he can do it, in fact, I’ll probably also have him take a look a a piece of fascia, but I’m more curious about this in general. Do ‘roofers’ do this, or just refer you to their favorite window company?

7)As I said in the beginning, I’m missing a few shingles, some of the ‘accessories’ are starting to pull up and I’ve had some ice damming…should I look at a repair to buy me a few more years or just replace it…it is 20 years old?

8)If anyone is in the Milwaukee/ SE Wisconsin area, I’m open to recommendations.

9)What about vents? I have regular roof vents and soffit vents (which, so far as I can tell, are properly baffled). People seem to be moving towards ridge vents, but is there any real reason to do so if I’m not having any issues?

Lots of questions, I know, and I’ll probably have more, but lets start with these ones.

2

You might also want to find out if your roof is badly damaged enough for the insurance to pay for the repair and replacement. They did for me; I did have to pay for it but was reimbursed in full minus $500. :cool:

3

I just replaced my roof. I joined Angie’s list, asked five likely contractors, all with largely very positive feedback, to quote me. 2 couldn’t/wouldn’t because of the type of roof etc., so I added 2 more. In the end I had 5 written quotes, detailing the scope of work etc. I went with the cheapest (after verifying insurance/bond and license) , very pleased with the result. The range was remarkable: the highest 2 were about twice the lowest 3.
This was standard asphalt shingle.
Telling them it just needed to be good enough to sell the house limited any “up-sell”.

4

That isn’t a problem with your roof*; it’s a problem with the insulation/ventilation in your attic. Unless you fix that, a new roof will have the same problem. (But when you’re redoing the roof is a good time to fix this as well.

  • But it will cause problems in your roof if left unfixed.
5

Your local building code will/may specify how many roofs may be on your home.
The trend has been to lower the number.

If you can have two roofs, you can put another roof over the existing.
If the magic number is “1”, a tear-off is required.

This house has had two cheap roofs - the original wood shake (I didn’t know there were shakes that cheap) was covered with 3/8" MDF and cheap “asphalt” shingles.

If the sheathing under your roof is 3/8" MDF or less, do a tear-off and put down new sheathing.

This place put the MDF over the skip sheathing. Not real sturdy.

6

I’m pretty sure I can have (at least) 2 layers of shingles. Oddly, I can’t find anything on my city’s website since, so far as I can tell, they don’t require permit…I’m guessing they do and just don’t have listed, though.

I’m planning to stop by city hall and see if I can find the inspector. Since I plan to do this legally, I don’t have any issues getting all my ducks in a row. Can I have multiple layers? Can I have a metal roof? Do I need a permit? etc. Even if this is months or a year off, I’d still like to have the answers before the contractors tell me otherwise.

7

To give you a general feel for this one, here is the approximate pricing quotes we got when we re-roofed last year (house size and local pricing will vary, of course, perhaps greatly):

Basic asphalt shingles (20 year life) - $5,000
Architectural shingles (30 year life) - $7,500
Metal roof (40-80 year life) - $12,000

That is just base pricing - tear off, facia repair, roof repair and ridge vents are all likely extra.

8

I love my metal roof and knowing that I’ll never have to deal with it again unless there’s a ridiculously severe hail or windstorm. No worries about ice dams any more. At the time I got mine, material costs for asphalt and metal were the same. I also got a tax credit for metal. I don’t know if that’s still in effect or not. I don’t care how mine looks as I’m not going to be selling the place so I went with the bare bones of metal roof (nothing added to pretty it up).

9

I forgot to say, I’d definitely check with your insurance company to see if they offer a discount for metal. I don’t know how common it is to do so. My company doesn’t. Your agent just wants to update the age of the roof in his records. It may matter down the line for depreciation calculations if it gets damaged. It shouldn’t affect the value of your home enough to make a difference in premium as most homeowner policies are automatically indexed to increase the value from time to time for inflation and stuff. It never hurts to check to make sure you have enough coverage though.

10

Listen to somebody here and or get some advice (like at a place that specializes in selling shingles) on how a roof/shingles are supposed to be installed.

Then, unless you REALLY trust these people to do the work right, WATCH them do it to make sure it is right.

11

Just a very small update, no quotes on anything yet, but I did email my insurance broker. A new asphalt roof would give me a $41 discount (this year, I’m sure that would discount would decrease over the next X years). A metal roof would give me a $47 discount. Other than that, there’s no difference from one type to the next.
I know there are in some areas, but I assume that’s because, statistically, Milwaukee residents just don’t get their roofs torn off by tornadoes or hurricanes on very regular basis. Even the hail we get isn’t known to be (statistically) all that damaging.

Oh, and a wood roof would increase my premium by $44 a year.

So, when were talking, let’s say upwards of $5000, saving $40 or $47 isn’t going to swing my vote one way or the other.

I do see a tax credit for a metal roof, but it’s not that much. It’s 10%, maxing out at $500 and only counting the material cost. It’s not nothing, but it’s probably not going to be what changes my mind.

12

Just remember that a tax credit is a credit, not a deduction. The $500 comes off your taxes owed rather than your income.

13

Like AllShookDown, I put a metal roof on my house a couple years ago. It should last my lifetime - the previous corrugated roof was probably 60 years old, and not leaky, but unattractive and needed resealing/tightening and I figured just redo the thing and forget about it. I love the look. Oh, and I paid $8000 including materials.

StG

14

In my part of the world (southeast US) the problem with the residential metal roofs (as opposed to commercial metal roofs) is not with the metal roofs themselves but with the neoprene washers that they use. Every one of the connection places where the metal pieces join has a little neoprene washer. The problem is that the little washers deteriorate in a few years, and then you get leaks. The metal of the roof itself is fine and will last for a long time. But the washers have to all be periodically replaced.

But that’s in the southeast US. I don’t know if they use neoprene up in your area, or if they use something else, or if the neoprene doesn’t deteriorate up there like it does here…

15

I had my roof done in 2000. They replaced all the roof flashing boots.

The rubber gasket deteriorated on all of them within 8 years. I had a couple leaks. I had to get him back to seal with high quality sealer. Like in this linked picture.
.
I was told this is pretty common. The roof boots sold today are very cheaply made.

Don’t wait for for leaks like I did. Get up there after 5 years and check the rubber. Deteriorated? Seal it.

16

I also spent extra for algae resistant asphalt shingles. They have copper in the granules to prevent black areas growing on the shingles.

I got red shingles and 15 years later they a still clean. No black areas. I get pine needles built up on my roof. They hold moisture. Great way to get algae. But those copper granules work.

More info.
http://roofpedia.com/algae-resistant-roof-shingles/

17

I got two personal recommendations for my roofer (always the best way if you can manage it.)

P.S. Don’t get a flat roof!

18

I ended up getting a standing seam metal roof some years back, the contractor was a good friend, so I trusted his advice.

One key advantage of metal for us was lower labor cost: the sheathing was going bad in some places and there was a rotting area where water was leaking in, so he explained that the increased labor of fixing the problems for a shingle roof would cost just as much as the increased cost of materials for the metal roof.

The metal roof cost $10K, because the materials were expensive, but the labor was low since he could slap it on top of the old roof.
Had we gone with shingles, the roof would have still cost $10K, even though the materials were cheap, because he would have had to fix all of the issues to a higher standard.

And it was all above-board–I remember the town building inspector stopping by on a snowy New Year’s eve and walking all over the roof (low pitch), checking all of the details and chatting with me about metal roofs in general. He gave it a thumbs up.

19

If you need new rafters you will need a permit. Just tear off and replacement you shouldn’t. This is assuming you’re in the City of Milwaukee proper.

I’ve had several roofs put on my home and on rental houses I own(ed). The city didn’t stick their nose into anything or care what materials we were using.

20

Skip the ridge vents.