I hired a guy to put a new roof on my house. I am not happy with the results.
It appears that they just put new shingles over the old shingles. I expected the old stuff to be removed and the new shingles to be put on. Is it standard to leave old shingles on? Or do I have to pay extra to get the old shingles taken off?
Also the roof is not flat - there are bumps or ripples in the roof. To me that looks bad and I think it means there are underlying problems that need to be fixed.
Also they did not fix a problem with a gap between the roof and the wall of my house - I can see into the attic from outside which I know is not good.
In many localities it’s common to put new shingles over old as long as the old ones are in reasonable shape and there are not allready two layers on the roof! Two layers in the maximum you want on the roof. Normally the price will be higher with a “tear off” because the labor cost is higher and the old shingles need to be disposed of.
Was the old layer of shingles flat before the new ones were applied? If not, the old ones should have been removed and any problems fixed before the new shingle were applied. It’s possible the roof decking was damaged before the new shingles were applied. Roof decking is plywood in houses constructed in the 60’s or newer. Before that it was 1x6 or similar lumber.
Can you better describe the gap you mention? I’m unable to visualize the problem.
Putting new shingles over top one layer of old shingles is usually not a problem if it’s done correctly. The advantage is that’s it’s cheaper. You’ve already pointed out the disadvantage – the roof has small ripples in it. This is just a cosmetic problem.
I think there were already 2 layers of shingles on the house but I am not 100% sure about that. So does that mean they probably tore off the top layer? If that’s the case I don’t see why they didn’t tear it all off. The house is 25 years old and I bought it 12 years ago.
There were ridges/ripples on the roof before this latest work. There were also leaks. I wanted the new roof to get rid of the leaks. I was thinking since there were leaks the shingles should all be replaced.
The gap is hard to describe - it’s at the bottom edge of the roof right above the rain gutter.
In a tear off I’ve only seen it done such that all the shingles were removed. I think it would be difficult, if not impossible, to only remove one layer.
Ripples and ridges can be caused by shingles which are curling up. Or it can be caused by buckled decking. A 25 year old house would almost certainly have plywood decking. Unless you’re not in the USA. There’s no location shown in your information. Are the ripples in straight lines parallel or perpendicular to the roof edge. Or are they more like lumps and bumps in random places?
Ask the guys who did the job the same questions you have asked here.
If you hired someone you can trust, you should be able to talk to them about your concerns. If you hired some leaker to do the job, you might get what you pay for.
I second what others have said so far. Only two layers of shingles and no tear-off unless you paid for that. They also should have brought to your attention any other problems that they came across during the installation (like the gap you see in the roof), after all that would most likely be an “extra” for them and a little extra money in their pockets. Unless it was part of the original bid, that is.
Those ripples you describe might be the plywood seams turning up. Are they staggared, or rouhgly 4 or 8 feet apart?
Another thing you might want to do is go up in the attic with a bright light and inspect the plywood from below. You would also see the gap you claim is in the roof from there. Take pictures if you see anything you think needs to be addressed as long as you`re up there.
I’d be dubious that a 25 year old house had two layers of shingles – a roofing job should last at least 20 years, and if you bought it 12 years ago, it’s very unlikely that it was reroofed at 13 years. (Unless it was a very mediocre product to begin with.) You could check and see if you have the inspection report from when you bought the house.
As for ridges and ripples – with older houses, it’s not uncommon to be able to see the outline of the rafters as the roof decking sags a bit, but again, with a 25 year old house, that seems a bit soon. Still, this would all have been specified in the contract you signed with the roofing company. The estimate should have given you the option for either stripping off all the old shingles or just putting on a new layer. If you felt you needed decking work done, you should have discussed it with the contractor. You may not have done your homework thoroughly before you had the work done.
Still, the bottom line is, does it keep the rain out? If so, the roofer pretty much did his job. That leaves only the gap to worry about. Are you sure the gap isn’t a ventilation area or an eave vent? How big is it? If it’s big enough for insects to get through, then it definitely needs fixing.
Our city has a limit to how many layers of roofing you can have. Roofers usually put a double layer on the first run, so you can’t tell from looking at that how many layers you have. At any rate, your contract should have specified what you get.
I asked a roofer for an estimate for two homes & I make sure they state they take the old roof off & take it away as part of their estimate.
So call them back & ask them to do that hole & call you local BetterBusinessBureau & see if they have any info on this company.
This is a good company, they are not some fly by night people. As far as replacing decking - should they have not told me that I needed that? I’m not an expert on roofs - they are.
The estimate they gave me said nothing about tearing off the old shingles - I just assumed that was standard (and so did my wife) So maybe that was a big error on my part.
Here is the weirdest part - I never signed a contract. I got the estimate and called the guy and said I was ready to start. I told him to stop by and get the check for 25% of the cost. I did not hear from him for a few days and then he calls me and says he did the job! Without getting me to sign anything or getting a check from me! ( I don’t live in this house, I live in a new house a few miles away)
My plan is to not pay him anything until the job is done the way I want. Could I ask him to start all over - rip all shingles off and start from bare wood? I don’t mind paying extra for ripping off the shingles. Or is that too much to ask of him? BTW, the estimate was $2500 and the house is 1400 square feet.
You da man! I’d have torn off the whole thing. What was your reason for only removing the top layer? Not being critical here, it just seems that other than a higher disposal cost, it would have been almost as easy to go down to the deck and replace the roofing paper at the same time. I’ve noticed that some subdivision builders no longer use roofing paper.
It`s way too late now.
That $2500 cost was not for anything but covering what was already on the roof IMHO. Usually a roof job is about double that (from an established contractor).
Double check what the original estimate quoted before you get in their face about any additional work.
So I guess I’m stuck with a $2500 roof job that’s not what I wanted - Unless I can somehow convice the guy to redo it for me without charging me $5000.
Just to answer what Finagle said about reroofing before 20 years or so…
Hail and high wind can damage roofs to the point of needing replacement. Happens all the time here in OKC.
I’ll only take a roofing job when I’m out of other work, but I always try to talk to talk the home owner into a tear-off and reroof. In fact, I’ve refused to bid if I see what may be problems in the decking and they are balking at the price.
I’ve removed four, yes four! layers before. I don’t know how that ever happened to start with. But, on any tear-off, there always seems to be something that needs repair or replacing.
Also, I always specifically spell out everything in my bid, then we sign a contract. Any other way and both sides are asking for trouble, IMHO.
The gap in your roof… it’s still not clear in my mind’s eye. Any way to post a pic? Or describe in great detail?
I don’t think the gap is a big deal but I think it should be fixed. It’s hard to describe but it’s right above where the gutter is on the roof edge. The gap is between the roof and the side wall of the house. The gap is probably not visible from the ground (the house is 1 story) and it’s only about 1/2 inch wide and maybe 12 inches long.
Since I am selling this house soon I assume that the buyer will hire a home inspector and they will notice this gap. So I want to get it fixed now rather than after I have an offer to buy the house.
It was strictly a matter of cost. Tearing off the first layer required more labor time and more dump fees, plus tar paper would have needed to be purchased and laid down, etc.
This occured 10 years ago; we had just moved into the house and were on a shoestring budget. In our present house we recently had the shingles replaced and went down to the wood…
I had my roof replaced last summer. I got many estimates, every last one told me that there was 2 layers already up and they would have to strip it off. Some said if there was only one layer they would just add a layer on top. I think it’s just automatic for them to just add a layer the 1st time around. It sounds like you didn’t have an understanding of what the job was. I also think they (the workers) didn’t do anything to deceive you.
For what it matters, my roof cost $4500 for a ‘smaller’ roof which included ripping off the old, replaced some plywood, some rubberized strip, ridgevent in the Long Island area.