Need to Replace Roof

[myrdale]

I've been in my house since 2006. The roof was new at the time.

In 2017, when I replaced the siding, I also bought a "roof service" package. Basically the guy came out to replace all of the seals around the vent pipes and replace a few shingles here and there. At the time he was fairly distraught "This roof is all burned up and should be replaced instead me looking at it".

Well five more years have passed and I've replaced a couple of shingles that have blown off. Over this past weekend I've finally got my first official leak, so at sixteen years old, I think it is time to replace. There is a single shingle which you can tell from the ground is lifted up, and that's right where the leak is in the overhead. I hope to fix that spot this evening.

In the mean time I've scheduled to have one of the large roof companies I hear on the radio come by and give me a price on Friday. There are a few options I am considering, and I hoped someone here might have an opinion.

Should I consider adding ridge vents? The new siding has vented soffit boards. The house already has three gable vents. A friend said I didn't want both ridge vents and gable vents because it will cause problems with the air flow. I can always block off the gable vents easy.

Are architectural shingles worth the additional price? The intention is not to have to touch the roof for another 25 years and hopefully add to the resale value greater than the initial price increase (was estimated at $7500 vs $5000 in 2017 if I remember correctly).

I'll also be adding gutters. I left these off in 2017, so I haven't had to clean gutters in the past 5 years, but I have had moisture issues around a door.

Should I have a discussion with my insurance company about a claim? Where is the line between normal wear and storm damage. Like I said I've replaced shingles over the years as they have occassionally blown off.

On the bright side, I had been saving up specifically a roof replacement, so the cash is already in place and earmarked just for this.

[bjl584]

If you plan to stay in the house long term, then I'd do metal. I just had a metal roof installed on a rental cottage. I don't have to worry about the roof for the rest of my time on this planet.

If you are set on asphalt then,
Dimensional are nice, and are generally more robust than 3 tab.
You should get more life out of them.

I've always heard a ridge vent is a good idea.
The roofer will have to speak to that one

Definitely call your insurance agent.
You never know what might be covered.
I'd guess no, but it's worth a phone call

[disneysteve]

I've scheduled to have one of the large roof companies I hear on the radio come by and give me a price on Friday.

My best advice is to never hire the big company that constantly advertises on radio and TV and billboards and sporting events. Who do you think pays for all of those advertisements?

Get quotes from some local companies that you've likely never heard of. Drive around the neighborhood and look for lawn signs at houses that have recently had work done. Post in your neighborhood Facebook group asking for recommendations. If you have any friends who own a few rental properties, ask them for suggestions. Anytime I need a contractor for anything, I shoot an email to 3 of my friends. One owns several rentals. One is a realtor. One is a contractor himself. Between the 3 of them, they have always made excellent suggestions.

We did our roof this year using the above advice and I was very happy with the work and the price.

[ua_guy]

A quote from a popular roofing outfit is always a good data point. It may not be the cheapest or the best, so be sure to get multiple quotes, and obviously, don't share any previous quotes with contractors until they give you their bid.

If you're staying for 25+ years I'd absolutely go high-quality with a nice dimensional composite, or metal roof (metal tab looks nice, but $$$$$). Remember, don't layer if you stick with composite - you want them to remove the existing roof shingles.

Gutters are a good addition, but more than just gutters, a lot of work should go into designing and engineering how they drain away from the house. You don't want a downspout dumping at the corner of your foundation and pooling water.

[Like2Plan]

We had our 2nd roof put on a few years ago (1st one, we did). We asked for referrals from neighbors. We got 3 estimates. The roofer we picked did work for a nearby neighbor--they have very exacting standards, so if they recommended a roofer we knew he would be good. He also did the best job with the estimate and explained what needed to be done. Since it was to be the 2nd time the shingles were removed and new ones placed on the roof, we had concerns about whether the plywood sheathing would have to be replaced--he said he would replace whatever was needed. Turns out he didn't have to replace any. When we did the roof previously there had been some leakage around the chimney, so we had to replace some at that time.
The roofers arrived early, removed the shingles in the morning--had the new materials delivered to the roof and they were done by 2pm. It was easy-peasy.

We went with the dimensional shingles--I like the way they look and they are supposed to hold up better.

We also added the roof vent-had gable vents. Our contractor said that the most efficient system (for air flow) was soffit vents in combination with the roof vent, but we didn't have the soffit vents.

[crazyliblady]

If you plan to stay in the house long term, then I'd do metal. I just had a metal roof installed on a rental cottage. I don't have to worry about the roof for the rest of my time on this planet.

If you are set on asphalt then,
Dimensional are nice, and are generally more robust than 3 tab.
You should get more life out of them.

I've always heard a ridge vent is a good idea.
The roofer will have to speak to that one

Definitely call your insurance agent.
You never know what might be covered.
I'd guess no, but it's worth a phone call

I have heard similar comments about metal roofs, but one caution. One of my friends said that after the first heavy snowfall once the metal roof was in place, a large amount of snow slid off the roof and caused a frightening noise, kind of like an avalanche. Can you confirm this?

[crazyliblady]

I've been in my house since 2006. The roof was new at the time.

In 2017, when I replaced the siding, I also bought a "roof service" package. Basically the guy came out to replace all of the seals around the vent pipes and replace a few shingles here and there. At the time he was fairly distraught "This roof is all burned up and should be replaced instead me looking at it".

Well five more years have passed and I've replaced a couple of shingles that have blown off. Over this past weekend I've finally got my first official leak, so at sixteen years old, I think it is time to replace. There is a single shingle which you can tell from the ground is lifted up, and that's right where the leak is in the overhead. I hope to fix that spot this evening.

In the mean time I've scheduled to have one of the large roof companies I hear on the radio come by and give me a price on Friday. There are a few options I am considering, and I hoped someone here might have an opinion.

Should I consider adding ridge vents? The new siding has vented soffit boards. The house already has three gable vents. A friend said I didn't want both ridge vents and gable vents because it will cause problems with the air flow. I can always block off the gable vents easy.

Are architectural shingles worth the additional price? The intention is not to have to touch the roof for another 25 years and hopefully add to the resale value greater than the initial price increase (was estimated at $7500 vs $5000 in 2017 if I remember correctly).

I'll also be adding gutters. I left these off in 2017, so I haven't had to clean gutters in the past 5 years, but I have had moisture issues around a door.

Should I have a discussion with my insurance company about a claim? Where is the line between normal wear and storm damage. Like I said I've replaced shingles over the years as they have occassionally blown off.

On the bright side, I had been saving up specifically a roof replacement, so the cash is already in place and earmarked just for this.

Good for you on saving up. I can't comment more than that, because I have only replaced one roof in my lifetime. However, I do remember my husband mentioning once that he wished we had opted instead for the white roof shingles instead of black. He was thinking that the white ones might reflect heat in the summer.

[Jluke]

I would not contact insurance UNLESS the roofer states there is damage that should be reported.

you need an “event date” so if you don’t have one where a storm could have caused damage then you probably don’t have a claim.

I am NOT an expert.

Roofer should offer a “free” upgrade to the better shingle.

any skylights to worry about?

[ua_guy]

I have heard similar comments about metal roofs, but one caution. One of my friends said that after the first heavy snowfall once the metal roof was in place, a large amount of snow slid off the roof and caused a frightening noise, kind of like an avalanche. Can you confirm this?

It’s a real thing. People who live in snow climates and who have metal rooves generally know how to deal with it. They either pull the snow down before it becomes a hazard or they know how to get enough heat up under the roof to cause it to slide off when they want it to. If you’re not aware or expecting that snow could come sliding off, it’s quite dangerous.

[Fishindude77]

Spent my carrier in construction, thoughts are as follows:

Should I consider adding ridge vents? The new siding has vented soffit boards. The house already has three gable vents. A friend said I didn't want both ridge vents and gable vents because it will cause problems with the air flow. I can always block off the gable vents easy.
Yes, add ridge vents at this time to be assured your attic is getting ventilated, no need to close the gable end vents either. This will add very little cost the project.

Are architectural shingles worth the additional price?
They look much nicer than the old standard three tabs shingles and price difference of the materials is insignificant in the big picture.

The intention is not to have to touch the roof for another 25 years and hopefully add to the resale value greater than the initial price increase (was estimated at $7500 vs $5000 in 2017 if I remember correctly).
You may get lucky and get 25 years out of shingles but 15-20 years is more like it. Don't expect a good roof to increase your home value much as it's pretty much expected to get a decent roof when you buy a home.

I'll also be adding gutters. I left these off in 2017, so I haven't had to clean gutters in the past 5 years, but I have had moisture issues around a door.
I'm not a fan of gutters, they are the source of many roof leaks and problems as most people do not keep up with maintenance. f you have an area that is causing problems and needs gutters, then put gutters at that location only.

Should I have a discussion with my insurance company about a claim?
Sure doesn't sound like a legit claim to me.

I would not consider metal unless you are prepared to spend 2X to 4X the cost of a shingle roof so you can purchase a high quality concealed fastener standing seam metal roof. The screw down, cheap, pole barn roofs that you see on lots of homes for re-roofing are not well suited unless you have a very simple gable roof. If you have many ridges, hips, valleys and penetrations to flash around it gets difficult and costly to do correctly.

[myrdale]

Thank you all for the detailed responses!

While I like the concept of metal roofs, I do not like the look. My parents had a metal roof installed and one end actually rolled up in a wind storm (was easily fixed but I was surprised by it).

I have spoken with a second company which is local. They are coming Thursday evening, and the other company, Friday morning.

The second company did ask a few questions about if I wanted to turn it into insurance. I told her I was planning on coming out of pocket but I'll let them walk it over first and discuss.

Honestly I do hate gutters, but the run of them isn't too much and the one large tree next to the house I had trimmed back a couple of years ago. I have had significantly less leaves on the back deck the past too years, so I expect the gutter to be similar.

The ridge vents are about 50/50 on the houses in my neighborhood. I discussed it with a coworker who had both ridge vents and gable vents. He said he did what I was thinking, just blocking off the gable vents inside the attic.

[bjl584]

I have heard similar comments about metal roofs, but one caution. One of my friends said that after the first heavy snowfall once the metal roof was in place, a large amount of snow slid off the roof and caused a frightening noise, kind of like an avalanche. Can you confirm this?

they install tabs near the edges in areas that are prone to snowfall.
they act to catch snow that might "avalanche" off the roof

[bjl584]

I'll also be adding gutters. I left these off in 2017, so I haven't had to clean gutters in the past 5 years, but I have had moisture issues around a door.
I'm not a fan of gutters, they are the source of many roof leaks and problems as most people do not keep up with maintenance. f you have an area that is causing problems and needs gutters, then put gutters at that location only.

If you have a basement, then I'd absolutely have gutters.
Otherwise you are prone to leaks and bulging walls
Gutters and properly installed downspouts and drains serve to move water away from your home
If you have a crawl space or a slab, then you can get away with no gutters

[Fishindude77]

If you have a basement, then I'd absolutely have gutters.
Otherwise you are prone to leaks and bulging walls
Gutters and properly installed downspouts and drains serve to move water away from your home
If you have a crawl space or a slab, then you can get away with no gutters

I have a big home (with basement), a garage building, a large shop building, and a large machine shed, live in a pretty high rainfall area, and none of the buildings have gutters or water infiltration issues.
You get around gutters by having an impermeable surface for the roof water to splash down on, that is sloped away from your buildings. A couple feet of landscaping stone over fabric and a positive slope away does the trick. Better yet, a strip of concrete or pavers up against the perimeter of the building(s). Sure beats dealing with cleaning gutters, plugged gutters, the associated roof leaks, etc.

[ua_guy]

Most home builds, especially tract development or spec homes just don't have a long enough overhang of the eaves. Most homes I see, the grading of the soil around the foundation and landscaping materials isn't conducive to a roof without gutters.

My dream home will have long eaves and properly managed water drainage, a metal roof, no gutters, among other things, which will greatly reduce maintenance needs and are ultimately better for the structure itself. "Forever home".

I was doing a semi-annual gutter clean out about a month ago and cursing how much I hate gutters. Everything about them. All the way to the stupid corrugated drainage pipe which always gets clogged (whyyyyy do builders do this?!?!). Next year I'm going to have to snake the drain. We live under about a billion fir trees.