Roofing advice

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My 13 year old roof needs replacement(hail damage).

I have contractors scheduled to look at it.

My question is can laminated shingles be layered?

If so what are the pros and cons?
 
Don't know the pros and cons, but I would have them do a tear off since the insurance company should be footing the bill.
Always good to see what's going on underneath your shingles.

Most codes around here allow for 1 additional layer of shingles, but after that you would need a structural engineer to approve the extra load is ok on the trusses/rafters.

So there it is, absolutely no help for you...You're very welcome! :cool:
 
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3 tab can be layered successfully because the roofing is pretty much flat or at least consistent. With laminate, architectural, shingles you have much more variation in thickness at random points. The roof will be bumpier and it is less likely that the tar strip on the bottom will make good contact with the next shingle down.

I would tear off on an arch shingle roof.
 
3 tab can be layered successfully because the roofing is pretty much flat or at least consistent. With laminate, architectural, shingles you have much more variation in thickness at random points. The roof will be bumpier and it is less likely that the tar strip on the bottom will make good contact with the next shingle down.

I would tear off on an arch shingle roof.
Thats pretty much how I feel too. We'll see what these guys try and tell me.
 
Tear off SS. Always tear off. No asphault shingle is enhanced by leaving layers on underneath. Just creates more problems to be dealt with later, usually by the homeowner as leaving a layer on & shingling over voids most manufacturers warranties.
 
If the original roof is not falling apart or "pillowing", "curling" etc., you can go over it. Dimensionals hide lots of crap, and look nice. As others have said, if the Ins. Co. is going to pay for the tear off, then tear it off. But going over an existing roof does not reduce the performance of the new roof. Any problems that arise with the new roof will arise with or without the old roof taken off. Just means the install was not performed correctly.
Too many "Jacks of all trades" out there and no masters of one. Just cause one calls oneself a roofer, does not necessarily mean he is truly a roofer, or knows what he is doing, or how to handle details.
 
If the original roof is not falling apart or "pillowing", "curling" etc., you can go over it. Dimensionals hide lots of crap, and look nice. As others have said, if the Ins. Co. is going to pay for the tear off, then tear it off. But going over an existing roof does not reduce the performance of the new roof. Any problems that arise with the new roof will arise with or without the old roof taken off. Just means the install was not performed correctly.
Too many "Jacks of all trades" out there and no masters of one. Just cause one calls oneself a roofer, does not necessarily mean he is truly a roofer, or knows what he is doing, or how to handle details.

When it comes to roofs . . . in Hogwildz I trust!
 
+1 on tear off. My first house had 3 layers of 3 tabs. It was a mess taking it off when I had to replace it.

If insurance is paying for it they'll most likely REQUIRE a tear off. If they do require it and you don't tear it off, good luck collecting if you ever have a major issue with the roof.

A couple guys with roofing shovels can shuck a roof pretty quick. I did a 30 square roof this spring and three of us had it all off in a few hours.

I'd rather do it right and feel good about it than skimp a little and wonder (although I don't think you'd have much trouble if the shingles are laying flat).

Its always good to see how your decking is holding up too. A lot of time you may have a leak and not even know it and your decking may be completely rotted out. Much easier to fix with the shingles already off.
 
+1 on tear off. My first house had 3 layers of 3 tabs. It was a mess taking it off when I had to replace it.

If insurance is paying for it they'll most likely REQUIRE a tear off. If they do require it and you don't tear it off, good luck collecting if you ever have a major issue with the roof.

A couple guys with roofing shovels can shuck a roof pretty quick. I did a 30 square roof this spring and three of us had it all off in a few hours.

I'd rather do it right and feel good about it than skimp a little and wonder (although I don't think you'd have much trouble if the shingles are laying flat).

Its always good to see how your decking is holding up too. A lot of time you may have a leak and not even know it and your decking may be completely rotted out. Much easier to fix with the shingles already off.
 
+1 on tear off.

Do yourself a big favor; hire a pro with some experience and who will back up the work with a warranty you can trust.

I sell roofing for a major big box store; I've seen enough to recommend you don't skimp on your roof. Get some quotes from some experts, select the one you like and pay the man.

Do your homework on the internet; type shingle, type installation the MANUFACTURER of that shingle recommends. Remember, they don't make any bad shingles (they don't get off the line), the key to a good roof that will last is in the installation. Get someone who will not take shortcuts. I spent some years in NE Ohio and I know about those winters.

Good luck.
 
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+1 on tear off.

Do yourself a big favor; hire a pro with some experience and who will back up the work with a warranty you can trust.

I sell roofing for a major big box store; I've seen enough to recommend you don't skimp on your roof. Get some quotes from some experts, select the one you like and pay the man.

Do your homework on the internet; type shingle, type installation the MANUFACTURER of that shingle recommends. Remember, they don't make any bad shingles (they don't get off the line), the key to a good roof that will last is in the installation. Get someone who will not take shortcuts. I spent some years in NE Ohio and I know about those winters.

Good luck.

Unless of course you were in the Certainteed class action suit...Installation was fine, material sucked
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Something to keep in mind is that most roofers will give you a fixed price for a tear off and new roof. What they will not include is a fixed price for repairs to the sheathing underneath as it is an unknown. Once they have stripped off the roof, you are at the mercy of the contractor as if they dont do the fix, its going to delay the job substantially and can be quite an "extra". It would be worth agreeing in advance on a unit price to replace bad sheathing or boards. The normal places for bad boards is the bottom edge of the roof where ice damming may have ocured in the past.
 
Roof Venting Question??

Our house sits in the blazing sun all year round with high humidity. We have a 1900 sq. ft (54'x 16'on each of the two sides) roof with existing gables. The pitch is 5/12.

Two options:

1) Install a new ridge vent and smart vents along the eaves; close gable vents. In this passive system, I think we'd need to get up there, clean insulation out of the crevices and install baffles so the eave vents could work.


2) install a roof mounted power vent (fan)on the upper middle back of the new roof or a gable fan on one side of the house or the other. Is gable or roof fan a better option for us? We're concerned about noise.


Also,since we have a lot of blown in insulation in the attic but do not have a seal tight barrier under the insulation will the fan draw air from inside the house and move the insulation around!

In a perfect world we'd remove all the existing insulation, put down the barrier and install new insulation. That seems like it would cost a lot of money.


Thanks for your help.
 
Looking at your roof pics, the damage looks pretty nasty. As others have said if the insurance company is paying for the damage I would insist on R&R, nothing less. I have only seen and done roof overs on 3 tabs, never on architects. The architects surface is too air pocketed with the laminated tabs that it would help create wind lift situations on a high pitched roof, say a 9 pitch or better. The 3 tabs are a smoother surface and would help create a flatter finish. Also, you never know about any unforseens, Have them strip it....good luck
 
Bartleby, a couple comments for your question. rule of thumb on roof venting is gable vents or ridge vents, air flow dictates you can't have both. In some cases a home is angled the right way so that a gable vent ends up being your best option using the prevailing wind. However, you need soffit vents and a clean run to the ridge in order to accomplish this fashion of venting too. The rafter bays would have to be vented so air would travel all the way to the ridge and out the ridge vent.

With regards to mechanical venting. Both whole house fans, gable fans and roof surface fans can work here. Whole house fans will move air from the top floor of the house and force it out (along with the heated attic air) of the ridge or gable vents. The gable vent generally works on a thermostat and is controlled automatically when the temps rise, same as a flat surface fan. The difference between the whole house and the other two are that the whole house is integrated into using house air to cool both places whereas the last 2 fans only cool the attic.

Fans today are also much quieter than say 10-12 years ago. Improvements have been made in how they are installed and vibration.
 
Rip roof. Plywood should be inspected. Do it right. Call several contractors for estimates. Never shingle over architectural shingles. Never. 3 tab if you have to. But I wouldn't.
 
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SS, I'd definately do a tear-off. For the reasons mentioned above. We re-roofed our house back in 2000 (prior to the huge addition I put on), the shingles were really old and were SHOT. The house was built in 1918, so I wanted to tear off those shingles to see what the roof planking looked like. Man am I ever glad I did that. There was already two layers of roofing on the house! You couldn't even tell! The original was antique rolled roofing that was actually like a layer of peanut brittle......it was hard as a rock and if you tried to pry up on it, it exploded into shards! Lots of the planking was in need of replacement, so it was definately the wise choice to tear off all the shingles. We then installed ice gard at the eave lips and in the valleys, and the roof is in great shape (even almost 13 years later). Like stated above, most roofers automatically put tear-off in the estimate, and if the insurance is paying for the roof anyway, get it done right.
 
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