Today, Don is Inspecting the Roof

We’re still looking at outside issues at the house Don’s rehabbing in Prairie Village.  And boy does the roof have issues

We are taking a wild guess that the roof was probably replaced in 1999 when it appears to have last been rehabbed. We are not sure.

We can tell from the edges that the roof has 2 layers. This means that rather than tearing off the first layer to see what else needed to be fixed like decking (think the wood under the shingles), felt (the stuff they roll on the decking below the shingles). They decided to cut cost, hope the decking and felt was good and slapped another layer of shingles over the top.

Part of the roof is pitched – meaning it has a slant and part is flat. We can tell that in areas with pitched roof there are not many leaks. The areas with flat roof has leaked quite badly.

Further in checking out codes in the city of Prairie Village, Kansas the limit of layers of roofing is only 1.  Strangely, many areas on the Missouri side will let you get away with 3 layers.

Further, we also know that many insurance companies for our future potential buyers will not insure a home with a multilayered roof.

So (1) because we like to do things the right way, (2) our future buyer will want insurance, and (3) city code requires it, we will be tearing off the complete roof and replacing it with a new roof. More on this in a minute.

We also notice that there are no vents. These are very important for several reasons. First they provide a way for heat that always rises and ends up in the attic to get out. This reduces your energy costs and cools down your attic. This intern extends the life of your roof as all that heat can make your shingles crack.

Watch the video:

What to Replace the Roof With

Our new roofs generally include new decking as needed and an architectural roofing shingle that is generally more substantial and has an estimated life of 30 to 50 years as opposed to 20 years that regular composition shingles (like we see on the home currently.)

So we’re not here to give you a complete primer on composition shingles, but you can find some great resources on Google.

If you are out inspecting your own roofs here are some things to look for:

1. Missing or loose shingles
2. Edges of the shingles are curling
3. Shingles are cracking or blistering
4. The roof is sagging (could be supports are broken or the decking has rotted)
5. Dark or dirty areas on your roof (maybe they could be washed, maybe not)
6. You have granules or bits of shingle in your gutters
7. You notice exposed nails
8. It leaks