One of the more expensive discoveries was the condition of our roof. When standing on it, it looked like it was in good condition. The shingles were laying flat and not curling up around the edges and there were only a few broken ones that I could see. What was not evident was the conditions beneath the shingles. The issue came to a head in late September when the remnants of a tropical storm dumped 8 inches of rain in our area. I was standing in the kitchen when I noticed water dripping out of the micro laminate beam. This is not a good place for water to be dripping out of, I thought. That prompted a crawl into the attic, which revealed the source of the leak as a steady stream of water pouring onto the insulation. Time to break out the blue tarps and cover the roof. I am sure the neighbors enjoyed seeing that.
Our house had too additions put on it. One was completed in 1967 and the other one in 1969 as near as I can tell. The original house roofing was done correctly. Roofing felt was laid down first, then the shingles were nailed on top of that.
Shortcuts were taken on the additions. The addition to the side of the house had a lower quality roofing felt. The back addition had none. The back addition created valleys where the two roofs met. The valleys were a major source of trouble due to the lack of roofing felt and the improper placement of shingles. This is where the leaks began, and had been for some time. The plywood under layment was rotting so badly that I nearly put my foot through it.
A roof is too large a job for me to tackle, so we hired a contractor. My wife and I had several discussions about replacing the asphalt shingles with a metal roof. The newer metal roofs look very nice and come in a variety of colors. Because we had to strip off the old roof to replace the rotting plywood, we opted to use asphalt shingles again. At times I regret this decision, but what is done is done.
The contractor worked pretty fast. He had the old shingles stripped off in about a day and a half. It took three sheets of plywood to repair the rotted areas. He covered the entire roof with roofing felt. Then, he laid out an 18 inch wide strip of aluminum sheeting along the eves to prevent water from leaking in if there were an ice dam. He and his assistant put down the shingles and finished with the ridge vent. It took about 4 days to do the entire job.
The roof looks good now, and no more surprise water drips from odd places in the ceiling.
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