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Roofing/recondition a shake roof?
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Question
I have a 17 year old shake roof that's about 2,000 sq.feet. Last winter after high winds I noticed a few shakes had blown off onto my lawn. A roofing contractor before the storm season gave me an estimate of around 2,000 to recondition it and said it would then be good for about 5 years.I think there are a lot of complanies around my area who will do it for that amount. Yesterday I had another company come and evaluate my roof. This man said I would need to do something this year because next year it might not be repairable. He provided pictures of my roof and a detailed list of exactly what would be done, which included coating it with a chemical that prevents it from burning. They offer a guarantee for 10 years and if I decide to reroof within that time period, I get half of my cost as a credit on the price of the new roof.The guarantee is transferrable one time if I sell the house. I can call them to inspect the roof every year at no cost for 10 years.This company is well known and reputable, but I am concerned as the cost is more than 3 times the originial estimate from the other company a year ago, although they seem to offer a lot more. I plan to stay in this house for at least another 10 years, and I'm not sure what to do. Should I just replace the roof now or recondition it? Can I recondition it again in another 10 years? Please help!
Hi Cheryl,
I'm very glad you sent your question to me. Those people are crooks. I'm not being over dramatic. It's a rip off, pure and simple. I'm very familiar with companies that sell this service.
Don't hire anyone who is going to spray anything on the roof. Don't hire anyone who tells you that his work will extend the life of the roof past 23 years. Don't hire anyone who's bid is more than $500.
A 17 year old shake roof probably has a few things that need to be taken care of, but it's fairly minimal and the cost should be between $200 and $500.
The only exception to that last paragraph is if you have a a unique situation on your roof, like a huge tree has fallen on the roof or the roof was installed by monkeys and the repair includes correcting some serious mistakes from the installation.
Aside from some unique damage that has been done to your roof, the kinds of things that typically need to be done on an older shake roof are these:
1. 2 to 20 missing shakes need to be replaced.
2. The pipe flashings may need to be sealed where the cone of the flashing meets the pipe. Usually that's sealed with black tape.
3. A few ridge pieces may be missing and may need to be replaced.
4. It's possible that all of the ridge pieces may be pretty loose and may need to be renailed.
5. The main problem on an older shake roof is that there will be anywhere from 50 to 500 places where the asphalt felt paper is exposed. This is generally where a crack, gap or worn spot in one course of shakes is aligned with a crack, gap or worn spot in the course below. When the felt paper is exposed, the UV rays from the sun will deteriorate the felt. The solution is to slide in a thin wood shingle between the shake courses so that the felt paper is covered. This does two things. It protects the felt from the UV rays and it diverts water from the felt exposure, so if the felt is worn through at that spot, the water won't reach the hole.
If any roofer says there is more to be done, be suspicious and send me another question. Don't even discuss it with any company that wants to "treat" the roof or spray the roof or "condition" the roof. Those guys are crooks.
I hope that helps and I hope you have the fortitude to say "I don't want to talk with you" when the salesman from the rip off company calls back. Feel free to follow up with future questions.
Your roofer with a keyboard,
Stan Skarbek
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Answers by Expert:
Stan Skarbek
Expertise
I`ve been in roofing for 30 years. I`m a roofing contractor in California. I have in depth expertise in residential roofing, especially wood shakes and shingles, asphalt composition shingles, and to a somewhat lesser extent with hot tar systems, tile, and all the other residential systems on the market.
Experience
ROOFING..HISTORY........ My father was a roofing contractor in the 60's and 70's. I started roofing in 1972 when I was 18 years old, in Encinitas, California. Since 1975, I've been in San Jose, California. I earned my contractors license in 1977, when I was 23 years old, and immediately started a company. I did great on the roofing side of the company. The company grew very large, with my focus on the residential repair and reroofing market. Unfortunately, within 3 years my lack of business management education was shining through. I was bankrupt and I lost everything. In 1981, at 27 years of age, I partnered with two other men to start a new roofing company. Again, we did great on the roofing side, and the business grew, but we weren't doing very well managing the business. I had learned much during my experience with the first company, but I had more to learn. We sold the company in 1983 when I was 29 years old. During those two businesses, I was learning "Business Management" the hard way. After we sold that second roofing business, I dabbled in two other industries for four years, before picking up my roofing tools again. During the late 1980's I recieved some actual business education thanks to West Valley College of Saratoga, California. CURRENT..ROOFING..INVOLVEMENT........ I started my current business in 1990 and I'm pleased to say that I have both the roofing side and the business side all figured out now. I've done well in San Jose over the last 17 years. Maybe "30" is the age where you get your head screwed on straight, eh? A little maturity, a little bit of learning from past mistakes and a whole lot of "Business Management" textbook study? And out pops a healthy business. I've been keeping the business fairly small, doing what I do best and working with people with whom I actually enjoy doing business. I have a strong reputation around San Jose for being able to figure out problem leak situations. I do roof inspections and repairs. My focus is composition shingles, wood shakes, tile and hot tar systems. ABOUT..MY..FAMILY........ My wife and I have been married 31 years, (since 1975) and we are very much in love. We have 4 sons, born between 1977 and 1982. They've all done roofing at various times. The oldest graduated from Stanford with an Master's Degree in computer engineering. He works at Paypal. The second graduated from Vanguard University with a BA in Business Management. He started his own roofing company. This year he's gone back to school at Santa Clara University to get his law degree. One of my twin sons has an Economics degree from San Jose State University. He's received much acclaim for his economics work and his work has been published in economic journals around the world. He's currently in the PHD program at George Mason University. The other twin is the most courageous man I know. He recently won a terrible battle with cancer. It was a worse experience than you can imagine. It was an aggressive form of cancer that put him through hell, but now he's on the other side of the battle and the cancer lost. He has a great career working for San Jose State University in their shipping & receiving department. ABOUT..MY..FAITH........ No description of my life experience would be complete without mentioning my relationship with Jesus Christ. My faith in Christ is the guiding light that reaches into every area of my life. It affects how I treat my wife and kids. It affects how I conduct business. It affects how I align my priorities in life and why I say "no" to some things and "yes" to other things. Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for my sins so that I could be forgiven and restored to a relationship with God. Jesus stands at the door of every man's heart, knocking. If you'll humbly acknowledge your need for a savior and open the door, he will come in and make you alive. You can have a relationship with the living God. True freedom in life comes when you make yourself a servant... to Jesus Christ. There's the shortest sermon I ever preached :o)
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