Current Events > Oh god, got a quote for a replacement roof: $36,540.

(+) Yeah! (+)

Noticed leaking in the ceiling, called a roofer, they caulked it temporarily, but said I need to replace the entire roof because there's evidence of wind and hail damage everywhere. They then gave me a quote for around $40k to replace the whole roof.

I got a different roofing company out, and they said the same thing, although they would not have recommended caulking, but rather a tarp, as a temporary fix. Today, this second roofing company gave me a quote for $36,540...

Holy shit what the fuck.

I'm now calling my insurance company. Hopefully they pay out.

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This is why I'm buying a condo.

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This is why I sleep in a van down by the river.

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You're being ripped off most likely. I got quoted $7,000

My father who has a house 3 times my size got quoted $20,000.

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insurance will come out and declare it natural wear and tear and refuse to pay up.

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Politics posted...

This is why I'm buying a condo.

Condos are worse what with the condo fees, the morons on the board spending your money recklessly, and other tenants causing damage that you are accountable for

ouch

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That's.... way too high. Get additional quotes.

As for your insurance company, they'll generally only pay out a prorated amount based on the age of the roof, which could be close to nothing, if you just want to replace it. The good news is that if you claim it suffered wind and hail damage, and the insurance company inspects the roof and agrees that it's beyond repair, they'll cover most or all of it. Be ready for a fight, though, because the insurance company will try hard to cut you a check for like $500 and tell you it can all be patched up.

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Get a metal roof if you can. It'll probably last the rest of your life.

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Tyranthraxus posted...

You're being ripped off most likely. I got quoted $7,000

My father who has a house 3 times my size got quoted $20,000.

I believe these quotes. Apparently, my roof is just under 5,500 sqft in area, which is more than triple the average house...

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How old is the roof?

When we sold our house the inspector found hail damage. It was about 9 years old at the time but the insurance company said they'd just mark it as damaged within the past year and we just paid the deductible. Total cost of replacement was about $9000 IIRC

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IdiotMachine posted...

I believe these quotes. Apparently, my roof is just under 5,500 sqft in area, which is more than triple the average house...

What are they quoting you on, though? A savvy roofing company will quote you for like 50-year rated shingles and a double thick under layer that is not only not necessary, but adds a ton of cost. There's no reason to get shingles rated for over 30 years.

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IdiotMachine posted...

Apparently, my roof is just under 5,500 sqft in area

And wtf how big is your house

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Tired-Insomniac posted...

How old is the roof?

Home inspector, when I bought the house last year, said the roof is about 10 years old.

s0nicfan posted...

What are they quoting you on, though? A savvy roofing company will quote you for like 50-year rated shingles and a double thick under layer that is not only not necessary, but adds a ton of cost. There's no reason to get shingles rated for over 30 years.

The quote says:
"Basic - Timberline HD - Mission Brown - GAF Silver Pledge Warranty"

Then lots of details on what they're charging for (drip edge, exhaust, labor, leak barrier, metals, etc.).

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Tired-Insomniac posted...

And wtf how big is your house

I measured the entire house last year; the 1st floor and 2nd floor has a livable space of 4,984 sqft, and the finished basement has a "livable" space of 1,605 sqft.

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For that area size, that should be between 10-15k. I'd keep shopping for quotes if it's not an immediate priority because those are joke ass prices, but you already knew that.

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I was going to pay for a complete roof replacement myself initially and it was quoted to around $14K but then my insurance company came through with a claim I made and that was covered down to $1000, which was completed back on Tuesday.

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Jagr_68 posted...

For that area size, that should be between 10-15k. I'd keep shopping for quotes if it's not an immediate priority because those are joke ass prices, but you already knew that.

That's why I got a second roofer's estimate. Thank you for reaffirming what my gut was telling me; I will definitely get a 3rd one, but after I start the claim process with my insurance (on the phone right now).

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They replacing the wood too? Get a metal roof quote

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Solid Sonic posted...

I was going to pay for a complete roof replacement myself initially and it was quoted to around $14K but then my insurance company came through with a claim I made and that was covered down to $1000, which was completed back on Tuesday.

Any tips? I'm going to provide my insurance company what happened (storm last week, noticed leaking on Saturday, called roofer, they came on Monday and temporarily patched it but recommended an entire replacement, called a different roofer Wednesday, they came same day, gave me a second quote today), pictures (the 1st roofer took over 30 pictures of all the spots), the two written quotes, and the two written recommendations to replace.

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That should be more than enough. What's key is you need a date that reckons to an event that the insurance company deems "claimable" (basically a day that the insurance provider agrees is a valid explanation for why your roof would be in rough shape). That doesn't necessarily mean the day itself is the reason the roof is messed up, just that the insurance company can't argue that you're just trying to fix your old roof when they know for a fact that nothing specific happened to it that would warrant a replacement (as they had already approved the shape your roof was in, good or bad, when they initially undersigned the policy in the wake of any mitigation evaluations). Essentially it's plausible deniability for you (you go to them with the evidence that shit went down on the __th of whatever and you want a replacement roof, regardless of whether or not your roof was already in bad shape before that date). However it's still ultimately up to them whether or not the conditions of the day in question were enough to say significant damage could have been inflicted to your roof.

Thankfully I had an agent who worked on behalf of the roofing company to help identify such dates and he gave me a good one in late 2019 that worked out and my insurance paid the maximum on my claim, leaving just the $1000 deductible.

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How is it that expensive? Surely modern American cardboard box construction can't be that costly to replace when it leaks all the fucking time

That's why I rent

Thats why I sold my house. Fuck that.
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Thats insane for a roof unless you have a slate roof.

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Solid Sonic posted...

What's key is you need a date that reckons to an event that the insurance company deems "claimable" (basically a day that the insurance provider agrees is a valid explanation for why your roof would be in rough shape).

I checked through weather history, and looks like in April:

Week of the 5th:
*Wind gusts of up to 75 mph
*0.12 inch average rain

Week of the 12th:
*Wind gusts of up to 43 mph
*0.67 inch average rain

Week of the 19th:
*Wind gusts of up to 44 mph
*0.16 inch average rain

Week of the 26th (this week):
*Wind gusts of up to 32 mph
*0.82 inch average rain

So looks like my story can be collaborated.

Insurance will send their roof inspector next Tuesday, 5/5. Bleh...

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Tyranthraxus posted...

You're being ripped off most likely. I got quoted $7,000

My father who has a house 3 times my size got quoted $20,000.

Not if they have to rebuild the a frames and everything.

Tc I used to do a good amount of roofing, have a metal roofing company look at putting a metal roof right over your old roof. It will not be cheap but it wont be nearly as much because you wont need to tear off and replace the old roof unless its like caving in.

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If the roof is only 10 years old it should still be under warranty. Also look into that, your insurance company surely will. As long as they didnt have some harry homeowner construction company do the work it should be covered. Most asphalt shingles have a 25-30 guarantee.

Dont pay for someone else's shoddy work if you don't have to. Feel free to send me pics of the roof and attic if you want my opinion

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Yeah roofs should hardly ever be an out of pocket expense.

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Trigg3rH4ppy posted...

Tc I used to do a good amount of roofing, have a metal roofing company look at putting a metal roof right over your old roof. It will not be cheap but it wont be nearly as much because you wont need to tear off and replace the old roof unless its like caving in.

I contacted a metal roofing company, and waiting for their response.

Trigg3rH4ppy posted...

If the roof is only 10 years old it should still be under warranty. Also look into that, your insurance company surely will. As long as they didnt have some harry homeowner construction company do the work it should be covered. Most asphalt shingles have a 25-30 guarantee.

Dont pay for someone else's shoddy work if you don't have to. Feel free to send me pics of the roof and attic if you want my opinion

I have no idea who installed the roof. The first roofer I got a quote from said shingles warranty is garbage, because it doesn't cover workmanship or incorrect workmanship; their warranty covers that for 10 years.

Here are the pictures from that first roofer:
https://imgur.com/a/vIf73H8

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IdiotMachine posted...

Here are the pictures from that first roofer:
https://imgur.com/a/vIf73H8

That first picture there is the reason why I called a roofer in the first place (you can see the "leak"). Note that I do not have an attic.

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That sounds about right for where I live. But how old is the roof? It doesn't really matter what the surface material looks like; it's the condition of the barrier underneath (usually tar paper where I'm from) that matters. The shingles or whatever material is on top is to protect the barrier.

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Sariana21 posted...

But how old is the roof?

I don't know. The home inspector estimated it at around 10 years. The seller I bought the house from never lived in it; he bought it as an investment property to rent it out, but had second thoughts and sold the house in less than 6 months of ownership (to me).

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IdiotMachine posted...

I don't know. The home inspector estimated it at around 10 years. The seller I bought the house from never lived in it; he bought it as an investment property to rent it out, but had second thoughts and sold the house in less than 6 months of ownership (to me).

were you there for the home inspector? actually see them do the inspection? because a lot of them do very little 'inspecting'.

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monkmith posted...

were you there for the home inspector? actually see them do the inspection? because a lot of them do very little 'inspecting'.

Yes. It took the two inspectors around 4 hours, because of the size of the house. They did the standard home inspection, radon inspection, and I tacked on thermal camera inspection to detect heat loss or in-wall water damages and mold samples (because there was something that looked like mold on the basement walls).

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IdiotMachine posted...

Here are the pictures from that first roofer:
https://imgur.com/a/vIf73H8

Steep pitch, several sections, lots of doodads to work around, and it looks fairly high up.
Estimates are being bloated because the roofer just doesn't want to do it. Also an in-ground pool says "this guy has money".

IdiotMachine posted...

Here are the pictures from that first roofer:
https://imgur.com/a/vIf73H8

that looks like way more then 10 years of damage...

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Questionmarktarius posted...

Steep pitch, several sections, lots of doodads to work around, and it looks fairly high up.
Estimates are being bloated because the roofer just doesn't want to do it. Also an in-ground pool says "this guy has money".

Active leak also basically means "this guy doesn't really have a choice"

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IdiotMachine posted...

I don't know. The home inspector estimated it at around 10 years. The seller I bought the house from never lived in it; he bought it as an investment property to rent it out, but had second thoughts and sold the house in less than 6 months of ownership (to me).

The thing that's throwing me off is that standard shingles are rated at 20 or 30 years. You shouldn't be needing roof replacement for a roof that's only 10 years old unless something went horribly wrong during construction.

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s0nicfan posted...

The thing that's throwing me off is that standard shingles are rated at 20 or 30 years. You shouldn't be needing roof replacement for a roof that's only 10 years old unless something went horribly wrong during construction.

If you have shit rated for 20 years and insurance says "normal wear and tear" after 10 years then file a warranty claim.

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Mexican roofers will give you a good price

ClunkerSlim posted...

Honestly those prices might not be too far off. It seems like a lot of work with the skylights and chimney.

Questionmarktarius posted...

Steep pitch, several sections, lots of doodads to work around, and it looks fairly high up.
Estimates are being bloated because the roofer just doesn't want to do it. Also an in-ground pool says "this guy has money".

=(

monkmith posted...

that looks like way more then 10 years of damage...

I have no idea. I don't know anything about roofs.

Tyranthraxus posted...

Active leak also basically means "this guy doesn't really have a choice"

It rained a lot this week, and the leak hasn't propagated (thankfully), so the temporary caulking did fix it. They didn't charge me for that, but I tipped the two roofers $20 each.

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Tyranthraxus posted...

If you have shit rated for 20 years and insurance says "normal wear and tear" after 10 years then file a warranty claim.

How would I file a warranty claim if I don't know who did the work?

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IdiotMachine posted...

How would I file a warranty claim if I don't know who did the work?

Well I supposed the first step would be finding out who did it. But if you don't know who did it I don't see how you can possibly know how long the warranty was either.

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Did this not show up during inspection when you bought the house?

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EnragedSlith posted...

Did this not show up during inspection when you bought the house?

No leaks, no dents, and no sliding of the roof during inspection. Only thing that showed up was the chimney cap needs repair, and that was repaired.

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From my inspection report:

Age and General Evaluation
The composition shingle roof appears to be around 8-12 years old. This is just an estimate and
you should request the installation permit from the sellers, which will reveal its exact age and any
warranty or guarantee that might be applicable.
The composition shingle roof is in acceptable condition, but it will need to be kept clean and
inspected annually. However, our service does not include any guarantee against leaks. For a
guarantee, a roofing company would have to perform a water-test and issue a roof certification.

Flashing
The roof flashings appear to be in acceptable condition. They should be monitored in the future
and will need recaulked in areas.

Skylight
The composition shingle roof includes one or more skylights, which are notoriously problematic
and a common point of leaks. There are different methods of installing them and, although opinions
will vary, some methods are better than others. Therefore, it will be important to keep the area
around them clean and to monitor them for evidence of leaks.
One dual-glazed skylight on the composition shingle roof has a broken hermetic seal, as is evident
from the condensation forming between the layers of glass, and should be replaced by a contractor.

Gutters
The downspouts go into the ground and the rain leaders were not visible for inspection.
Gutters are clean and working properly. They should be regularly monitored and cleaned as needed.

So nothing showed signs of bad stuff.

The chimney section:

Chimney Walls
The chimney has areas of missing mortar that should be repointed. A chimney sweep or qualified
contractor should further evaluate each chimney and make repairs as needed.

Chimney Flashing
The chimney flashing is in acceptable condition. They should be evaluated periodically and may
need resealed in the future.

Chimney Crown
The chimney crown, which is designed to seal the chimney wall and shed rainwater, is cracked
and should be repaired to help prevent moisture penetration. A qualified contractor or chimney
sweep should further evaluate and make repairs as needed.

Chimney Flue
The portions of the flue that are visible appear to be in acceptable condition.
A complete view of the chimney flue is not possible, and you may wish to have it video scanned
by a chimney sweep.

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bumpo

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Is there any reason you can't DIY?
Roofing isn't really too hard.