We have a hundred-year-old house in SW Missouri that we are having roofed. It had three layers of asphalt shingles and some of the original wood shingles, all of which were in horrible shape. They are tearing off everything. They laid down OSB on one side of the roof already. I noticed while looking at the house straight on that there was bump at the edge of the decking. Roofer said that since it’s an old house the rafters had moved, settled, warped, etc. so that decking would not be flat in these areas. I don’t want our new roof looking wonky and bumpy just because it’s an old house. I read that they should use a level before decking and then use shims and blocks to level out before putting down OSB. Is this something I should insist upon?
Also, there are areas where the OSB does not come down to the eave or gutter line. There was a 5 in. gap, we pointed it out. When they fixed it, they left a gap too large for the drip edge to cover, so they left off the drip edge and shingled it any way! This will have to be corrected, right?
We also had them put in the contract that they would install according to the shingle warranty. We noticed that they were not doing the valleys the way that Tamko requires. They have just used the 30 lb. felt in the valleys so far and put shingles down. Roofer tried to tell us that he has done a lot of roofs and that that is sufficient for the valleys. Is that true? I don’t think so.
They also said they would protect, as best they could, my plants around the house. I have spent countless hours and money on them, so I expressed from the beginning that they are important. They failed to put tarps and or OSB up to protect them or the ground. Our roof shingles were crumbly and so now there is large amount of debris in the grass and all in and around the shrubs and plants. I understand things won’t be perfect, but they did not even try to protect things like they said. Should I insist that they clean up the massive amounts of debris, I’ve cleaned up some already, it is not easy to do. And they still have most the roof to tear off. Is it too much to ask them to not tear up the house and grounds while doing the roof?
They also marked up the light yellow siding with black shingles marks; they don’t just wash or rub off. Should I insist that they clean the siding since they failed to protect it?
I did a lot of research before I hired the company. I have done a lot of research on roofing. We had them put everything in the contract that we wanted. They have done very little that they said they would do. Talked to the contractor a lot before I hired him. We were on the same page then.
This roofing job id a hard one. It’s a historic two story house with a very steep roof. The driveway is narrow, and there are houses close to us on both sides. Really it is a roofer’s nightmare. But he saw our house before he took our money; he assured us he could handle such a large, challenging job. He is part- owner of the small company and only has four Amish guys working on our roof. The owner does not do any of the work and is on the phone most the time while he’s there doing other business and not directing his guys. His workers work hard, but really don’t seem to know what they are doing.
I feel like this whole thing is a total nightmare.
Should I stick to my guns and demand things be done the ‘right way’ or should I just let him tell me he knows what he’s doing and just not worry anymore? This roof is a huge investment and I don’t think it’s as important to him as it is to us. Please help.
I have some pictures in my albums of the work so far.
And thank you in advance!
Sorry it’s so long.
Get everything done RIGHT!..its your house and obviously they dont seem concerned, was it in writing about leveling trusses? there should be no gaps at eaves, and to not put in dripedge just because it wouldnt fit?? are ya kidding? and yes they should be protecting your landscaping…either get him to do it right or get rid of him…IMO…
Thank you for your reply. I think I really just need some support right now. I know the things the roofer is trying to get away with are not right. I did not have anything put into the contract about shimming up the uneven areas, it actually never occurred to me! He’s not doing the other stuff we put in the contract anyway. We put in the contract for them to leave the antique roof vent in place and to flash around it. Roofer was off site and the workers ripped it off and mangled it up anyway. He just does not take anything seriously. I am very afraid of what I have seen so far. This guy knows the right, correct thing to do when he talks to me, but then he does not follow through. He is so full of excuses and blames everything on how big the job is and how old the house is. I was sympathetic for a while but I reminded myself that he took the job, and a large sum of money to do the work. I wish wish wish I could just fire them, but that seems overwhelming. And then searching for another roofer…
You should ask if he is up to date on his Workers Compensation. Check your states Workers Compensation rules. I remember reading the Amish can be exempt from most states WCB (Workers Compensation Bureau) programs. Your house sounds like a high risk job, making sure you are not liable would be a top priority. And it might give you an easy out, which it sounds like you need.
Your roof FRAMING was not a flat plain before they removed the roof. Why are you expecting the roof framing to fix itself while replacing the roofing material? that kind of work can take longer than the roof replacement.
Installing new sheeting does nothing to correct high and low rafters.
The new sheeting gives solid decking for the new roofing to be secured to.
We “roof” the frame work we are given. Thats why we are called roofers, not framers.
30pound only in the vally and thats it?
I have torn off many roofs that thats all it had and it didnt leak but thats not how i do it. Lots of ways to do a valley though. and everyone does it slightly differently.
It sounds like he didnt do a good enough job of preparing you for what was about to happen with the trash. you did say two story steep three layer roof , right??? there is stiil much more trash to deal with, lots more to hit the ground, and lots more cleaning to be done. I like to clean these areas Before the homeowner notices it.
Talk to them right away about being more careful with the plants and siding and to deal with it. That is not unreasonable.
Im not sure i understand about the gap and the evedrip. They might just be coming back to it, i am not sure. sometimes we have to get the shingles on and the house watertight and come back to that for some reason.
I hope i led to some sort of understanding and am not being offensive to you. Let some forgiveness flow through your veins for these men and the owner who talks on his phone too much. I just hoped you picked the right color scheme…
After looking at the picture were they are doing the valley before anything else, I would have absolutely no confidence in these guys to do anything correctly.
Besides the obvious “WTF why are they doing that”, look at the size of the stagger.
Just because they are Amish doesn’t mean they are competent.
Axioms correct… word for word i had the same thoughts, minus the cussing.
tell them you want a 7-8 inch stagger on the rest of the roof right away on the rest of it. Or at least the 5-6 inch minumum. Not some 4 inch stagger that the photo seems to show.
The steepness of the roof will be forgiving on this but if they do it like this on this roof, they are doing it on all roofs. A small stagger will make a roof leak on a low pitch roof!
Thank you for the responses. They had a different crew today, and I could tell they were much more experienced. They corrected the valleys. This is a hard roofing job and they only have 4 guys on the roof, I do feel for them. But it’s the stuff that would be easier to do right the first time, instead of taking short cuts, that bothers me the most. I do not fault the guys doing the hard labor as much as the ones that should be watching the progress. Thanks again.