We recently had our Baltimore city roof reshingled, with some of the decking replaced. From inside the attic, we can see where there’s still a small 2 inch by 4 inch triangular hole the new decking didn’t totally cover. It’s right in the middle of the roof, about halfway between two rafters. There isn’t a leak or anything…the shingles and felt underlayment cover this gap, it just means that I can see the felt underlayment from inside the attic.
The roofer who did the work has been out to see it and said it shouldn’t cause any concern, but that they’d repair it if we want. It was a more involved fix than I expected, though; they’d fix it from the outside, pulling away some of what they did and filling the hole after first expanding it to stretch rafter-to-rafter.
Really, the gap doesn’t cause me that much concern; my fear is that it has the potential to be a weak spot/leak in 10 or 20 years, and I’d rather head off any such issue now. But I also have the same fear about the roofer’s suggested fix; to my untrained mind, any patch is more likely to be a future weak spot as well. And so I turn to the wisdom of this forum for advice! To patch, or not to patch…that is the question. Thanks ahead of time for any assistance!
It shouldn’t diminish the structural integrity of the roof but,I have to respectfully disagree with the advice to “let it go.” You paid them to replace the decking the proper way. Leaving that gap is unacceptable. I would never let my crew leave a gap in one of my customers roofs. I see it as laziness and poor workmanship due to a lack of preparation for the job. Make them fix it
Thanks for the replies, everyone! Gives me some peace of mind. I think I’ll just let it be. From a customer service perspective, I was happy with the roofer. They actually had initially plugged this hole I’m asking about, but the plug got knocked out when they nailed in the shingles and one hit the plug dead-on. I missed it during the post-job walk through.
