Hail damaged Owens Corning roof

Fixitlady

Hi!
I have a hail damaged Owens Corning architectural (1994) 1st roof. The roofer only wants to take off the old shingles and put new felt and flashing over the old felt and flashing. He wants to fix some rotten soffits after the new roof is on. I s that a good idea or is putting the new shingles on top of the old shingles better?

Daniel Holzman

I am confused by your post. Apparently the roofer wants to take off the old shingles. All of the shingles, or only the damaged ones? And you say the roofer wants to put new felt and flashing over the old felt and flashing. The part about the felt makes sense, presumably the roofer would strip the old shingles, install new felt, then install new roofing. If the flashing is still good, it could presumably be left in place. Flashing over old flashing seems inconsistent with stripping old shingles.

The roof is 15 years old, so it might have some life left in it, except that the hail probably made it impossible to salvage any of the shingles. So it would seem to make sense to remove all of the old shingles, and start over. If you are asking should the roofer install new shingles over the old damaged shingles, I guess it could be done, but I can't see any advantage to doing that.

Fixitlady

Hi!
The roofer wants to take off all the "old" shingles and keep the old felt and flashing. He then wants to put wider flashing over the old flashing and cover the old felt with new felt 15 and then put the new shingles over everything. He said that waterproofing is not necessary but just hype. Since I want to be able to get a warrenty from the manufacturer of the new shingles is what my roofer have planned going to be enough?
Thanks for replying!

MJW

Since this is probably an insurance claim, you should probably have done, what the insurance company is paying for. This would be to remove and replace shingles, underlayment, etc... and have replaced. All done professionally.

Fixitlady

Hi!
Thanks for the reply.
Yes, it is an insurance claim to which the roofer I am talking about helped me get a positive reply. He then talked about all sorts of short cuts and that most of the materials and steps were not necessary including waterproofing! He said it was all just money making hype.He also did not want to give me anything concrete on paper not to mention anything about a warrenty! So, I went to Home Depot on Sat and got a proper estimate for the entire job plus info on all warrenties that apply.
When I told my roofer that I was probably going to go with Home Depot he was angry at first but then "saw the light" and is now going to use all materials and steps needed in order to get the 10 year istallation warrenty offered by the roofing manufacturer.
So, all's well that ends well!

MJW

How would a contractor send a legitimate bill when they are not doing all of the steps that they are being paid for? Or was he letting you keep the money?
Remember this money is not the homeowners money. It actually belongs to your lender, and it is provided ONLY to fix according to the adjustment by the insurance company. Anything outside of that is insurance fraud (AFAIK) by all parties involved.

BamBamm5144

Well I would be angry with anyone wanting to go with Home Depot even if its not my contract. Sort of like how I am shocked a person can even consider Home Depot for a roof. As MJW pointed it out, it seems as if either he or you or both were trying to attempt to commit insurance fraud.

Fixitlady

Don't get excited!

All I want is a good solid roof that will last the time warrented. I feel my roofer was trying to take short cuts and pocket what was left.

I went to Home Depot just to get something that looked like a proper estimate so that my roofer would wake up and write down how he intended to use the money alloted from the Ins. Co to give me a properly installed roof which includes all the materials that the Ins. Co. is paying for in order to get the all important warrenty.

No fraud wanted or intended - - at least not on my side! I want a roof I don't have to worry about for a good long time.

Actally, I started to worry and wonder whether this guy is a professional roofer at all when he talked about 'shortcuts'. I am afraid that he is a handy man that has decided to branch out! He has done other work on my house (painting and woodwork)and helped to have the Ins. claim approved in the first place. (Or so he says)

Scuba_Dave

Your roof is a very important part of your house
Make sure it is being installed by someone who knows what they are doing
If this is the 1st roof he is doing don't use him !!
Ask for references of other roofs he has installed

BamBamm5144

Home Depot is usually much more expensive and less informed than most legitimate roofing contractors.

I would suggest contacting family and friends or anyone you know who has recently had their roof done in order to find out who they chose to do the job.

Good Luck.