[jwith]

I am looking at replacing my roof this spring. My house is 25 years old and is in need of a new roof. I didn't think much about it when buying my house, a few years ago, but there is no gable end overhangs. I have had a lot of water damage on my corner boards and window sills on the gable ends, but not much under the eves.

From what I've read it is critical for homes to have overhang to protect the siding, windows, and sills from sun, water, and snow. I live in the MA, NH area and we receive a significant amount of snow. I've noticed only about 10-20% of homes in my town actually have gable end overhangs. Mostly newer homes are adding 6-12" overhang. Some older homes seem to have about 6" overhang built from ornate rake boards.

I am looking for advice on whether overhang on gable ends are really necessary in my area, and if it is worth trying to add them when I have the roof done? Would the cost/effort of the modification out-weight the benefit of adding them? I would have to do a total of 3 gable ends about 100'. I can post pictures if necessary.

Thank you in advance!

 

[joecaption]

Really need those pictures.
Whole lot of work and money but if you plan on staying in the house I feel it's worth it.
I feel this is the strongest way to frame the gables.
http://www.bing.com/images/search?q...CC448464CC1DDC14524BF301B34AD&selectedIndex=1

To get rid of all that maintaince replace those boards with vinyl lumber, install vinyl soffits and get someone to wrap all the fashia boards in coil stock.

 

[jwith]

thanks for the quick response Joe. I will post some pictures tomorrow when there's day light. I was planning on having all the fascia, rake, soffits, and corner boards replaced with PVC AZEK or similar. The rake boards are rotted badly because the builder didn't install any drip edge on the the rakes, and the fascia is bad because the gutters were attached to fascias and home owners didn't keep up with painting them.

I don't think it would be too hard to add that framing into the gable ends. I would think the toughest part would be updating the decking. My decking is 4x8 plywood and I would assume I would want to stagger the decking so there isn't a straight seem right along the gable end, providing a stronger seam.

If you have experience with this construction, please let me know what you think would be involved in modifying the existing structure.

Thanks

 

[joecaption]

I would not use the PVC for the fashias, just to expencive and you would first have to put up a layer of wood then attach the PVC to that so it's twice as much work. Just cheap spruce wraped in coil stock will last a few life times.
Not that big a deal to weave in the new plywood.
I use one of these to remove sheathing.
http://www.thegutster.com/

 

[ddawg16]

Jwith....I totally agree with you on what your wanting to do. I'm in the middle of a 2-story addition and one of the things we did was install 24' eaves....(click on the link in my signature for pics).

In fact, the example Joe gave you is almost exactly how mine look.

If your going to re-roof, it's wise to do a tear off anyway....that way you can inspect everything and repair as necessary. You are right, you want to stagger the decking....but that part is not really that hard...if your pulling decking off....going 1-2 stud bays more is not a big deal. I think it's well worth the effort seeing how your doing a roof anyway.

Side note....when the roofer was doing my house we got into a conversation about tear-off....he said that for the money...doing a tear-off each time you roof is wise....the typical cost is $800 and up (depending on size)....but allows you to inspect closely for any wood damage...and the end result looks a whole lot better. I've walked around my neighborhood and looked at houses that had 2 layers on....looks like crap....sort of like painting over a bad paint job.

 

[jwith]

Joecaption, that tool is awesome. I could have used that on so many home projects already. I am hoping the decking is not tongue and groove plywood. They used tongue and groove plywood throughout the interior of the house (all the subfloors), and I had to replace a few and it added a lot of extra work. That's good to know about PVC as well, I guess I will look into the coil wrap.

ddawg16, thanks for the feedback. I am definitely going to strip the old roof off. I have spoken with a couple of roofers and wanted to just lay new shingles over. I said no way. I already know of a couple of pieces of decking I want to replace. I can see damage from the attack. one of the roofers told me I would have to hire someone to come out and strip it before they would roof and they estimated it would cost 2-3k, which I thought was high for 25 squares.

Should I be looking for a roofer or GC to do all the fascia and decking repair?

 

[OldNBroken]

Tearoff is part of the roofing process. Seems odd to me that your roofer tells you you gotta find someone else to tear it off for you. A decent contractor should be able to handle everything you are asking for no problem. When you get multiple contractors involved in a single project like that it only leads to delays and the chance for mother nature to get involved in the mix.

 

[joecaption]

Somethings very wrong if they suggested getting someone else to tear off the old shingles!

 

[ddawg16]

My roofer says he never tears off....he hires companies that do it....they are cheaper than what he could do it for....they come in with a crew of 4-5 guys....tear it all....clean everything up....leaving him a clean bare roof to work with.

He also discourages homeowners to roof over existing shingles....for the little overall extra cost....well worth the money....

So, if a roofer is discouraging you from doing a tear off....time to find a different roofer.

 

[OldNBroken]

My roofer says he never tears off....he hires companies that do it....they are cheaper than what he could do it for....they come in with a crew of 4-5 guys....tear it all....clean everything up....leaving him a clean bare roof to work with.

He also discourages homeowners to roof over existing shingles....for the little overall extra cost....well worth the money....

So, if a roofer is discouraging you from doing a tear off....time to find a different roofer.

But does HE take care of it or leave it to the homeowner? Big difference. Nothing wrong with subbing out the tearoff. The contractor is still in charge of it. It's odd that a roofer says "I don't do tearoffs."

Also, one should never "discourage" a tearoff, but anyone who says they refuse to ever do a recover is dealing in absolutes and that's never good. Be honest, give them all their options and give them your recommendations and why you recommend them. I always HIGHLY recommend tearoffs but will do recovers in certain situations. It's their property, let them make their own decisions but make sure they are properly informed before they do make the decision.

 

[Gary in WA]

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&...B_DH7R&sig=AHIEtbQHfQZ5743BqrGMCZm6mjEVjqoD5Q

Gary

 

[jwith]

My roofer says he never tears off....he hires companies that do it....they are cheaper than what he could do it for....they come in with a crew of 4-5 guys....tear it all....clean everything up....leaving him a clean bare roof to work with.

He also discourages homeowners to roof over existing shingles....for the little overall extra cost....well worth the money....

So, if a roofer is discouraging you from doing a tear off....time to find a different roofer.

Yeah he said I could use a GC that he knows to do it, but it sounded like two separate contracts, which concerns me. He did say it would be cheaper for the GC because his insurance is cheaper and he has cheaper labor to clear it.

 

[jwith]

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&...B_DH7R&sig=AHIEtbQHfQZ5743BqrGMCZm6mjEVjqoD5Q

Gary

Thank you for that link. I find it interesting that that document says many home owners don't like gable end overhangs. This may explain why most houses in my town don't have them. I would assume practicality would out weigh appearance.

Rake
(gable end) overhangs also deserve special consideration
because more costly “outrigger” framing
methods will be required for overhangs exceeding
about 12 inches in width and the appearance may
not be acceptable to some home buyers.

 

[AndyWRS]

Pretty common here where i live to sub the T/O out, those guys are very fast but also charge more than my in house guy. Some of my roofers do thier own T/O some do not. Tearing off is actually good money, its just a very dirty job. In a pinch we sub it out, but most of the time we can just move the start date 1 day and do it in house.


We lost one of our t/o guys end of last yr, disgruntled g/f shot him 5 times in broad daylight while he sat in his truck. RIP Martin...he was a good person.

 

[jwith]

Here's some pictures

Here's the pictures I said I would post. You can see there is absolutely no gable end overhang. I have touched up the rake boards, but they are fairly rotted. I even had large holes on the the back rake boards where bees where nesting.


back rake boards


Garage and front rake boards

I have a total of 3 sets of rake boards that need to be updated.

 

[ddawg16]

Here is what mine look like....

 

[OldNBroken]

I don't see any reason to modify those. Tearoff, repair as needed and re-roof.

 

[ddawg16]

The biggest regret I have with my garage was not putting on a longer gable end........If I'm still in this house 20 years from now about which time the garage will be ready for a new roof....I'm going to lengthen the gable end....

 

[jwith]

Here is what mine look like....

Are your rake boards metal wrapped? That looks really good.

 

[ddawg16]

Are your rake boards metal wrapped? That looks really good.

No....but the wood was primered prior to install...then primered again...then painted....I have a drip edge that was installed 'after' the painting....I have found that to extend the life a bit....

Metal Wrapped? Have not heard of that....most likely worth looking into....but then again....I live in California....the hardest thing on my paint is the sun.

I know I'll have to paint them in about 5-8 years.

This pic is about 2 months old....but will give you a better idea of the overall look.