[heavyharmonies]

I'm about as far from a do-it-yourselfer that one can humanly get. I know which end of a hammer to pick up, but I'd probably injure myself trying to use it as a screwdriver.

I know less than diddly squat about roofing, which is why I feel like I'm floundering in trying to evaluate my options.

I woke up Saturday morning to find water dripping through the ceiling of my bathroom. Oh joy. Oh bliss. Oh rapture. So I call a roofer (picked out a name from the yellow pages) and he comes over, spends about 3 minutes on the roof and tells me it's shot. Patching won't do. He won't really give me specifics though, which sets off red flags. So I say "ok, send me an estimate." I wasn't about to sign off on a multi-thousand dollar job (that I can't really afford) without getting multiple assessments and estimates.

Well, I've had 3 different roofers out to look at the house, with a 4th coming tomorrow, and all 3 concur that the roof is in bad shape. All 3 are giving rough estimates in the $7,000+ range, and that assumes that none of the sheathing needs to be replaced (2 of the roofers stated that they believe some of the sheathing will need to be replaced, with 1 of the roofers implying that the sheathing replacement may be $4,000-5,000 ADDITIONAL!).

I feel like a deer caught in the headlights.

This is an 1,100 square foot ranch, attached 1-car garage, slab construction, about 50 years old. Low-rent district (lower class neighborhood, nothing fancy by any stretch of the imagination).

Here is an aerial shot of my house from Google maps, so you can see the roof configuration; I've overlayed the dimensions, if that helps.

Am I being taken to the cleaners, or is a roof replacement on my dinky little house really that expensive? This is downstate Illinois, if it matters.

I've only received one hard estimate thus far, shown below. I've redacted both my and the roofer's personal information.

Any advice would be appreciated; this is potentially turning into something way more expensive than I ever anticipated. Thanks in advance.

 

[Ed the Roofer]

The prices are in line with Southern Illinois.

Unfortunately for people in homes built with lesser than high quality construction methods and products, there seems to be a disproportianate dollar amount spent per square foot when all is said and done.

Just off the top of my head, without figuring your dimensions exactly, you are around 21 squares of roofing, plus on a low pitch roof with improper ventilation and possibly originally built with cheaper decking, ie; 3-ply instead of 4-ply plywood deck sheathing.

So, lesser quality construction is more affordable in the beginning stages of home ownership, when it is still newer, but requires substantial additional work to be done to get it back in shape the way it should be.

I wish you were closer to where I am from, because that is a very simple roof to do.

Ed

 

[Leah Frances]

My sympathies. My roofing sticker shock is 10 Times that.

 

[Ed the Roofer]

My sympathies. My roofing sticker shock is 10 Times that.

In the $60,000.00 dollar range???

I can fly over there and do it. :laughing:

Ed

 

[Leah Frances]

Ed - don't make promises you aren't willing to keep.

Yes, we will probably have to spend in the 45,000 - 60,000 range to put a new roof on the house. Hoping to re-appraise in August so the bank might consider loaning us 20% of the value of our house to put a new roof on...

 

[Ed the Roofer]

:whistling2:

Whats the weather like there in Maryland?

It must be a doozy of a home.

I LOVE working on classic nightmares. The more detailed, the better.

Ed

 

[Scuba_Dave]

Hey my brother is in Maryland...roof party :thumbsup: