Noisy and Expensive!

12 years ago

After the two torrential rains our area has had in the last three weeks, a large water stain appeared on our living room ceiling. We've been in our house almost 18 years and while the shingles were supposed to last 20-25 years, we'd been thinking about getting a new roof in a year or so. Of course, the leak/water stain decided for us.

After getting some estimates, we chose a company which has done other rooves (sp.?) in our neighborhood. We were told that if the weather held, the work could be done in two days. We were hoping for that, otherwise, there'd have to be a patch job and it would be two or three months wait for the temps to get warm enough to do the work.

Yesterday, the phone rang and a cheery voice said, "See you in the morning". Now, it's been pretty cold around here the last few nights; six a.m. temp this morning was 23.4 degrees, so we wondered if the job could be done. Of course, today's work was taking off the old stuff, so the temp didn't have to be 45 or above for the shingles to adhere. Tomorrow--if the rain doesn't come till late afternoon, the new ones can be applied.

We're very glad it's able to be done before Winter really sets in, but has it been noisy! A few times, it sounded as if someone was coming thru the ceiling. Our cat Maggie has been terrified and a nap is out of the question for DH.

That's the "noise" part of the title; I won't give specifics, but the "expensive" part is what DH and I are giving to each other for Christmas--and maybe a few more to come, too. The good part is that these shingles have a "lifetime guarantee"--whose lifetime I don't know, but I do know it won't be DH and I. :>)

Comments (10)

rob333 (zone 7b)
12 years ago
Noisy and expensive, but priceless peace of mind once it is finally done. Whew. I'm glad you'll rest easier once it is done... and the noise abates.

:)
lilosophie
12 years ago
Noisy and expensive is so true. While the work was going on, I would have loved to take off and spend a few days on the Coast, but someone had to take care of my animals, and though Joann is always willing to do that, she had a full-time job then, so that was out.
Related Professionals
Kyle Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Waunakee Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Brooklyn Center Landscape Architects & Landscape Designers · Hartford Landscape Contractors · Berkley Landscape Contractors · Hayward Landscape Contractors · Old Saybrook Landscape Contractors · Gastonia Decks, Patios & Outdoor Enclosures · Greeley Decks, Patios & Outdoor Enclosures · Liberty Decks, Patios & Outdoor Enclosures · Owings Mills Decks, Patios & Outdoor Enclosures · Portage Decks, Patios & Outdoor Enclosures · Bay Shore General Contractors · Bell General Contractors · Gary General Contractors
west_gardener
12 years ago
We had ours replaced about five years ago, and I agree with rob "but priceless peace of mind once it is finally done.".
jazmynsmom
12 years ago
Ours was replaced this summer. We'd been budgeting to do it in The noise really got to us too. But the most annoying thing was that the roofers pounded out the rhythm for "shave and a haircut" every couple of seconds... without the requisite "two bits!" Steve and I drove ourselves batty singing the absent refrain. We also watched in awe as one of the roofers climbed over my clematis on the back fence to go pee (?) in the trees behind our house. I made Steve go reiterate our bathroom invitation while I cringed inside.
User
12 years ago
I did ours twenty years ago and it is due again. At least this time I wont have to take off and haul away the shakes then lay ply wood. By code comp can be three layers thick before it has to be stripped again. Key word, insulation.
Janis_G
12 years ago
I had our roof replaced soon after we moved here.
It leaked a year later around the boot on a bathroom vent.
When the air-conditioner leaked and messed up
the ceiling in Katrina's computer room, I paid many bucks to have both ceilings fixed.
It looked wonderful until the heavy rains a couple of weeks ago.
Now Katrina's newly done ceiling has leaked again and the air-conditioner guy
came out and took pictures and videos to show me that the
roof was leaking around another boot. he says the roofer
should replace all vent boots when he re-roofs a house.

Well, lord luv a duck! How was I supposed to know that!

I called the roof guy and he came immediately.
He and the air guy did new vents and boots and checked out everything.
I am going to have the plaster guy come back and do the ceiling again.
I'm waiting til after another hard rain to be sure.

I hate being in charge.

Good luck to all of you with new roofs.
May the roof gods smile on you for many years
and may Mother Nature take a liking to you. ;0)
gabriell_gw
12 years ago
I had a new roof about five years ago. It was in the summer and temps were high, I worried about those roofers.My granddaughter was with me that day and because of the noise we left to have a very long lunch.
mawheel
Original Author
12 years ago
So far, so good. Even though it's cloudy, the rain has held off and the temp is almost to 50 degrees.

Janis, thanks for the tip. I'm going to make sure to ask if the *vent boots* were replaced; Michelle, we also offered bathroom access, but saw one of the workmen using an *open-air* facility in a secluded corner of our VERY small back yard!!

DH and I totally agree with the sentiments about peace of mind. Although we would have preferred to have a new roof put on when we chose, now it's done--almost--and we hope we won't have to think about it, anymore.
meldy_nva
12 years ago
That's one of the things my 'new' job paid for- almost 30 years ago. I expect to be shopping for the replacement at any time now, but so far, no leaks. It did leak in one place when first installed, and again, and again, and again... occasionally but not always with every rain. There's an inside valley where the south-facing section meets the west-facing section and while the roofers did a better-than-standard job of replacing the 6" flashing under the new shingles, what no one thought about was that this particular valley -and the gutter below- was the junction of the primary storm-facing roofs which meant that storm-driven wind and rain hit that area full force. That roofing company kept sending out people who ran all sorts of tests trying to *make* it leak [unsuccessfully] before one guy arrived during a near-tropical storm and figured out that the flashing was fine for most applications but needed to be much, much wider to protect the sublayer from wind-driven rain. The hammer-guys came back and lifted a wide section of shingles, replaced the standard flashing with a special extra-wide section and [whew!] we've had no leaks since. Some things are learned the hard way; but the final expert said he was going to make sure his company took weather-direction into consideration in the future.
anneliese_32
12 years ago
We are thinking about getting the roof done again but this time the old shingles have to go, we don't trust the roof structure.
Almost all of our neighborhood had roof damage 5 years ago from a hailstorm and their insurance paid, of course it left us alone.