NSR: house roofing question UPDATE X 2

[Stig / Major Tom]

I'm thinking some of you guys might have some input here.
My 25 yr old house could use a new roof. I've replaced a couple shingles which blew off ....a few more are loose.

Lately  (past 3 yrs) I've been visited by door-to-door guys who say they can see that I need a new roof - and they can inspect it - find storm damage - and contact my insurance agent - show their inspectors the storm damage ....to get me a new roof for the price of my deductible only.

Everyone in my neighborhood has the same house - 3 yrs ago all the leased houses (95% are leased) rec'd a second layer of architectural shingles.

These guys said to warranty the work they will do a complete tear-off , re-roof.
latest visit was from americanhome.tech
They bet me a dinner they could get me a free roof. (less my deductible)
To be clear - these guys have a team of roofers - but their business seems aimed at getting between a home owner and his ins. co. to get the owner a roof from storm damage. (chimney, Sky-light, window, etc.)
Too good to be true, or....?

Yeah - I'll be talking this with my ins. agent Monday - but doubt he will be enthused for my sake!

Thoughts?

Thanks,. Stig

[Iahawk]

if you have actual storm damage, yes, they are correct. New roof for cost of insurance deductible. If your roof is just old and worn out..and they are trying to scam the insurance company...that's a different story.

[randyo]

I recently reroofed cause my insurance company dropped me (it wasn't leaking or anything like that, just most of the stone washed off the shingles 35 yrs old) Had to get eeekspensive insurance thru Lloyd's, but now that I got new architectural shingles, my insurance is reasonable again

I would be hesitant to encourage my insurance company to possibly come inspect my property, every time the do, I get a letter that I have to fix something, they want nothing to impede firemen from walking around the house, move this and that, remove my waste oil from the property, etc.

[Stig / Major Tom]

if you have actual storm damage, yes, they are correct. New roof for cost of insurance deductible. If your roof is just old and worn out..and they are trying to scam the insurance company...that's a different story.

Well, the ins. agent will send out his guy - and the roofin' inspector guy will meet him up there for a chat.

If they don't agree ....i'm out nothing, and I'll go back inside and schedule some estimates.
These guys said that when the adhesive strips fail - it is not due to age but wind damage. Several have failed up there....and we have had some heckish winds!


Stig

[airshot]

I can say from years of replacing roofs that cheap shingles are not worth the effort.  Forget people trying to scam you or the ins company.  The ins guys werent born yesterday!! Unfortunately we are in a very bad time to get repairs done...prices have skyrocketed immensly which brings out the scammers in droves !!!   If your not planning on staying long then reroof but if your gonna live there for years then a tearoff is in order....I would not waste my money on any shingle with less than a 75 mph wind rating and my current shingles have a 90 mph rating.  Age is another issue, cheap shingles are good for 15 mabey 20 yrs with a steep slope, good shingles good for 20 to 25 years under ideal conditions. Prem shingles 25 to 30 yrs under good conditions.   With our current inflation issues it is gonna be expensive!!  No way around it, but...dont get scammed with a special deal !!! They will always bite you in the ass.....

[Stig / Major Tom]

Thanks all...
Yeah, going to think this through.
My daughter may be living here after my CVT belt finally breaks a few yrs from now. So a good roof is a wise investment.
10 yrs ago I'd do it myself. Built and roofed several park shelters larger than my house over my 30yrs with the state. Using hammer and nail pouch on my hip.
$8500 was the offer from these guys....if ins. won't pay.

My daughter will have a conniption if she reads this!....she sees a life in NYC or Paris in her future!....
Can't blame her. She should have left a letter in the mail box when she turned 18, like her Pop did.

Stig

[airshot]

How many squares of roofing material?  Tear off or shingle over?  Ice gard?  100% cleanup?  Quality of shingles ?   All these things go into the final cost so your 8500 is a big question mark....

[Stig / Major Tom]

How many squares of roofing material?  Tear off or shingle over?  Ice gard?  100% cleanup?  Quality of shingles ?   All these things go into the final cost so your 8500 is a big question mark....

Yes, tear off, ice guard, clean up, up to 10 new sheets if needed, architectural shingles. No idea on number of squares.
I'll be getting other quotes.
Stig

[airshot]

Yes, tear off, ice guard, clean up, up to 10 new sheets if needed, architectural shingles. No idea on number of squares.
I'll be getting other quotes.
Stig

The shingles should have a warranty in years and also a wind rating, anything under 20 yrs and a 75 mph wind rating isnt worth the trouble if you plan on living there for a while.  Most estimates are by the number of squares (100 sq ft) of material used.  Normally one square for new material and one square for tearoff so you would double the actual number of squares for a tear off.  The term architectural shingles means little other than they have thicker and thinner areas to give a 3d appearance. Life expectancy and wind rating are more important !!!!

[Stig / Major Tom]

The inspector from my insurance co. and the (my) roofing inspector just came down from my roof.
The insurance inspector said that "there is more than enough wind damage evident on the roof to support a full claim"!

The 2 door-to-door guys from the roof inspection co. have been bugging me for 2 years.
I finally read their paperwork to see what I'd be agreeing to if I let them be a go-between, and I let them get on my roof.
They guaranteed that I had enough wind damage to make a full claim.

I still am skeptical that I'm going to get "a new roof if I pay my $250 deductible" - but those were the  final words from the insurance inspector....well, he did stop his car, come back and thank us both for our service! (the roofing guy was a former gulf-war Marine - he'd volunteered - while I, in 1969, "had simply responded to a trick letter that purported to be for a free couch !" 

Stig

[wymple]

I put a steel roof on my house 25 years ago. Still looks like day one & will never need fixed or replaced.

[Stig / Major Tom]

I put a steel roof on my house 25 years ago. Still looks like day one & will never need fixed or replaced.

Isn't a metal roof noisy?
And, if you're in a housing development......is yours the only one with a metal roof?
Stig

[Mancashire]

If your roof is properly insulated, I don’t think you should have any worries about noise. I my HOA would allow it, I’d go with a metal roof in a heart beat.

Will your insurance company cover the extra cost of the metal roof? They won’t last forever but should be good for ~50years.

[CROSSBOLT]

I can rave about a metal roof IF there is insulation under it! For that matter, insulation on the underside of ANY roof will cut the sunny day heat transfer to nearly zero  and cold days reduce the heat transfer to the outside.

The guy we contracted to replace the metal roof on our 100 year-old redneck frontier house (actually made from two hunnert year old "tiny" houses nailed together) never breathed jack-squat about condensation.....wondered why the ceilings were water stained and the wall board was so wavy! The old roof was salvaged barn roof metal. No underside insulation.

Well, we found out quickly we needed insulation! Had some foam blown in and made a huge differrence! The jack-leg who put the new metal on could have made a recommendation for some kind of insulation and it would have made sense. And I would havebdone it!

The sprayed foam is the best in my opinion since it sticks to the metal with no gap. M3tal and foam was about 6500 bucks but will outlast the house!

[randyo]

standing seam metal lasts nearly forever. about 10 years ago, my dad replaced the 185 year old standing seam metal with new powder coated standing seam metal. I grew up in the house, a BIG school district, it was a former 2 room school.  with insulation, you could barely hear the patter of hard rain, it was a roar in a hail storm.