So you’ll need a new roof and are attempting to decide if you should try to reduce your cost by getting the brand new roof installed over a current layer of roofing. This method is very common in lots of areas and lots of roofing companies aren’t seeing any difficulty with this particular method and also have not a problem selling homeowners on the lay-over or go-over because this strategy is known as. They’re wrong.
5 Reasons A Lay-Over Or Go-Over Is An Awful Idea When Re-Roofing
1.) Areas which have or had leaks can’t continually be addressed correctly
There’s a strong possibility that your old roof had some trouble spots including possible leak spots, regardless of whether you observed them or otherwise. Without tearing from the old roof and correctly identifying these kinds of problem areas and figuring out in which the leak was originating from and visiting it’s impossible to inform what regions of your homes roof may require some kind of special attention.
2.) Any rotted wood underneath the existing roofing is only going to worsen
There might be areas which have rotted wood hiding underneath the old roofing. These rotted areas have to be identified and replaced before a brand new roof is installed. Clearly in case your roofer is just carrying out a lay-over roofing installation then these rotted areas will stay hidden and just worsen as time continue. Even the nails holding lower the shingles in areas with rotted wood cannot correctly get the job done and you’ve got a significantly greater chance of shingles blowing off in individuals areas.
3.) Eaves, rakes and valleys need special therapy
This can be a big one. The eaves, rakes and valleys of your property need special attention whenever your home’s roof has been installed. This is particularly essential in cooler climates like Massachusetts, where we’re located. During the cold months time the eaves of your property they are under attack by Nature, whether it’s through ice dams, snow develop, or simply the continual freezing and thawing occurring through the winter months. Whenever a new roof is correctly installed the roofer must put new aluminum drip-edge round the entire perimeter of the roof.
Next they have to use a 3 feet wide portion of ice & water barrier round the perimeter plus any valleys in your roof. They can start to set up the brand new roofing. Without tearing from the original roofing there’s not a way to correctly install the brand new drip-edge or ice & water barrier. On the lay-over kind of roofing install, the roofer is relying on the present products around the home’s roof to still depend on componen and then handle the wintertime conditions. Very frequently that old products are unsuccessful whether or not this was simply because they have outlived their lifetime, were sub-componen to start with, or possibly these were never there to start with (all to frequently the second may be the situation with ice & water barrier).
4.) Extra roofing weight isn’t any great for old rafters
One of the most apparent issues with a lay-over re-roof may be the added weight from the extra layer of shingles. Of all newer homes this isn’t a problem, however many older homes have rafters which are considered undersized by today’s framing standards. It’s not uncommon to determine 2×6 rafter systems on a number of these houses. Now in many situations a 2×6 rafter is undersized to start with and also you certainly don’t wish to be adding the load of the new roofing layer on the top of the old roofing layer to those already undersized rafter systems. With newer roofs using 2×10, 2×12, engineered trusses, etc. the load is not always because a problem.
5.) Shorter roof existence expectancy
Most responsible roofing companies agree that the lay-over roof will reduce the new roof’s lifetime by about 25%. This fact alone implies that anything you may have saved using a lay-over, instead of a tear-off and new roof install, was just a brief term savings. Additionally, you have 2 layers of roofing that will have to be removed next time your homes roof is performed which will include more cost towards the job
Tear-Off Then Re-Roof Is Definitely Superior
Well, I simply gave you 5 very top reasons to tear off your old roofing after which install your brand-new roof. Yes it may be cheaper for the short term to perform a go-over in your old roof, but, within the lengthy term do it yourself more. We never recommend this method to the customers. We always recommend completely tearing from the old roofing, fixing any underlying problems, then installing a brand new, beautiful new roof which will last longer than any lay-over roof in addition to better safeguard our customers’ homes.
