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(Jonathan Kamens) writes:

How many estimates have you gotten? If the "between $25,000
and $30,000" came from a single roofer, then you should get
at least two more estimates. Don't just look roofers up in
the yellow pages -- talk to homeowners you know who've had
their rooves done and get recommendations.

I've gotten five estimates. The first one was from the selling broker.
He told me that he had an estiamte for a complete tear-off for $7800. I
called the guy, and he said that he was the "cheapest roofer in town".
But this estimate of $7800 was for tearing off the outer two asphalt
layers and putting 30 lb. felt over what he thought was probably an
original cedar shake layer. He wasn't proposing to replace the valleys
or flashings or anything.

The second estimate was from an FHA consultant. He priced it out to be
4200 square feet and about $28,000 for the complete tear-off and
removal. He said this would be for a top of the line roof.

The third estimate was from a contractor who estimated it about be about
$20,000. The fourth estimate was from a Home Depot person. She
wouldn't give me a firm estimate, but thought it would be about $26,000
or $28,000 with the 50-year shingles. The fifth estimate was a
contractor who thought it would be $30,000 to $40,000. He was proposing
a more sophisticated type of venting though, some sort of thing intakes
along the edges of the roof in addition to the ridge line vent.

I'm getting an FHA 203k loan, so they have allocated about $30,000 for
the roof. What I'd really like is a slate or synthetic slate roof. I
need to call some contractors to see if I can get any estimates near
that price range. I understand that a slate roof might be as much as
$50,000. I don't think I want to pay that much.

I doubt that it will be cost-effective for you to salvage the
old slate. If a new roof was nailed on top of old slate, then
there will be nail holes through most of the slate shingles,
and many of them will be split; all of the split or holed
shingles will not be reusable. Furthermore, until you've
removed all the layers on top of the slate, there's no way of
knowing how much of the slate is missing. It seems likely
that there will be quite a bit missing, since if there weren't
they would have patched it rather than putting on a new
asphalt roof. Another issue is that even if a significant
amount of the slate is reusable, it will be difficult for you
to find new slate to match it for the rest.

That's too bad. Seeing the original slate on there makes me want to get
a real slate roof even more. But that might be over-improving the house
relative to the neighborhood.

(Yes, it is a Queen Anne.)

The exterior needs painting too, I'm trying to decide on color schemes.
I've seen a few books that weren't all that helpful...

keith