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#1
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help, asphalt roof installed over slate
Hi, I need some advice. I'm in the process of buying a Victorian house
in Rochester, NY. It needs some work, including a new roof. The roof has tongue and groove sheathing boards (3/4 inch thick) that are still in good condition (as seen from the attic) and a 45 degree (12:12) pitch. The house originally had a slate roof. In fact, I just realized by carefully examining a hole in the porch that the originaly slate roof is still there, and 2 or 3 additional roofs seem to have been simply nailed on top. I think a slate roof would be a good fit for this house, but I think it is a bit out of my price range. Do you think it would be possible to somehow recycle the existing slate that is there, or at least some of it? The shingles that I could see through the hole didn't seem to be cracked, but on of them had a nail through the middle. I was thinking that if some fraction of these originaly slate tiles could be salvaged, that would save money on a slate roof, and I might be able to afford it. I've gotten several estimates for new roofs that seem to be fairly high to me. With a complete tear-off and architectural shingles, I've been quoted between $25,000 and $30,000. The roof area is 4200 square feet, and there are three chimneys. If any experts are reading, does that estimate sound reasonable? The selling agent had told me that he had gotten an estimate from some guy for around $8000. Any advice would be appreciated, especially concerning the old slate. Thanks, keith |
#2
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Keith A. Schneider wrote:
Hi, I need some advice. I'm in the process of buying a Victorian house in Rochester, NY. It needs some work, including a new roof. The roof has tongue and groove sheathing boards (3/4 inch thick) that are still in good condition (as seen from the attic) and a 45 degree (12:12) pitch. The house originally had a slate roof. In fact, I just realized by carefully examining a hole in the porch that the originaly slate roof is still there, and 2 or 3 additional roofs seem to have been simply nailed on top. I think a slate roof would be a good fit for this house, but I think it is a bit out of my price range. Do you think it would be possible to somehow recycle the existing slate that is there, or at least some of it? The shingles that I could see through the hole didn't seem to be cracked, but on of them had a nail through the middle. I was thinking that if some fraction of these originaly slate tiles could be salvaged, that would save money on a slate roof, and I might be able to afford it. As you've noted, slate can be very expensive ($1K / square isn't unusual, especially for a 12 pitch roof). You could remove and recycle the existing slate if it is in good condition, but there sure will be a lot of labor involved in that. Even the cleaning of any recovered slate would be a big job. I wouldn't put shingles on a roof that large and complex -- after all, you'd have to replace them in another 10 years or so. Instead, consider cement tile ($450 / square on low slope, higher on steep roofs). |
#3
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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. An estimate of $25k to $30k for a tear-off sounds reasonable to me, but again, you need to get other estimates. Was "the estimate from some guy for around $8000" that the selling agent told you about for a tear-off or putting another layer on top (which would of course be completely irresponsible if there are already 3 or 4 layers)? And what type and quality of shingles did that guy intend to use? If you don't have details like this about that estimate, then the estimate is worthless. I suspect it's worthless in any case, because the agent probably found someone he knew would low-ball the estimate so that he could quote you a low estimate for redoing the roof. 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. I doubt you'll be able to find a roofer willing to do what you're proposing. If you do, he won't be willing to give you a reliable estimate until the layers above the slate have been removed so he can see how much of the slate is reusable. Slate lasts much longer than asphalt, at least in climates where its use is not recommended because the weather is too harsh. It's per year cost averages out significantly lower than asphalt, and hence it increases the value of your house and costs you less in the long term. If you haven't yet closed on the financing for the house, and you know that you're going to have to replace the roof, you might want to consider rolling whatever portion you can't afford now of the cost of slate into your financing, so that you can go ahead and put on slate. |
#4
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#6
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David W. wrote:
How could asphalt shingles be nailed over the top of slate? With a hammer. |
#7
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On Thu, 16 Jun 2005 17:22:31 GMT, someone wrote:
David W. wrote: How could asphalt shingles be nailed over the top of slate? With a hammer. LOL, ya beat me to it. (Nowadays, it might be "with a nail gun".) I used to live outside of Rochester, NY in a "Queen Anne", which many people might call a "Victorian". In that part of the US, houses of that era as a dime a dozen. Reply to NG only - this e.mail address goes to a kill file. |
#9
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Luke wrote:
About 20 years ago when I lived in New Jersey I watched in horror as my next door neighbors had a contractor put asphalt shingles over slate on their Craftsman home. It was sad 'cause the original slate wasn't in such bad shape, just needed some patching. And when I asked my neighbors why they did it they said they couldn't find anyone to do slate. It was too late for me to give them the names of several roofers in the area who still did slate. Oh, the inhumanity! I'll have nightmares tonight. |
#11
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On Sat, 18 Jun 2005 03:51:15 +0000 (UTC),
(Keith A. Schneider) wrote: [snippage] (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... You may find The Old House Journal helpful: http://www.oldhousejournal.com/magazine/index.shtml I'm sure there's info on the web, start googling :-). Can't help with your roofing other than suggest you avoid Home Depot and its ilk like the plague (a google groups search on this group and alt.home.repair will turn up many posts about nasty entanglements with the Despot's installers), and thoroughly check out whoever you use. -- Luke __________________________________________________ ____________________ "Bush wanted to remove Saddam, through military action, justified by the conjunction of terrorism and WMD. But the intelligence and facts were being fixed around the policy." -- The Downing Street Memo, July 23, 2002 http://www.downingstreetmemo.com |
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