[diskman]

My wife who watches way to much TV about buying houses has just thrown this at me.

When we purchase our resale in TV, do we have to be wary about the age of the roof. I have owned 3 homes over the years and always had an engineer examine before going into Escrow. The homes I purchased were not recently built and no one ever mentioned any roof issues. I have never had to replace a roof, how costly could that be?

Is there a rule of thumb regarding roof age that we should be aware of due to heat??

Hopefully the TOTV peeps can set us straight on this

[rjm1cc]

Search this form. I think their were roofing problems and the warranty was not being transferred to new buyers. I think you also want a home inspection.
My experience in the North is that a shingle roof lasts about 15 to 25 years depending on the quality of the shingles.

[l2ridehd]

Always have a home inspection and ask that question of the company you hire. Roofs should last about 20 years as stated above. The cost to replace a roof is not cheap, but not outlandish either. On an average size TV home (1800 sq ft) I would expect around 4-8K depending on type of shingle selected.

This is strictly a guess based on cost of shingles and labor to install as I have only had this done once and it was to long ago to compare. That can vary if you have to remove the old shingles or can go over them. Supposedly you can do that one time, second time they should be removed. Cost of shingles is about $100 a square and for the example home you need 18 square. Then ridge pole coverage, flashing, would put materials around $2000. Upgrade to architectural 25 year shingles and that goes to $3000. Labor doubles the number. Add another 2K if the old roof has to be removed and hauled away.

[faithfulfrank]

It is usually pretty easy to tell roof condition. Things to look for is the spacing between the tabs, amount of stone on the shingles, brittleness, waviness, etc.

A good Home Inspector should be able to tell you the condition and amount of estimated useful life on a roof.

Florida roofing code is more stringent then many areas. I strongly recommend that ALL roof jobs be tear offs. In many areas it is now required anyway.

There are benefits to having a roof tear off;
1) You get to inspect and replace any bad areas of roof sheathing.
2) Your roof will last longer with a tear off....this difference alone will make up for the cost of a tear off.
3) Roof lays and looks better.
4) Less heat trapped in attic.
5) Less weight on roof.

The newer shingles in many cases are better. You can get them with wind ratings, and the better shingles can lower your homeowner insurance costs.

Note that an 1800 sq ft home is not an 18 square roof, due to overhangs and pitch of the roof and garage space, etc.... My Florida home is only about 1400 sq. ft., but it needed 24 sq of roofing. Roofing is measured in squares, which is a 10'x10' area.

I recently had my Florida home re-roofed. I opted for a full tear off and had the entire roof covered with ice/water shield under the shingles. I also upgraded my ridge vents.

I could have done it myself, but was not going to be down there for that long. I can strongly recommend Eustis Roofing. Great family company that has been doing roofs in the area for over 30 years. Very quality work, and they do roofs in The Villages.

Frank

[Mikeod]

Great advice there. Re-roofing over existing shingles is penny-wise pound foolish.

[Sparky-30]

It would behoove you and others to check this out:

Blistering problems with some roofs Owens Corning shingles

http://www.thevha.net/the-villages-v...25&article=567

I know this because my roof is getting replaced on my home built in 2003

While talking with my sales rep during the purchase of my new home the question of how long does it take for the need to replace the roofing shingles came up.His answer was a twenty year shingle in Florida shouldn't be expected to last mor e than ten years..a 30 year shingle 15..I'd like to know if this is true .

[l2ridehd]

Hummmmmmmmmm, Begs another question. There are lots of places where you buy shingles that say "lifetime" as long as you own the home. Does that mean 1/2 life in Florida? Or do they know something about our life expectancy? If I replace my roof with a lifetime warranty, then I will refuse to go and make sure I get my monies worth.

[faithfulfrank]

The heat and sun do take their toll. Adequate ventilation will help extend the life of a roof. I also spray a long term once a year mildewcide / fungicide solution on my roof.

I think the average roof in florida should last between 13-17 years, dependent on weather trees are overhanging them, sun, ventilation, etc.

Overhanging trees also can hurt your roof.

On a side note, most roof vents in Florida are covered with lead. The squirrels like chewing the lead as it sharpens their teeth. This will allow water to get between the vent pipe and the lead shielding, thus causing water intrusion within the interior walls of your home. This could cause mold growth, etc.

One could buy some fancy plastic covers to go over the vents, but I've found that rows of clear silicone around the lead keeps the squirrels from chewing the lead, as they seem to hate the feel of the soft silicone. You should also keep tree limbs away from your roof so squirrels cannot get up there in the first place.

Frank

[diskman]

BUMP, thanks for the response. I have learned a lot on this.

[diskman]

bump

[rubicon]

I had the unfortunate experience of dealing with a roofing manufacturer concerning defective shingles. After two years of back and forth they finally sent over one of their reps who climed no higher than my garage roof camd down and told me I didn't have a proble. He also told me that despite the fact that roofing comapnies sell roofs with warranties of 20, 30 40 years shingles usually last no longer than 15 years and that their demographics tell them that people move every 7 years so they never deal with the warranty. I told the rep that the trial judge would be please to hear those statistics when I sued this major manufacturer. I did sue and I was paid because I played their bluff. all of the aforementioned post offers good solid information including the the info on how many squares needed to cover a home. I will say that I am not enamored with the material TV is uing as subdecking for roofs. I preferred they would have used plywood so the tear off is essentially. finally don't let any roofing company tell you the defect is not a problem. If anything aesthetics are essential to a roof and a loss thereof is a loss. What this all ends up to is the roof manufacturer rep will try and treat you with his/her mushroom theory.