At my brother’s house in CO, he had the roof reshingled, due to hail damage. In the process, several roof vents were removed in favor of a continuous ridge vent. Aside from not cutting back enough space on either side of the ridge board for adequate air flow, the workers merely shingled over the holes where the individual vents had been. The result is a soft spot for a foot to go through if anyone steps on it. I imagine also that summer heat will cause the soft shingles to sag eventually, telegraphing the spots where the holes lie underneath.
He will have the contractor back to fix these things, and they haven’t been paid yet. However, given that the work wasn’t done right in the first place, he shouldn’t trust them to do the repair correctly on their own. He ought to either specify how the fix should be done or at least ask what will be done and make sure that what is proposed is adequate.
So, what is the proper way to do the fix to support the shingles where the holes are in the roof deck? Of course, the right way would have been to cut back to the adjacent rafters and nail in a piece of decking borne by the rafters, then paper and shingle over.
Given that the shingles are on already, I can see two options for doing the fix:
1) Remove the shingles in the affected areas, do the work described above.
2) From inside, cut a piece of sheathing closely matching the shape and size of the hole in the roof deck, plus a larger piece of sheathing to fit between the rafters and support the smaller piece that will plug the hole. I would suggest 3/4″ material for this larger piece, to compensate for not having the added support provided by multiple-rafter spanning. The larger piece can be tacked into place up against the under side of the deck. Then two pieces of 1x or 2x can be nailed into the rafters, up tight against the larger piece of patch material, to provide vertical support.
Opinions?
Edited 6/3/2008 10:16 am ET by DickRussell
Replies
Is it a steep roof? Are you planning to walk on it? It might just be best to leave well enough alone. After all, the same guys who replaced the roof will be the ones fixing it, most likely. This means they will have to go in through your attic access and walk around up there, possibly causing more damage. These do not seem to be the most conscientious people in the first place.
If I were in this position and wanted the holes covered, I would just install some new vents over the holes. It could be done from above and would be less expensive as it would only take minutes. And there would be no mess inside the house. The new vents are easy to properly install. You can't have too much ventilation.
Followup on the roof issue. After talking this am with my brother, he found (from inside the attic) that sheet metal apparently had been nailed over the old vent holes to provide support against a misplaced foot. He didn't see it earlier, because the metal patches went over the roofing felt (ought to have been under). The old vents had been rectangular/square, perhaps 8" or 8x10. Provided enough nails were used on securing the sheet metal patches, that ought to be adequate. I've seen that done.
Communication with the contractor has been good. The guy is making the effort to make things right. The ridge vent will be redone, with a sufficiently wide opening. The roof is trusses. When the sheathing went on, there was apparently around a 3/8" gap at the ridge, small enough to cover with a cap row. When the reroof was done, the gap wasn't cut wider, but that will get fixed.
My brother plans to be onsite when the rework is done. He's a bit miffed that apparent lack of onsite supervision resulted in inadequate results. He'll ultimately get what he paid good money for, but the aggravation was unsettling. How many HOs review the work done and know enough to recognize that something wasn't right?
Well, I guess this issue can be laid to rest.
Edited 6/3/2008 11:34 am ET by DickRussell
In the mid 80's had a roofer bid with #30 felt. When the supplies arrived there were #15 rolls of felt, not the #30. I called and they came out and replaced them with the #30 rolls. When they started a few days later, I was at work.
In 1993, when a hail storm did-in that roof, I wanted to be sure the insurance adjuster added enough to have the #30 put back. He took me around several places on my roof and pointed out that the roofer actually switched out the heavy felt and put down #15 anyway....
The only way I've learned, the hard way, is to not pay the roofer a penny until all the roof is completed and approved....period. No matter what they promise, how much they say they'll be back to fix things, it's the power of the UNPAID dollar that gets it done right...
Bill
sheet metal apparently had been nailed over the old vent holes to provide support against a misplaced foot.
That's an adequate fix.
there was apparently around a 3/8" gap at the ridge, small enough to cover with a cap row. When the reroof was done, the gap wasn't cut wider, but that will get fixed.
Sounds like the shinglers saw the gap, decided it was adequate w/o thinking about it too much and moved on. I'm guessing they would have cut it properly if there'd been no gap at all.
He's a bit miffed that apparent lack of onsite supervision resulted in inadequate results.
That's partly the result of the consumer wanting to pay the least he can. Roofing pay is mostly based on how fast you can do it, not how well. Skip a nail in every other shingle and you gain a half hour every job plus 1000 nails and the wear and tear on your equipment. http://grantlogan.net
But you all knew that. I detailed it extensively in my blog.