Roofing removal
The underside of the sofit would have revealed rotted wood and the only way you can replace this sofit is from the top, removing all roofing layers.
So your kind of wondering if the existing roof is starting to appear that its life expectancy of preserving your home is about over!
There are many factors that dictate whether or not you can elect to “roof over” the existing top layer or have to have a complete roofing removal.
Depending on the county you are in, some areas code allows (1) one roof to be nailed right over the top of the existing layer of roofing. The big question about roofing over an existing roof has a few requirements that this old roof must meet.
- The existing (1) layer only, is “smooth enough” (not all bumpy) and not all crumbly
- There is not missing parts of existing roofing (blow offs)
- The pitch of the roof is steep enough to allow water to run off easily and that this second layer will not impede any flow of water.
- That snow or ice dam back up will not be a factor of too much added weight
- The current eave overhang is not compromised (showing weakness by sagging downward
- The underside soffit area does not show previous or current water that has decomposed the wood
- There is no sign of decay of soffit wood around the chimney that extends up along the outside wall and through the roof.
You could have never seen this rusted through chimney cricket flashing unless you removed all layers of roofing.
The list certainly could go on but my point here is that it is far best for all roofing to be removed even if there is only one layer. Start over, do it right!
Here are Spokane’s IRC and IBC building codes about roofing layers.
“If you “roof over” existing roofing material, you cannot install new rubber ice and water guard! This is for ice dam water back up protection to keep water from getting into your home in the winter. It is so important!”
We are seeing this practice by roofing manufacturers with regards to roofing removal more and more; Certain roofing manufactures will not warrant their roofing product unless it is applied over a solid wood deck.
HERE’S A TIP – No matter what, every roofing job MUST have a permit taken out and EVERY roof must be inspected by the city/county inspector before any roofing is applied to determine if you can “roof over.” There are very few exceptions in small towns that don’t offer inspections, but do what is best for your home.
It is always the best practice to have any roofing removed down to the sheeting, this way we can access and address any areas of water damage to sheeting, valley problems, hidden leaks behind chimneys, skylight-curb problems, step flashing at the sidewalls, flashing at end-walls, ice dam potential problems, gaps at eave edges, look for delaminated plywood, and the list could go on.
ONE LAST IMPORTANT thing to realize is that if you layer roofing over roofing without roofing removal, you are adding a substantial amount of weight with each layer of roofing. For example, take a 2000 square foot roof, (that’s about a 1500 square foot home with a standard 5/12 pitch and say a 1 foot eave overhang.) To install a typical roofing shingle on top of the wood roofing deck, you would be adding (on the light side) about 5,000 additional pounds of weight on your rafters…Now, that’s in addition to the layer underneath this layer. And maybe there is another layer under that layer NOW ADD SNOW!!!
Again, the best way is the roofing removal of all roofing first. Then we can install a proper ice and water rubber membrane at the eave edges going up the roof pitch at least 2 feet up past the interior wall line. New type 30 felt underlayment, new venting and check to see if you have enough. There are many great reasons to start fresh with all roofing removal done as I have pointed out. Please call us 509-535-1566 or use our contact form to have one of our roofing professionals contact you about your roofing removal needs.
