# Roof Repair : To replace all plywood or part of it on the roof?



## ash138 (Apr 5, 2018)

I am a newbie here and would appreciate any help with my roof related question.

During a recent storm here in New England , many shingles from the rear roof came off . We got this house about 1.5 years back and the rear roof was found to be 4-5 years old and in new condition so it's a surprise . A local professional (who we used to replace the front roof and did a great job replacing it when we first moved in to the house ) has recommended that we replace all the plywood since he found several areas to be soft and the place where the shingles came off is delaminated and falling apart. His estimate is as follows
1) Remove all roofing
2) Renail loose decking
3)magnetically rake area each day
4)Counter Flash Chimney
5)Replace soil pipe flanges around pipes
6) install ridge vent on all ridge lines where needed
7)clean gutters and down spouts
8) renail all playwood of entire roof
9)6ft of CertainTeed ice and water shield 
10) grace high performance roofing underlayment
11) 8 inch white aluminium drip edge

Another guy came in and took a look and this contractor we have never used before but seems to have good reviews .. he said that he would only replace 5-7 plywood sheets and not the entire 18-20 that the first guy wants to ..his estimate is as follows
1) Strip existing roof
2) Renail boards where needed
3)Replace plywood 5 sheets in estimate rest at $40/sheet if needed
4)Install ice and water shield 3ft from gutter line
5)Install 50 year synthetic Rhino waterproofing to remaining roof
6)Install 5 inch white drip edge
7) new vent pipe flashings 
Remove all material

He is a little cheaper by 700-800 dollars .. our house has been a bundle of problems and the previous owners always used cheap products so on the one hand I want to go with the guy who has already done solid work (first estimate) but I also don't want to throw away $800 if I do not need to because it can used on other projects..

any feedback based on info I provided will be greatly appreciated ..thanks in advance


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## Advanced roofing (Mar 30, 2019)

Only replace the wood that needs it and you will only know that once the shingles come off. Get a sq ft price for wood replacement from both guys and go from there. No one knows accurately till the shingles are off. And only replace what needs replacing.

Justin fall
Http://advanced-roofing.ca


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## skintscot (May 23, 2019)

Yeah, this is a professional space - best get someone out to look at it properly


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## KJB420 (Jul 29, 2017)

Honestly, I'm speaking from experience with four different roofing companies that I've worked for, some companies I would advise you to just replace the rotted sheets of OSB commonly used in sheathing your roof deck. Some companies would tell you just to go ahead and replace all of it so all the sheets are new all at the same time. When I worked for continuous gutter and Roofing Co LLC and partner Town & country roofing and siding and windows, The general business model in dealing with this situation was one of a "better-safe-than-sorry" perspective. And then after that when I worked for Lynch construction LLC they operated under a more budget and fiscal conscious business model. So they're ideal was not even just to necessarily replace sheets that were say 40% or over rotted. Instead their idea was just to cut out the rotted parts between rafters. 

The point is is it really is based on what your budget is and the competency of each contractor. You just have to do your research. It really is not that difficult. And yes the other people here are absolutely right, you're really not going to know exactly how much of the sheathing on your roof deck is no good until you strip the roofing materials off the top of it. The way I look at it is: 50% rotten or more (either for each board or roof deck as a whole) I would replace it. Another thing to look at when considering which contractor to go with is do they stock the material themselves has some off-site locations where they have immediate access to your door can bring it to the site in the morning when they begin work, or are they ordering from material distributor and they're going to have to wait on it won't charge you an extra charge for having to order through material distributor. 

Desserts things to weigh carefully when deciding on which roofing contractor to go with. As a professional myself who has done Roofing on and off for damn near five and a half years now, you have to be careful so that you don't choose one that sounds great on paper or in his estimate(s) (AKA "bid"), but when it comes to getting the actual work then you wind up with big gaps between where the sheathing is nailed to the rafters or improperly slashed areas where the deck meets the wall instead Dormer or improperly installed drip edge or ridge cap. Has a lot of people can talk the talk. It's easy to learn lingo store skilled trades you can download construction dictionary online. And then Bob's your uncle there you go you can become a salesman is fly-by-night makes money off of people's misery and damage to their place. it's not so easy to actually do the work itself unless you really know what you were doing.


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