painting & lost roof shingles

[sandy]

I've got a couple questions:

After "Charley", (we're on the E. Coast of Fla.) I found a number of pieces of shingles that I imagine came from our roof although I can't really see where from. As we are thinking of selling in the next year, I'm thinking of just having the roof patched rather than getting a new roof which we probably could use. How long can we wait before getting this done? Lots of people have bigger problems than we do so I'd rather wait a month or 2 if it won't cause a lot of damage.

And another question.... I've been planning on painting the exterior of our house. I feel a little wary of venturing up too far on a ladder. We have a single story ranch home made of cbs (Cement Block) with wood gables. I'm thinking of hiring someone to paint the 3 gables and I'll do the rest. I've gotten a couple of quotes and now I'm more confused than ever about conflicting recommendations. I'd planned on renting a pressure washer and one painter said I should NOT use bleach in it. Another said to use it. One painter said the wood gables should be primed first and then painted. Another painter said it was just as good to just give it 2 coats of paint. And when I got quotes for painting the whole house...I got estimates of how much paint it would take (cbs part of house is 1288 sq. ft.; the 3 gables total @ 225 sq. ft.) ranging from 10 to 25 gallons. I was figuring that it might take 7 gallons!

Appreciate your feedback.

Thanks!

SAndy

[SQLit]

Call your insurance agent. Have them send some one out. They might pay to fix the roof, or at the very least they will give you an idea what it will cost.

Painters are like all other trades, there is a ton of ways to get things to look good. Some better than others and some last longer than others. My painter primes first then puts on the finish coat(s). Two coats would probably do the same thing.

[LFR]

You might want to use caution before calling the insurance company. Here in VA (after Isabel) there were quite a few people who were not pleasantly surprised to find out their deductibles were MUCH higher than expected. Read your policy thoroughly. In addition, if you call in an insurance claim (or even an inquiry), there's the possibility that your property will be "flagged". If your roof is missing shingles, it shouldn't be too difficult to see from the ground, especially since it's one story. Ask a neighbor for assistance in making that determination.

We had a few tabs blow off (Isabel) and a neighbor who does roofing made repairs for us for a small fee. Our home is two story so it was a bit more difficult for us to get a good look at our entire roof.

You mentioned thinking of selling...do you know how old the roof is? When the buyer applies for insurance, that is one of the questions the insurance company will ask them. I'm a Realtor in VA and when I'm working with my buyers, I've found that the age and condition of the roof is of major concern to insurance companies. If you think the roof is in need of replacement, you might want to consider talking to a couple of roofing contractors. It would suck to have the deal fall through for something you were aware of but didn't attend to. I've never had an insurance company representative ask me if the trim needs painting. I know a paint job is important to the curb appeal but not nearly as important as a good roof.

Good luck.

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[Bruce]

If shingles are missing you should have the repair work done right away. If you start getting leaks through the roof you could end up with expensive sheetrock and painting repairs.

If the house has mildew you should use bleach to kill it before painting. The best way is to make a mixture of Jomax, bleach, and water. This makes a biodegradable solution which contains a bleach activator and a mildewcide. After applying the mixture, a pressure washer can be used to rinse the house--just make sure that the pressure is low enough not to damage the wood or siding.

Primer is for bare wood; best to use two coats of paint or one coat of Duration by Sherwin Williams--it goes on twice as thick as regular paint. The number of gallons required will depend on how the paint is applied--by airless or brush/roller. Normally you should get between

200-400 sq. ft. per gallon.

Bruce A&B Construction Houston, TX