Roofing Question

My wife got a quote to replace our roof. Since I haven't spoken to the guy yet, I've got question about one thing he quoted:

"Additional cost of $45/sheet for 1/2" plywood."

I have 3/4" tongue & groove under the shingles, not plywood. He didn't look in the attic, so I doubt he knows this.

Can I assume that the easy answer is - When I tell him it's 3/4" tongue & groove he'll just quote me a higher price for 3/4" ply?

Reply to
DerbyDad03
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Yes. What else could happen? For the material price difference it doesn't make sense to futz around with shimming, particularly if he's piecing in.

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Reply to
RicodJour

Why replace the whole roof if all you need is shingles?

Reply to
Blattus Slafaly

That's not a serious question is it?

Reply to
DerbyDad03

Who said anything about replacing the whole roof? A proper roof includes a full tear-off, inspection, and thumping to look for soft spots. Having to replace a few mushy spots (like around chimney where flashing often fails) is quite routine.

-- aem sends...

Reply to
aemeijers

What's interesting - and somewhat disturbing - is that he assumes it is 1/2" without checking.

He just did a neighbor's house the other day and I saw the delivery guy piling up a bunch of 1/2" sheets of ply.

What if I don't know it's 3/4' and he shows up with a bunch of 1/2" ply? Is it safe to assume he'd send a truck for 3/4"? (That's not a question looking for an answer...it's just a curiousity.)

I'm not going to let it be a problem cause every estimate from now on will include 3/4" - and I will be checking with my neighbor to see if the guy checked his house first.

Reply to
DerbyDad03

You can clarify this with your roofer, but on the rare occasions that I have bid roof work, I would say something like "Contractor assumes that a re-deck will not be necessary. If roof needs a complete redeck, an additional charge of $45 per sheet of 1/2" plywood will apply.

Most older (pre-WWII) houses in my area have a layer of cedar shakes at the bottom, and the 3/4" pine sheathing underneath has large gaps in between the boards to allow the cedar to breath. Once the roof is torn off, the entire roof needs to be redecked, and we usually use

7/16" or 1/2" OSB.

JK

Reply to
Big_Jake

It sounds like you're saying that it's all or nothing. We both know that's not true, so didn't you ever bid on a job that might need just a sheet or two? Did you assume (and show up with) 1/2" ply?

For what it's worth, my deck is tight, no gaps...

Reply to
DerbyDad03

You're only wasting your time and setting yourself up for a problem if you don't impart all information you have to everyone you've chosen to bid. There's really no point in either party making assumptions as they rarely work out well.

I've seen engineer friends shoot themselves in the foot by overdoing it and handing out six page sets of specifications for a simple reroof, but there's a happy medium and you just have ot hit the high points to keep the bids comparable.

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Reply to
RicodJour

He just did a neighbor's house the other day and I saw the delivery guy piling up a bunch of 1/2" sheets of ply.

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Can't say what he'd do. If reputable,he'd just put the right material in place. In the case of your neighbor, it is possible he knew the entire deck needed replacing and was going to use 1/2" all the way or was putting the

1/2" atop the t & g. We can make lots of assumptions, but you'd have to call him to find out for sure.

Last summer I was getting bids on re-roofing an industrial building. One of the quotes came back with the same wording, it was $xx per sheet for plywood replacement. They guy was on up the roof and knew it was steel decking. Got three bids and went with the highest bidder and saved money.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

I'm assuming this is a just general informationand not directed at me.

I already said that everyone will know it's 3/4". The last thing I'll do is leave things as important as that to an assumption.

My wife was just doing me a favor since the guy was in the neighborhood, Had I known she was being such an efficient wife, I'd have let her know about all the things I think the contractor needs to know before asking for a bid. The decking is not the only thing that I want discussed.

But thanks anyway!

Reply to
DerbyDad03

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As far as quoting plywood for a steel roof, I could see it happening. On my quote, the wording about the 1/2" ply is a standard typed clause, like the site cleanup, 30 lb felt, etc. There's lots of specific stuff handwritten, but the ply quote is standard and noted with "as needed".

I wonder if it was the same case with your building - a standard "as needed' clause which obviously wouldn't be needed.

On the other hand, if the guy wrote (or typed) it in specifically for your job - then that's another story!

Reply to
DerbyDad03

You plural.

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Reply to
RicodJour

I wonder if it was the same case with your building - a standard "as needed' clause which obviously wouldn't be needed.

On the other hand, if the guy wrote (or typed) it in specifically for your job - then that's another story!

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I'm pretty sure it was just a standard clause, but he did not address the real issue, replacing some of the steel deck. If they don't pay attention to details in the bid, will they pay attention to the details in the roof? I knew that some deck would have to be replaced.

The company that did the job also did two other roof sections a couple of years ago. Weismann Roofing is a top notch outfit with fair prices and professional work. They have the equipment and experienced people to do the big jobs. Since this section (33,000 sq ft) was done we had them do the office roof (10,000 ft shingled)

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

DerbyDad03 wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@d45g2000hsc.googlegroups.com:

I've done roofing only on a personal basis and the last one was qute a doozie. But anyway, in my limited exposure as to what's out there I've never seen/heard of 3/4 t&g for roof decking. Kinda heavy duty no? That doozie I mentioned was way north in the northeast, 50mi from Canada. I think it was just 5/8" at most. Any regular sheathing roofs I've done always had gaps. Gaps for expansion or it buckles. In fact some of the sheets on that one did not have gaps and they buckled on many. Fixrd that and ran a saw blade down all the seams to prevent buckling.

Reply to
Red Green

snipped-for-privacy@d45g2000hsc.googlegroups.com:

My whole house is 3/4" t&g. Subfloors and roof decking is 6 inch wide material, exterior wall sheathing is 10" wide.

Interior walls are also 3/4" thick - 3/8 plaster over 3/8" x 8" t&g brown-paper covered gypsum-like material. Seriously, it's t&g gypsum board.

1956 colonial in western NY. Just a tad over-built.
Reply to
DerbyDad03

DerbyDad03 wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@l42g2000hsc.googlegroups.com:

Thing is almost as old as me. I'm starting to get some rot too :-(

Reply to
Red Green

Since I wouldn't know how much I might need, I would wait 'til I started the tear off before making the call on that sort of thing. I would hate to show up with several sheets of plywood that I might not need to use, or worse yet, guess at the thickness, but I am guessing that things vary quite a bit regionally. I see mostly 3/4" as sheathing, and sometimes thicker on really old (turn of the century) buildings.

JK

Reply to
Big_Jake

Well why in hell does he need half inch plywood to shingle a roof?

Reply to
Blattus Slafaly

"Blattus Slafaly 0/00 ? ? ?" wrote in message

He's going to stand on while shingling so he does not get the decking dirty from his work boots

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

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