We bought our first house last summer, and the inspector recommended we get yearly maintenance on the shake roof. Our house is a cape cod style with a gabled roof. We live in Kansas City, so we get snow, rain, plus tons of heat in the summer. This spring I had two roofers come over to give me an estimate for yearly maintenance, and both said the roof needs to be replaced because of the number of burn outs in the shingles. What type of shingle is the best for longevity, wear, lack of problems, etc? How much more expensive is a 50 year roof vs a 30 year roof? Are those shaped shingles much more expensive than traditional plain shingles?

Also, what thickness of plywood/particle board should be used underneath? Which should be used–plywood or particle board?

And finally, what should we be looking for when getting a bid–should the tear-down come with the price of the roof? What things should we look for in a roofing company? What type of warranty is typical for a re-roof?

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Christmas Eve we had unseasonably warm weather and an increasingly bad leak began in the ceiling in our bedroom. I removed all excess snow from the roof that was above the bedroom where the leak is (that part of the house has a flat asphalt roof, that has become so damaged and sunken that the water has nowhere to go but down into my ceiling). We had to remove all our belongings from our bedroom and use buckets and pots to catch all the water. We are just today actually able to move back into our own bedroom (9 days later).
We found out from the neighbors upstairs that the previous tenant had identical problems previous to us and the landlords’ repairs consisted only of replacing the rotted dry wall that is our ceiling. The water that was coming from the ceiling was full of black chunks that I assume is rotten building material, very nasty. I have a mold allergy and worried about all the moisture in the drywall that I am breathing in., especially since it has been collecting water for over a year.

We called him while this was all happening (Wednesday) we got no answer and the call wasn’t returned until that Saturday. We have no emergency maintenance man to call and when I finally was able to ask him what we need to do in the future about emergencies like these he condescendingly replied that “if it’s a fire call the fire department and if you have a flood call the city”.

In his defense, he sent by a cleaner for our carpet in that room only. He had stopped by and put a huge blue tarp over the roof saying that there isn’t much he can do to the roof until the weather breaks. We are located in Michigan.

Am i being unreasonable to want these repairs made now/ soon? We pay an above average rent for our house because the layout is exactly what we were looking for. I feel that our health may be put at risk.

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wood rot has deteriated the ends (6 to 18 inches) of several rafter ends where it meets the fascia. There is no visible signs of leaking water into the interior of the house. The home is twenty years old. I am a full-time college student so I can not afford a costly repair. Could you suggest how to repair the damage or what I can do to temporarily (2-3 years) fix the roof until I finish college. I live near Seattle, WA.

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My roof has hard water stains, from a leaky swamp cooler. I fixed the cooler problem but now I have hard water stains on my roof. I am not sure whether to paint them or try to clean the hard water stains. I have a power washer but I am afraid it will damage the roof shingles. If I go with the paint what type should I use? Would CLR work better? any suggestions?thanx in advance!

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Hi there, we live in a ground floor flat (we own it) and the roof has started leaking in our bathroom. We are assuming that the flat above us’ toilet has overflowed. There’s nobody in and their landlord isn’t answering their phone. Is there anyway we can stop the leak without access to their flat? Also, will the landlord be liable for the repairs or will we have to claim on our insurance?

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