Our quick we’re-getting-a-new-roof post on Thursday elicited so many questions that even we were surprised. So we’re back with the info for you along with the before, during, and after pics. Hold on to your hats. It’s about to get exciting. But first, here’s our roof before:
You can see when you get up close that it’s one of those flat grid-like grungy twenty year roofs without any sort of dimension or crispness. And did we mention it was on its last legs (as in about to leak at any moment)?
And here’s our brandspankingnew roof (pardon the lighting inconsistency, we wish we could control the sun):
We were especially proud that we negotiated a great price but also scored free hauling of a bunch of demolition junk and old rotten wood that we had piled up in our garage (we sweetly asked while they were tossing the old roof into their dumpster if we could add our stuff to the pile). So there’s a tip for ya: think about killing a few other birds with the ol’ hiring-someone-to-do-something stone when you can (we looked into hiring a man with a van but got gunshy about the $100-300 estimates- so we happily kept that money in our wallets and came up with this odd-but-accommodatable request). Of course we volunteered to haul it all in there ourselves, so here’s John up on a ladder after tossing about twenty garbage bags worth of stuff inside:
We also negotiated a nice $15 price tag for each of the two low profile vents that they installed on the roof instead of our old metal whirly-gigs that stuck out so high from the backside of our roof that they were visible from the front (see ’em peeking up over the roof line in our second before shot?). Here they are all installed and a lot more current and modern looking (it was a total of just 30 beans for this entire upgrade). We also considered adding a roofline ridge vent as well (for $325 extra, as noted by SWS Roofing), but we talked to a few friends and neighbors who had them done and actually never saw any difference in air flow. Plus our house has side vents and awning vents along with these two new top vents, so our attic is actually really nicely ventilated as it is.
And just because you know we love a progress shot, here are the guys hard at work on the top of our house in 90 degree weather. They rocked it out up there (while Clara and John did this inside).
But on to the questions that you guys shot our way last Thursday:
How did we save for it? For the past 24+ months we’ve been saving because we knew this day was coming. Our roof wasn’t leaking yet but everyone else in the neighborhood had actually reroofed already, and our inspector said we had about 3-5 years left on ours when we moved in back in 2007. We also learned that our sunroom already had a few compromised areas that were causing water to collect in the glass bulb cover on our ceiling fan (water + electrical = yowza) so it was definitely time to get ‘er done. Thankfully we saved enough to finally pull the trigger before stormy hurricane and acorn-pelting season hits in full force (which we’re sure would have done the old roof in within the next few months).
Did we get a deal for being Young House Love? Someone actually commented to say “I hope this company gave you a discount because they will receive a lot of leads from your blog. Mr. Sanders (your floor guy) said 50% of his business comes from you website.” That was definitely news to us! For those who don’t recognize his ironic name, Mr. Sanders is the guy we hired to sand and stain our floors, and we loved him so we’re happy to endorse his work on our blog and we’re happy to hear that he gets work thanks to our recommendation- nobody deserves more praise! He really did amazing work. So that’s what’s supposed to happen when people do a great job.
But to answer the question about if we got any special treatment or snagged a discounted rate because of our blog the answer is: nope. Nada. We actually were offered a free roof from two companies but we sweetly declined. We never mention our blog when we get estimates from local businesses, we just call a bunch of people in the phone book (and those who come recommended by friends and family members) and try to find the best people for the job (at the right price of course). It just feels odd to promise people “good press” or “lots of referrals” so we prefer to pay people for their work as any other homeowner would. In fact everyone who works on our house has no idea who we are and we like it that way. It makes it easy to endorse their work if they do a good job because we’re confident that they’re like that to everyone (and aren’t just being especially thorough or sweet to us since they want a good internet review). And we really liked who we found for this job. Read on for more deets.
Why we didn’t do it ourselves? We definitely like to take on our share of DIY projects. Especially the ones that sound like fun (like gutting a bathroom or running around on the roof). But after some heavy thought we came to the conclusion that it wasn’t something that we could tackle this time (there’s always next time though…). Basically, we knew our roof had such little time left before it started leaking and potentially damaging our house and our stuff, so we decided to leave this undertaking up to the pros. And it’s a good thing we did because the flat roof that we have over our sunroom stumped a few professionals that we had over for estimates (so it definitely reinforced the conclusion that we would be biting off more than we could chew this time). The good news is that we’d been saving for quite a long time, and we always believe in getting a ton of estimates to find the best people for the job (at the best price). Although one estimate came in at nearly 10K, the one we went with was around half of that price, and we loved that we could rely on a fully insured family owned local business who had been in the roofing game for nearly 60 years.
What kind of roof did you end up with? We went with a 30 year dimensional roof (made up of GAF shingles) to add some extra definition and protection to the house (the previous roof that we were replacing was a 20 year one). Many roofing experts that we talked to said that although you could save around a thousand dollars going with a 20 year flat roof, the dimensional ones were a lot more in demand, so they’re great for resale. And to get ten more years out of a roof is definitely less wasteful and less work to deal with in the future – so it seemed like the smartest choice. When it came to the color, we went with “Pewter Gray” since we had seen other similarly toned brick homes with that shingle color and we liked the look. So we didn’t have any nerves about picking a color since we just drove around to find homes that we liked and then modeled our decision after our favorite ones.
Why not a white roof (or lighter more reflective color) for the eco benefits? We actually did a lot of research about light colored energy efficient roofs (lighter tones can reflect heat and light instead of absorbing it, which makes for a cooler house) but every expert we spoke to said that our property was far too wooded/shaded for the roof color to make any detectable difference. They also pointed out that in heavily wooded lots like ours, lighter roofs more easily show stains and discoloration which pops up thanks to all those trees dropping things on the roof. And because darker roofs show less staining/discoloration, that choice can actually extend the life of the roof and keep it looking better even longer (which makes for less waste and a longer life, so that seemed to be the more eco-conscious decision in our case).
Why not solar panels? Same reason as above. Unfortunately our property is just too shaded to get any sort of energy saving benefits from solar panels. Sniffle.
Why not metal or slate? We got more than a few quotes for metal and slate roofs, since they charm us to no end (seriously, I fantasize about them). But not only did they come in at two to ten times more (!) than shingles, they would also have priced our house out of the neighborhood. Since everyone else has shingle roofs in our area, we knew we wouldn’t ever recoup the cost of a metal or slate roof since it’s not a standard that has been set in our area. So it would have been amazingly gorgeous, but it was sadly out of our budget and above our neighborhood’s value.
So there you have it. A new roof and a ton of a’s to your q’s. Anyone else have any roofing going on at their house? Was anyone brave enough to DIY their own? Are you proud that I resisted the urge to work any raise the roof puns into this post? John is.
Miranda says
Oy vey. We’re next. The roof of our 63-year-old fixer looks like your before pics. I think we’re going to give it a go on our own though! My husband has roofing experience and I’ll know we’ll save a bundle.
Julie says
I love those vents. I have never seen those before!
We have a metal roof and love it. But we live in the mountains of western Maine so a metal roof means we don’t have to shovel our roof at all. :)
Elizabeth says
Luckily for me my roof is practically impossible to see, with the direction of my house and the proximity of my neighbors I should be able to go for the most economical and energy efficient option regardless of asthetics when the time comes (which hopefully won’t be for at least another ten years!). I seriously have to make an effort to see it and can’t even remember what color it is! LOL
Anna says
Looks fabulous!! I really like those low-profile vents, and the idea to have them haul all your extra junk away was great. I don’t know why things like that NEVER occur to me.
I also really have to applaud you not using your “celebrity” status (in blog land!) to get deals or free roofs :) Very commendable.
Lastly (’cause I’m a talker) I’m wondering what is appealing to you in a metal roof? The house we bought last year had a brand new metal roof on it, and I was kind of bummed about it because all the houses around here have shake shingles which I LOVE. And I had never actually even heard of a metal roof. I like it fine now, it’s actually mostly hidden by all our trees… but I was surprised to see that you really like them. I feel so naive!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Anna,
It’s totally a personal preference thing but we love the charming look of a metal roof- especially on cute craftsman bungalows and stately four squares. We also love that they’re known as forever roofs since they last so long! You’re lucky to inherit one in our eyes!
xo,
s
Jen says
I have a question about how you all save up simultaneously for things like cars and bathrooms and roofs. Do you dump all your money into that separate account and designate it somehow? Do you have a separate account for each project? I’m having trouble figuring out how to deal with this as I also have a few large items to save for at once. It would be nice to hear from people who are successful at doing so. Thank you!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Jen,
We’re by no means experts on this whole saving thing, but what works for us is to have one high yield savings account that’s separate from our regular bank checking and savings account, and that’s where we put any and all of the money that we save each month. From making our own lunches and rarely eating out to doing things like our own DIY and giving each other haircuts we’re shamelessly cheap and proud of it- which definitely leaves more loot to divert to that separate savings account (you can check out a ton of our save-moolah posts on our Projects page under the Money Saving Tips category). Since we always have a mental priority list in our heads, we pretty much know the order that we would like to get things done (and around how much well need for projects like our bathroom reno or our roof). So we save, take money out for priority number one as it comes along, keep saving, take money out for priority number two, keep saving, etc. It’s kind of cyclical and it definitely helps to space expensive things out and just keep saving, even if you’re saving for more than one thing at a time! It also helps to stand in line with things you’re about to buy at the store and think “are these _______’s more necessary than the new roof/bathroom reno/car we need” which can really curb unnecessary spending.
xo,
s
chelsea says
looks great! just curious…what happened to that black lattice like object you had on the outside of the house?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Chelsea,
Sadly that thing broke a few weeks back- we have to fix it and rehang it!
xo,
s
Sharon L says
You must be so relieved that it is done and behind you! We are also saving for our roof as we are on year 28 of a 30 yr roof and it is beginning to look um, well, worn out.
Handy Man, Crafty Woman says
Looks awesome! What a great investment. My hubby is quite the handyman, he can fix anything & Everything, including a roof, but we still paid roofers to do the work when we needed to get that done.
Basically, it’s too much work for 1 person, the roof would have been exposed to elements for too long, etc. It’s just faster for others to do it, this is too difficult to do just on weekends! Plus, our houses have had 2nd stories, and I didn’t particularly like the idea of hubby being up that high (and he’s not fond of heights!) It pained him to pay other people to do it, but it was just easier & faster that way. Plus, we’ve always had PLENTY of other projects to do!
Jen says
Thank you so much for the detailed answer! It really helps to hear what works for you guys. You are so motivating for those of us who want to be fiscally responsible renovators!
Marisa Fedele says
Dan and I got our roof replaced over the summer and I think we went with the exact same roof you did. Hurray for Pewter Gray! (Unfortunately, during the process our roofing guys accidentally stepped through a piece of rotten plywood and put a hole in our living room ceiling — luckily they fixed it immediately at no cost and now you can’t even see the hole!)
debra says
Just wondering if you also knew that asking your contractor to tell you what materials you will need and offering to get them yourself can save you hundreds of dollars. Not only do they not mark up the supplies in that case but you are not paying them 50.00 an hour to do your shopping. We did an entire 200 year old farmhouse being our own general contractors, using 10% coupons from Lowe’s and the internet. We estimate we saved 20% on the 100,000.00 project.
YoungHouseLove says
So smart Debra! Thanks so much for sharing that tip! We had no idea- and the savings that you accomplished is seriously amazing!
xo,
s
kathy says
I have trouble with saving too. I ended up with two savings accounts, one in my name only one in me and my husbands name. I split my savings money in half between them. One is for short term purchases, one is for long term.
anna see says
Great job! I love your new roof. I’m getting a new one on Friday. Eeek. Nervous and excited…
DP says
Love the roof! I find sometimes you need to figure out the time you would spend on a project minus the money you could be making with that time.
To save money I have some of my paycheck direct deposited into my saving account. Most of it goes to checking, a percent goes to my 401K and the rest goes to savings. This way I’m never tempted to spend it from my checking account. We were able to save up and buy new (but small) car with cash this way. There’s some great blogs on saving money also. I read this one, http://www.thesimpledollar.com/
Matty B. says
Very nice! Just to debate your point about solar power, Germany gets relatively little sunlight but it’s one the world’s great solar nations http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_power_in_Germany
Your blog is a nice, new addition to my day!
Robin says
Good choice on the shingles! We did extensive research and came to the conclusion of using the same shingles just in a different color (slate). As part of our contract to buy the house we had the seller pay to put on a new roof (though we tried to convince her to give us $ to DIY). But we DIYed our shed’s 950sf roof. It really isn’t hard with the simple ranch style (no valleys) but it is back breaking work. As I noted in this post it’s not for the faint of heart:
http://threeacres.wordpress.com/2008/06/10/diy-roofing-not-for-the-faint-of-heart/
I do have to disagree with the ridge vent comment. As a mechanical engineer who knows how to do computational fluid dynamics models (aka. how different temperature air moves through a space) I have to say that ridge venting is by far the best and especially important for ranch styles because of the expansive roof length. We had a ridge vent put in and saw a noticeable different in temperature when we re-insulated the attic. But having side vents isn’t necessarily bad just not as good. You know what I mean?
I also wanted to ask if you had ice/rain shield installed under the singles? The lack of ice/rain shield and poor attic insulation was the reason our 11 year old roof was 80% shot. In only 11 years there was so much ice damning that we had tons of nail pops and water stains in every room!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Robin,
We actually asked all of the people who gave us estimates about an ice/rain shield and across the board they said they didn’t recommend it for our climate/house. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Jill says
This has nothing to do with your roof post (which looks great by the way!), but saw this posted on Facebook today and did a double take!
Kinda reminded me of the two of you! Hopefully, in all of its quirkiness, you both take that as a compliment and get a laugh out of it!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Jill,
Too funny! We love it.
xo,
s
alejandragigi says
Good job!
Deb says
The roof looks great – we have started saving for one ourselves – not a do-it-yourself project in our house either!
Genie says
Looks great and definitely adds a peace of mind. I needed a new roof, got some estimates, and only one potential roofer said, “You have hail damage! Have you talked to your insurance?” Lo and behold, I did indeed have hail damage and got a virtual free roof (just paid the deductible). I told neighbors, too, and we all have nice new roofs. Something to keep in mind for anyone out there who is thinking of getting a new roof: invite the insurance assessor by to look for nature’s damage before you contract with anyone!
YoungHouseLove says
Great tip Genie! That’s definitely an amazing outcome.
xo,
s
Wendy says
Love your writing, totally agree with the first comment! We too are shopping for a new roof and appreciate all your insights with this and everything else – keep ’em coming!
And have a nice day :)
lee says
FYI…many people do not know that insurance companies will replace your roof FOR FREE if your roof is damaged by hail.
There is usually a 2 year window of time from the last date of hail to report to the insurance company and have it inspected and re roofed. So keep a visible record of all hail Storms.
If you live in an area like ours we’ve had many hail storms over the years. Hail damages a roof by knocking off those tiny colored bits and it leaves distinctive marks on the shingles.
We were able to get a brand new roof with certainteed 30 years shingles for FREE. They replaced our 17 year old roof for FREE. It was unbelievable.
A roofer told us this and there are roofers out there who will absorb your deductible for you. They meet with the insruance adjustor, go up on the roof. The roofer sends the invoice to insurance company.
The insurance issues 1/2 of the invoice amount. The roofer commence work and when it is complete, you let the insurance company know and they release the remaining 1/2 payment to the roofer.
The invoice on our roof was just over $8,000. We didn’t have to pay a penny not even the $1000 deductible b/c the roofer absorbed it.
When we first were approached by a roofer we thought it was a scam..then we got an email from our realtor who had just been thru the experience herself.
We were thrilled b/c we would never have been able to get it done b/c we didn’t have 2 grand much less 8 grand in savings.
lee says
i totally forgot! I’m 58 yo and having been reading your site for months…love the contemporary no fuss style and step by step instructions.
I’ve been there done that the traditional frou frou details dust collectors that ornate ritzy stuff. And I am ready to try a more contemporary look…LESS IS MORE, especially going into my older age it will cut out all that time involved in dusting THINGS.
As a preparation for getting our home ready to sale to downsize, have been going thru the declutter process for 3 years now. Amazing how much JUNK we hang on to.
My sis is an experienced Spring and fall cleaner she goes thru every drawer and closet every spring and fall..it takes her about 2 weeks. That’s a great idea that keeps a home perpetually organized.
Keep up the great work!
Emily Stearley says
Are you thinking of moving? Lots of resale value talk in this post!
YoungHouseLove says
Never say never…
xo,
s
Sally says
I just had my roof re-done with the same material!
I hear you on the high price of slate…my roof previously had its original slate and the slates had reached the end of their life. (In my case this was 60 years, but others last longer.) About a third of my neighbors had replaced their roofs with asphalt shingles. I couldn’t justify paying 5-10 times more for a roof that would last only twice as long. I love slate, but it was time to say goodbye.
Dan says
I got the joy of showing Mr. Sander’s your blog. It was actually pretty funny to see. He had no idea that you had taken pictures while he was away and there was a little WTF period, hilarious. He was very proud of his work and called his wife immediately. He had me send him the link to your blog. I recommended he build his own website, get YHL to have a hyperlink directing people to his phone number, under the floor refinishing section. The reason I say this is…he is a hard man to find on the world wide web. To date, he has not converted to the internet. He is still using the Richmond Times Dispatch as his means of advertising. Silly newspapers. I offered a little labor swap. I build you a website and you sand my floors. He didn’t go for that, cash is King in this economy. Congrats on your new roof and thanks for the pre-screened, YHL approved contractors!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Dan,
No way- that’s awesome! We always wonder if people who do things in our house even know that we’re singing their praises. And it’s so cute that he called his wife. I met her too back when he did our floors and she was so sweet. Thanks for passing that story along. We’re grinning like fools over here.
xo,
s
Mike and McGee says
That’s great that you had plenty of time to save for it. We ended up having to replace ours sooner than expected thanks to storm and giant hail. :( Luckily our homeowners insurance covered all but the deductible. Every time it storms though, I pray “Please don’t hail” over and over again because we’ve known families who’ve replaced a roof and then had to replace it just a few years later. Darn Texas weather.
Mel says
Interesting that you are talking about pricing the house out of the neighbourhood – I thought this was your ‘forever home’. Are you now thinking about selling at some point?
YoungHouseLove says
You never know. We do love a project!
xo,
s
Jim says
I’m interested to know what you guys are going to do after you guys run out of things to do on you house. Great blog by the way.
YoungHouseLove says
Well, we just got a new house so there are a lot more adventures ahead of us I’m sure!
xo,
s
Jessica Greene says
Hi! Congrats on your new home! I have been meaning to ask you this for a while, hopefully you will see this :) My husband and I live in the West End of Richmond and have been getting quotes ona roof. We have had 3 quotes so far, one of them being from Deshazo and Sons (thanks to you all). The quote from them came in far lower than the one we received from the other two companies. Based off of your post, i was sold before we even had them come out, but i’ve been taught to worry if the quote comes in way lower than everyone else. Thoughts on this? Any advice is much appreciated since I know you all put a lot of research and time into the roofing process.
Thank you!
YoungHouseLove says
Sometimes you should worry if something comes in really low, but if the company is lisenced and ensured and a member of the Better Business Bureau that’s some peace of mind. Sometimes great companies are cheapest because they get lots of jobs and don’t need to make such a profit from each one (which means less mark-up). Deshazo uses standard GAF shingles and they’re warrantied so I think it’s a safe company to go with since it’s not like they’re cutting costs with cheaper materials. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Lisa says
Great post! We are also diy-ers but also decided to go with a professional for this particular project (we found a great charlotte roof repair company). I hope our roof looks as great as yours does!
PS I just found your blog and LOVE it! I can already tell i’m going to get so much inspiration from you guys! Keep up the great work!
Rebecca says
I received four quotes from reputable companies and Deshazo and Sons came a full 30%, or $3,000 lower than their competitors. I was extremely happy with their work. Thanks for the recommendation!
YoungHouseLove says
Wahooo! That’s awesome. We were so happy with them too.
xo,
s
Julia says
Hello YHL-ers! Please excuse the post on an over-a-year-old post but your blog is like a house reference guide. We are looking at roof replacement and we have a section of roof that is not flat but has a VERY gentle grade. I believe the sunroom in your old house had a flat roof. What did you roof it with when you re-roofed? We have several estimates and some encourage a rubber roof on the flatter section (which I have heard can be hot) and other roofers encourage a shingle on that section.
For the rest of the roof we are thinking about the 30 year architectural shingle but that darn flat-ish roof has us thrown.
Thanks so much!
YoungHouseLove says
We actually didn’t reroof that part of the house since it was in great shape. It was just a rubber liner! Hope it helps.
xo,
s
Jennifer says
I’m going to be getting a new roof soon…I was wondering if you could briefly tell me how you guys went about “negotiating” for the roof price? Did the roofer seem at all offended by the idea of negotiating? We’ve gotten a bunch of estimates, but I’d still like to try negotiating with the company we’ve chosen. Any advice is appreciated!
YoungHouseLove says
I just have one key sentence: is that your best price? Then you have to fight the urge to keep talking. Just say that and wait for them to respond. Sometimes it can add up to them knocking around 10-15% off! Hope it helps.
xo
s (& the fam)
Jennifer says
Definitely! Thank you SO much! Perfect.
Jennifer says
Did what you said — saved $360!
YoungHouseLove says
Wahoooo! Isn’t that amazing. So glad. I’m giddy for you.
xo
s
Jewels L. says
The roof looks really great. That’s too bad you weren’t able to get solar panels because of all the shade you get. But at least you were able to get a really nice roof and were able to save money on it.