Roofing question. Felt paper under shingles?

[ctom87]

Thought I’d go to the GS for help. To make a long story short, mother-in-law is looking at a home purchase. Inspector came out and said that the roof’s felt paper is shorter than the shingles on the front and back of the home and that the roof is prone to water damage because of this. I imagine (but can’t confirm) at the most, it’s short about a foot. More realistically, I believe 6” or so.

We’ve scheduled a couple of roofers to come out and tell us how much it would be to fix. The first guy came out and said that you’d have to do an entire new roof because you have to take shingles up to fix.
If this is limited to just the first row, maybe two rows of shingles, can’t you just lift the shingles up, staple a new row of felt paper down with the old felt on top of it?

Seems like an easy job that I could do.

[sideways]

How old is the roof?


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[ctom87]

12-14 years.

[sideways]

Should be an easy fix. But if it’s not leaking it shouldn’t be a problem. Inspection guys must report all findings to cover themselves.


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[jds247]

Shingles keep the roof dry .. how is he seeing a foot under the shingles ?

[doright]

On a roof that old the shingles should have bonded to the ones they overlapped below them. If he was able to lift enough shingles to see that far under them then they weren't installed right to start with. As far as just adding felt paper yourself it can be done but you cant just lay paper on top of the old. It has to go under the old and you would need to be careful pulling up the old shingles so as not to tear them or break them if they have become brittle. Without seeing it I would agree with the first roofer. If she has not bought the house yet have them deduct the cost of a new roof and call it done.

[Stetsonoverton]

Felt goes under the drip edge on rakes and over drip edge on eaves you can extend the felt pretty easy might have to remove few shingles and starter as needed, I see this repair done quite often for real estate sales I’d ask the seller for sellers contribution and fix issue with new roof replacement

[sideways]

If the roof is 12 yrs old and the eave hasn’t fallen off yet it’s likely not leaking and won’t be an issue in the future.


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[smokeless]

I would like for him to tell me HOW he saw the felt . As stated above, if the shingles are laid properly, and have sealed or bonded with themselves, then they should be good. As long as they aren’t too old and brittle.

[Atfulldraw]

Felt goes under the drip edge on rakes and over drip edge on eaves you can extend the felt pretty easy might have to remove few shingles and starter as needed, I see this repair done quite often for real estate sales I’d ask the seller for sellers contribution and fix issue with new roof replacement

agreed.

at 12-15 years old, it's probably approaching the end of its useful life anyway. It's time consuming to lift all those shingles without creasing any of the overlay shingles, and they would likely have to be hand-sealed to properly reinstall them due to the age of the sealant strips.

New roof if I'm buying the house.

[jds247]

12 to 15 years on a 30 year roof is approaching the end of its life ?? The people buying our house tried that. I told them to pound sand .. the dropped it .. I guess it depends on how bad the buyer wants the house and if the owner is in a bind or not..

[Olphart]

30 year roof, no problem if no signs of damage/stains. 20 year, yes, it needs to be replaced.

[Mike Murphey]

I agree, if a roof is 12-15 years old its abut gone...those numbers for warranty and life of the shingle is created for those up North who's roof doesn't see day after day of 100 degree heat as it is in Texas....the Folks up North only have a couple of weeks of that weather and temperatures.....I would look at the existing roof and see if there is any damage under the shingles, and bet to replace the existing roof in 3-5 years...

[BigCohiba]

I just replaced a 20 year old roof on my house. It was pretty crispy...

[SaintBlaise]

Get a quote on the patch job, and a quote on the whole roof replacement. Maybe the seller will pay a little and you can get a brand new roof for 2/3 of the price. Then you roll that cost into the mortgage. If you go with a new roof, look into an Ice and Water shield.