In our never-ending quest to stimulate the U.S. economy, Diane and I just bought a new roof for our house. Diane noticed a discoloration on the ceiling of our dining room. It was a leak. We got an estimate on how much it would cost to fix the leak and then decided to get another estimate on what it would cost to get a new roof. Although the new roof number gave us sticker shock, we decided to invest the money in this house. We plan to be here for another 20 years so putting a new roof on that should last at least 25 years seemed to make sense. We had two roofs on our house so they had to be removed (bumping the cost up) and we went with a high grade of shingle. How much does a new roof cost for a 2400 square foot house? $24,000. Good thing the stock market went over 14,000!
Great. Now I’ll be humming “Up on the Roof” all day.
Jerry, I admired the roofers up on the roof when it was icy and there was a stiff breeze buffeting them. These guys were pros.
Wow! That really is high. I don’t think we paid half of that a few years ago although ours is a townhouse and is all vertical rather than horizontal.
Removing two roofs is not cheap, Patti. And we opted for the better grade of shingles so this should be the last roof we ever have to buy.
Wow. Sticker shock indeed. Jackie guessed $10,000. So glad we do not have to make those kinds of decisions. And congratulations on stimulating the local economy!
Jackie wants to know where you’re planning on going after 20 years.
Roofing done right is an expense proposition, Jeff. Tell Jackie that if we make it into our 80s, we’ll probably sell the house and move into an assisted living center.
Our roof had to be replaced after Katrina–insurance paid for that. We got a 30-year guarantee, but that excludes hurricane damage…and I dare say there’ll be another hurricane before then!
I used to work part-time as a roofer years ago. The money was okay, but the labor was backbreaking, with an added chance of falling to one’s death. Glad to hear that you liked the work they did. A really good and experienced roofer can do a thoroughly competent job in far less time than most people expect.
The roofers took few breaks and stayed until darkness, Drongo. The roofing company they work for has been around 104 years. Although they’re pricey, we felt that we received good value for our money.
Roofs: my bane. The first time I had it replaced some chollo put his leg through the roof and ceiling. Some years later that area leaked and I had a set to with the goober I hired to fix it. Last year a branch speared a hole in it and I had to have that patched. He told me it would cost me $6,000 to replace the entire roof, which I might do this year.
After spending $24,000 for our new roof, Bob, $6000 sounds like a bargain!
I wonder if getting a new roof at this time of year is any cheaper than doing it in summer?
Bob, I’ll ignore the slur and just say I’m guessing the you the bid below the lowest one. George has the right idea, get a quality job and it will be done right and last. Nothing could have saved you from the branch, though.
Rick, the roofers told me they actually prefer to work in the winter. The singles don’t warp like they do in the summer heat.
One other thing, several people have told us that if you ever plan on getting solar, do it when getting a new roof, so it all is integrated and the solar guys don’t mess up the new roof.
No one living in Detroit or Buffalo could do solar. It is sunny about one day a week, six months a year.
I actually looked into solar heating, Patti. Like you say, the climate is not conducive because of the cloudy conditions most days.
I meant solar array for electricity, guys. It’s cloudy or wet and cloudy here at least half of the year, but the other half of the year solar panels can make a huge difference in the electric bill!
I’ll look into it, Rick. Maybe the technology has improved.