1/2 ply is remarkably strong. 3/8 doesn't seem nearly good enough. Amazing how much strength that extra 1/8 inch adds.

I'd check to see how many layers of shingles are on it now. I've worked on roofs (rooves?) that have 4 or 5 layers. Heavy stuff.

I'd also go along with Kerry's opinion on metal roofing.

__________________
Te futueo et caballum tuum

1986 300SDL, 362K
1984 300D, 138K

We are located in the beautiful Hudson Valley of NY. We get snow. Not by Zeus' standards, but probably more than most. It's a contemporary house with an average roof pitch - not shallow, not steep.

The skylights are Anderson, and by and large (knock wood) seem to be holding up nicely. I'm a little reluctant to fix what ain't broken (i.e.pull off old and install new flashing kits), and there are a ton of skylights - 16 to be exact. I wonder if there is some product to go around or over the existing flashing to reinforce it.

I will not be doing the work myself. That ship sailed quite awhile ago. I intend to stand on the ground and complain.

As long as we're here - who do you like for architectural asphalt shingles?

Ditto. Though I may do my own roof, as I would probably be too much of a PITA to inflict on crew...

I always used IKO. I used to use their Chateau premium brand a fair bit, but they've updated since then. The 'Cambridge' style looks pretty nice...fibreglass reinforced as well.

__________________
Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

The cheap 3 ply, 1/2" isn't so terrific. That's why I went with 5/8". If you stay with 1/2", you've got to sort the more costly 4 ply.

4 layers of roof signifies a complete moron. Walk away.

I was wondering about that myself.

Plural of hoof is hooves, so roof s/b rooves?????

On Google, "plural of roof" draws 71,400 responses.

Sounds like they used crap sheething, probably 3/8 OSB or some other garbage.

Use 1/2 ply, but the good 1/2 the 4ply stuff. We use it on all the new houses and never have an issue. The first house my uncle ever built in the 70's is down the street and the roof is still perfectly straight.

__________________
2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Ever use Cobra vents Chris? They seem to work good around here thats what we use.

__________________
2016 Corvette Stingray 2LT
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

No, not familiar with those Hattie. Probably regional differences...

__________________
Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

I have a large (6 car) garage with a very slight pitch. When I bought the place it had 9 layers of rolled roofing on it. That amounts to 900lbs of roofing per square. Lucky for me, we got hit by a hailstorm and the insurance replacement included removing all the old roofing. I replaced it with torch down modified.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I have serious garage envy!!!!

No need. Apart from 2 garages in which my canoes are stored, the rest are rented out.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

What a timely subject matter.

This past weekend I repaired a section on the eave where the facia boards did not line up. I found a small hole in the shingle (the shingles are shot) that had allowed water to get to the wood underneath and caused some wood rot. The eve was sagging so I used the tractor bucket and a 2x4 to raise it back into the proper position and replace the rotten support. The boards under my roofing paper are 1x6 and I only have one roof on the place. I have not purchased any shingles yet so I just used roofing paper to cover it all up till I can get back to the supply house again. My plans are to replace the shingles over the next few months (I may study up on installing a metal roof and go that way). I'm learning all about what it takes to keep up an old house and it is more work (materials are cheaper) than keeping an old diesel MB going.

I am turning out to be a pretty good capenter albiet a bit slow but I was that way with the car repair work.

__________________
Jim

Those old roofs are the best! You probably have 1"x6" tongue and groove boards on 12" joists (which are likely a FULL 2" wide). You can park a truck on those roofs.

I used to gauge the quality of a roof deck by the hammer bounce (before pneumatic nailers came out). On a new roof, with crappy 3/8" OSB, the hammer would bounce wildly off the roof. Hard to set the roofing nails and you'd often need 3-4 hits to fully sink the nail. Annoying. The other end of the spectrum were homes like yours - war period homes with 1x6 boards for a deck. Almost no hammer bounce. One quick tap to set the nail and one strong hit to sink it. We'd fly on a roof like that. The nailer kind of evened the pace and made everyone a pro right away, but the hammer didn't lie!

Why I'm reminisicing I don't know. Probably miss those days a bit since I work behind a computer all day now...

__________________
Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon

I'd be afraid that I'd snap one if I stepped between the joists............

I never thought that 1/2" plywood was all that terrific.

Try carrying bundles of shingles (80lbs avg) across such a roof! We'd literally aim to step on joists. Morning dew often helped define the joists, help you step on them. We all put our foot through roofs at one point or another...

__________________
Chris
2007 E550 4Matic - 61,000 Km - Iridium Silver, black leather, Sport package, Premium 2 package
2007 GL450 4Matic - 62,000 Km - Obsidian Black Metallic, black leather, all options
1998 E430 - sold
1989 300E - 333,000 Km - sold
1977 280E - sold
1971 250 - retired

"And a frign hat. They gave me a hat at the annual benefits meeting. I said. how does this benefit me. I dont have anything from the company.. So they gave me a hat." - TheDon