Need A Roofers Advice

ALarkin

Hello all. Let me apologize in advance - I know this is a forum for professionals, and I’m here as a homeowner. I’m not sure DIY forums are the best place to seek advice on something like roofing though.

I need some help deciding how to proceed with a few things I discovered while cleaning out my gutters last week. We bought the house a couple years ago (built 1994, North Carolina). The inspector we hired told me the roof was in great shape, but I’m starting to think he didn’t look at it very closely. The roof is a 3/12 gable with a small arched projection at one end that goes about ¼ up the slope (a small cross-gable). The shingles are asphalt (original, I think), OSB sheathing.

First issue(s):
There is no drip edge, and no building paper under the first 3 rows of shingles. This doesn’t make sense to me. The sheathing and fascia looked fine though - I’d expect OSB to be swollen and fascia to be rotted if they’d been getting wet all this time. Is there a reason someone would install (or maybe repair?) the roofing this way? Since the shingles seem to be doing their job, I don’t want to disturb them unless I have to. Should I try to put building paper and drip edge on the sheathing or, just leave it alone?

Second issue:
There’s an area that’s sagging a bit, behind the arched projection. It can’t be seen it from the ground, so I don’t know how long it’s been like that. From the ladder, the ridge looked fine. I haven’t climbed onto the roof for a closer look, because the sagging area is over a vaulted ceiling (… can’t easily inspect the sheathing and rafters from inside). I don’t think the ceiling is sagging, but it’s stomp-textured, which might deceive the eye. No cracks, and no sign of water on the ceiling or walls inside. I’m pretty sure the ceiling texture is just joint compound (not painted) – wouldn’t it be easy to tell if it was (or had been) wet? Ventilation problem? I don’t think the arch lends any structural integrity to the roof (just a load on the rafters). There’s also a large ceiling fan around where I’d guess the sag is (about ½ way up the slope). Could the combined loads of the arch and fan have warped the supporting rafter(s) over time?
I’ve shingled a couple roofs before, but the sheathing was in good shape. I need to find out what I’m up against (I’m pretty handy, but I know when I’m over my head). Any advice on how to safely evaluate the ceiling, sheathing, and rafters would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Grumpy

Drip edge may or may nbot be to code in your area, I can not speak on that. if it were my house I would install the drip edge, but having said that 955 of the houses we do, we do not install drip edge. It's not part of our local code.

There is no underlayment of any kind under your shingles? That's definetly wrong by any code I know. OSB is not roof sheathing in my opinion because it will sponge moisture and swell, that's why I highly prefer and use CDX.

Your roof is 12 years old. In my area that's abotut ime for a new roof. Please read this: http://www.diychatroom.com/showthread.php?t=12 and then read this: http://www.contractortalk.com/articl...a-shingle.html

BreyerConstruct

Grumpy,

Haven't seen you around for a bit. Welcome back, your advice is appreciated by many.

(ALarkin, that means listen to this guy! LOL)

~Matt

__________________
Custom Deck Builder Deck Designer Lancaster Deck Builder Berks Deck Cleaning
Breyer Construction & Landscape, LLC Facebook Page
www.BreyerConstruction.com