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This roofing mystery is true. No one died, but a lot of wood rotted and what was left was an expensive roof repair. It all started sixty years ago when the house was built and the new rafters were covered with a non-rated interior grade plywood decking. Nothing happened for a awhile, but when it came time to reroof the house, the new roofing was installed right over the old shingles for a second application of shingles.

This roofing mystery is true. No one died, but a lot of wood rotted and what was left was an expensive roof repair. It all started sixty years ago when the house was built and the new rafters were covered with a non-rated interior grade plywood decking. Nothing happened for a awhile, but when it came time to reroof the house, the new roofing was installed right over the old shingles for a second application of shingles.

Now 15 years later (the 30 year roofing material lasted only about 15 years) was ready for a new roof because the nails could not hold on to the poor and delaminating plywood. So when it came time to reroof the home again, the roofing contractor decided the best thing to do (cheapest) was install a new layer of plywood right over the two layers of shingles and the existing poor old roof deck.

That almost brings us almost up to date. The new owner decided to add an addition on to the home for her mother to live in. The building contractor cuts the roof to allow for the tie-in of the new addition, but he finds rotted plywood, 2 layers of shingles, more rotted plywood and another layer of shingles.

The job comes to a halt. The solution – tear it all off and start again. If our mystery contractor had followed the building codes 20 years ago, he would have saved the folks thousands and thousands of dollars. The bad news is the old roofing contractor is out of business. The good news is the new roofing contractors is reputable and wil complete the job before the rains start for real.