Cedar Roof Nightmare

[NYer_in_SWMich]

Greetings. This forum is such a superb resource. Many thanks to all the folks who keep it goin'. We have a cedar shake roof that sustained minor damage from a fallen tree limb. The damage allows a bit of rain to leak into the house through our attached garage's roof & the ceiling in our sunroom shows the tell-tale discoloration of water infiltration. Here's the problem: we have called a dozen roofing companies in our area. None of them have any significant experience repairing cedar shake roofing. We went to the extreme of practically begging a company 200 miles away that does extensive cedar work to please help us out. We offered to pay them for mileage, fuel and put them up in a local hotel. No dice. OK, that's sad but understandable. The local roofers who've come out & taken a look have all come to the same conclusion: if we're not willing to cross our fingers and hope that a company that hasn't done cedar repair in the past will be able to do an excellent job, we need to replace the old cedar with asphalt shingles. We hate the idea of replacing cedar with asphalt, but we've accepted the reality. Here's where the expertise of the members of this forum comes in. We're about to contact our insurer (State Farm) and try to get them to cover the expense of a new asphalt shingle roof. Any suggestions as to how we can make that happen? Thanks in advance.

 

[Newby]

I had the same problem. We just paid to have it ripped off and a regular roof put on.

It cured a 2nd problem too. We used to have quite a few spiders in the house. When the roofers tore the roof off they said there were thousands of brown recluses in those shingles. The new roof got rid of them.

I don't know why an insurance company would pay for the new roof.
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I reread it and saw the tree limb thing. They would probably do a partial allowance for that.

 

[xrac]

Greetings. This forum is such a superb resource. Many thanks to all the folks who keep it goin'. We have a cedar shake roof that sustained minor damage from a fallen tree limb. The damage allows a bit of rain to leak into the house through our attached garage's roof & the ceiling in our sunroom shows the tell-tale discoloration of water infiltration. Here's the problem: we have called a dozen roofing companies in our area. None of them have any significant experience repairing cedar shake roofing. We went to the extreme of practically begging a company 200 miles away that does extensive cedar work to please help us out. We offered to pay them for mileage, fuel and put them up in a local hotel. No dice. OK, that's sad but understandable. The local roofers who've come out & taken a look have all come to the same conclusion: if we're not willing to cross our fingers and hope that a company that hasn't done cedar repair in the past will be able to do an excellent job, we need to replace the old cedar with asphalt shingles. We hate the idea of replacing cedar with asphalt, but we've accepted the reality. Here's where the expertise of the members of this forum comes in. We're about to contact our insurer (State Farm) and try to get them to cover the expense of a new asphalt shingle roof. Any suggestions as to how we can make that happen? Thanks in advance.

I would get someone who is an expert in this type of roof to provide a proper estimate of the repair and then I would use that as a basis to negotiate with State Farm.

 

[Guest]

I would move.................

 

[reductable]

Greetings. This forum is such a superb resource. Many thanks to all the folks who keep it goin'. We have a cedar shake roof that sustained minor damage from a fallen tree limb. The damage allows a bit of rain to leak into the house through our attached garage's roof & the ceiling in our sunroom shows the tell-tale discoloration of water infiltration. Here's the problem: we have called a dozen roofing companies in our area. None of them have any significant experience repairing cedar shake roofing. We went to the extreme of practically begging a company 200 miles away that does extensive cedar work to please help us out. We offered to pay them for mileage, fuel and put them up in a local hotel. No dice. OK, that's sad but understandable. The local roofers who've come out & taken a look have all come to the same conclusion: if we're not willing to cross our fingers and hope that a company that hasn't done cedar repair in the past will be able to do an excellent job, we need to replace the old cedar with asphalt shingles. We hate the idea of replacing cedar with asphalt, but we've accepted the reality. Here's where the expertise of the members of this forum comes in. We're about to contact our insurer (State Farm) and try to get them to cover the expense of a new asphalt shingle roof. Any suggestions as to how we can make that happen? Thanks in advance.

IF you ever plan to go through your insurance carrier your duty after a loss is to mitigate further loss- you didn't mention tarping the roof from the outside and blowing fans from the inside. There are of different formulas when it comes to adjusting a roof. Be prepared to hear about the damage per square and overall surface area of your roof. The damaged portion- you may get ACV if you take the cash but replacement cost if you get the work done. And whatever you do DON'T sign a contract with any contractor until you involve your insurance carrier.
re: the expert roofers who wouldn't come the 200 miles. I suspect it's not the initial install but the service work doing the job could create if you weren't happy. And, do you live 50 miles or so near the coast? If so I assume they have been told by their insurance carrier they would get non-renewed if they started doing work within x miles of the coast. For roofers, the closer to the coast the more wind and the harder to establish if damage resulted form the roofer's work or the wind. If you aren't closer to the coast then I just wasted a minute of your time.

 

[fcorcoran]

cant help you on this one. I wont insure a cedar roof. Nothing but problems. I know they look good, but from a insurance comp all you look like is future loss. Get those cedar problems off that roof as soon as you can.