Do I need a new roof?

We had some weather here last week, and I’m thinking I may need to have a new roof put on. Anybody have any advice for me?

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Well something needs a new roof, wherever that one came from. But whether that house under that one does probably shouldn’t be decided until it is cleared off. Probably a mess under there though.

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Keep the roof and dig a basement?

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This is about 3 miles from my house. We really did have some severe weather a week or two back, but nothing on this scale. (A few reports mentioned tornado, but those went unconfirmed. There was damage to several homes, lots of trees uprooted, etc. so yes, damage.)

But I can’t figure this out. The roof is easily twice the size of the house it’s sitting on. Hard to imagine that it would have stayed in one piece if it came from somewhere else, but then hard to imagine why there would have been a roof this huge over such a small house. Weird.

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Well, whoever was the original owner of that roof had an excellent roofer, for it to have held together like that… Maybe all the ceiling joists are still under there! Jack it up, add some studding, a new workshop!! It mist have flown quite a ways…

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I think it came from someplace commercial or industrial. It is metal? That’s what it looks like.

Google can be fun. This appears to have similarities.

Looks like a mobile home with a roof over it to create a carport or porch space.

That might explain why it fell in only moderately strong winds. It’s pretty much just a roof sitting on some posts.

—Peter

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That’s what I thought, but then I noticed 3 roof vents that clearly used to connect to something underneath, typically a plumbing vent and perhaps air for a gas water heater or something. You wouldn’t have those if it was just “a roof over a house”.

Moreover, where two of the three vents are located they wouldn’t seem to even connect to the house; I thought maybe the whole roof shifted as it came down, but I don’t think there’s enough room in the back for it to have been placed there either.

It’s a mystery.

A few weeks ago, I saw a photo posted of a roof that had 7 full layers of asphalt shingles! Usually they do 2 layers or maximum 3 layers before stripping it off down to the plywood and starting over. Maybe this one had so many layers that it go so heavy, and the lowest layer adhesive and/or nails deteriorated and the whole thing simply slid down due to the weight?

One thing that makes me suspect photoshopping is those vents. Usually vents are pipes that go all the way down into the walls behind drains (for air access). Unless these are somehow non-traditional vents that have a break connection of some sort at the top near the flashing.

This is not photoshopped. I took these pictures myself. The house is around 3 miles from me, and happens to be on the major retail street in town (Kingston Pike.) Which gives me an idea, if I knew the cross street (it’s on a corner) I could look it up in Street View and see what it used to look like. Next time I’m near there I’ll note the cross street.

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Aerial views might let you find where it came from. With a guess about how far it might have traveled, and another guess for direction, it might be possible to nail it down.

So Mrs. Goofy and I saw “Golda” last night (terrific), and then went to dinner with friends. Just down the street from the “roof house”, so we drove by, got the street name, and here is what it looked like before the roof fell in, er, on:

And for reference:

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I don’t have a drone. Where else would I get an aerial shot? I’m thinking it might be a nearby business?

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Google Maps, of course. Layers is a little box where you can choose.

Ted Russel Ford looks like a possiblity, and only half a mile away.

(No, I don’t know where you live, but that street view you posted included a very informative street sign.)

Ah yes. I was thinking you meant to look for a building without a roof on it, but you don’t get that kind of satellite view in real, or near-real time. But yes, I could (and probably will later) look for a business with a similar roof that might have taken an aerial magic carpet ride.

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In any case, here’s what they should have done, like this Floridin did, just in time, I guess… :slight_smile:

Another perspective on “Buckle Up”, I suppose…

FL Buckle Up 2

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It has been several years ago, but I saw an engineering program that analyzed roofing materials and weather. For areas prone to hurricanes, tile roofs are a huge mistake. The wind will get under them and remove them. Asphalt shingles were best because they were flexible, They would flop around in the wind, but wouldn’t come off. (Stucco was also a horrible building material because any debris from the winds could punch through a thin layer of stucco, and get inside the house.)

In Florida (South Florida at least) most stucco is sprayed onto concrete block. So even if the stucco is damaged, it won’t get inside the house.

Though stucco is a horrible material for other reasons. :grinning:

I live in a stucco house. Last year I needed to add an exterior outlet, so I decided I would just take a conveniently located interior one and punch through the other side chain the new outlet to the old one. Done it a dozen times on interior walls.

Beneath the stucco is metal lath, which is pretty hardy. After wrestling that to the ground I found 3/4” marine grade plywood which was near impossible to get through because it was far enough back to stop a normal saw from going through, and I was terrified of chopping through the Romex with a sawzall. But sawzall it was, and after blood, sweat and tears and more than a few curse words I got the project done. I won’t say that a stucco house is invulnerable, but this one, at least, is a lot sturdier than others I have, those with 1/2” plywood sheathing on the outside and wallboard inside and whatnot.

I do believe the metal lath all around makes for a nice faraday cage, which might explain why I have such crappy reception in here :wink:

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Parent’s home, out in the country a little had stucco and a tile roof… Sparrows loved the open ends of the tiles for nesting, then either eggs or little birdies would fall out… Dad eventually blocked them with screening I think, but pretty messy before then…

And the builder ran the stucco down past the foundation to the ground level, hiding runways for bugs, beetles or termites, made for a lot of hidden damage, when he passed we sold the place ‘as-is’ for a big knocked down price once we had it inspected, knew the damage, a stucco guy/family bought the place, tore the roof off, replaced trusses and studs as needed, tiles became mostly part of the driveway as they broke most of them…

Not my problem, I couldn’t deal with it, would have had to buy out my siblings, and I would have razed the home and garage, done a whole ne plot plan, other than patch it up… It sat on a 1/3 acre plot, so there was room, but working out of town a lot, raising the kids, couldn’t see it happening… Maybe should have kept, rented it, but that would also have been complicated…

Not, no more stucco…

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