Roof replacement questions/insurance/hail

[vh_dan]

Hi, all. I've lived in my mobile home (a 1984 with a metal roof) for nearly two years now. We recently had a wicked hail storm with tornado warnings, and I had someone look at the roof. He said it could be up for a replacement from the years of wear and damage, but especially because of the hail. There's a chance my insurance will cover it (if they don't, then nothing's going to happen!), and since I know absolutely nothing about roofs, I thought I'd ask here...

I've read a couple posts about roofs here, and it seems like metal roofs might be preferred for mobile homes? Could anyone explain why that might be?

This is the roofer's proposal, verbatim, because I don't know what a lot of this stuff even means:

"New Roof Replacement Estimate
Tear off existing roof and resheath entire roofing system with new OSB board. Home and front porch. Labor and material included. $2475.00

Install new 30yr architectural asphalt shingles 15lb felt, 60' of ridge vent (optional). Approx 14 square. $2450.00 Total $4925.00"

Could anyone shed some light on this? Cost isn't really an issue, due to insurance, but I definitely wouldn't want to get myself into something that's worse than what I have now!

Also, does anyone happen to know if it's illegal for my insurer to raise my homeowners insurance premiums if I file a hail claim? I've read many people saying it is illegal, but I haven't seen that officially stated anywhere. I'm in SC. Thanks so much for any help or insight you folks could give!
-Dan

[JD]

A 1984 metal roof mobile home might have 1x2 trusses. This type of roof would not be designed for the weight of sheathing and shingles. You certainly don't want him to tear the roof off and then say new trusses will be $2500. Be sure he knows what he is getting into. There are many great roofers and trades people that don't know how a mobile home is built and end up getting themselves into trouble.

[Greg]

Dan, Hi & welcome. The other issue that comes into play here is weight. Not only the truss issue, but when you look at how the home is constructed the roof weight is supported by the floor joists through the wall studs. Excessive weight will push the walls down on the joists and actually cause the joists to bow down over time. Perimeter blocking can help with support, but it is one more step that needs to be taken.

Personally I would stay with a metal roof rather than risk complications from adding a shingle roof.

Greg

[vh_dan]

That's very helpful. Thanks!

If we went with a metal roof replacement, would you say that it'd be common to run into major issues, or is that the sort of situation where it's normally pretty straightforward (no weight, truss issues, etc)?

I have another contractor possibly doing an estimate tomorrow or Tuesday, and I'll be sure to bring all of this up.

[JD]

Installing a metal panel roof should be pretty straight forward. There are roofing considerations though. Some older home tend to create a belly in the roof that can pond water. I would definitely address that problem if you have it. Also, if you have a protruding marriage beam at the roof ridge, you want to leave that alone and make a ridge cap to fit over it.

Also, you are not limited to metal panel roofs only. If a contractor is installing the roof for you, you should get bids for single-ply roofing (rubber roof) too. This is a very viable roof that can serve you 20+ years.

You can also peel off your galvanized metal rolled roof and install a new roof just like it or even one made of aluminum. These rolled metal roofs are not "one piece" roofs but they are installed as if they were. They are strips of metal, approx 3' wide, seamed together to make the length of roof you need. Finding a contractor who knows how to install this type of roof could be a problem though. It would most likely be a mobile home repair guy that has been around a long time. Installing new rolled metal roofs used to be pretty common. Not so much anymore.

[vh_dan]

Hi again, and thanks for your replies.

I had another roofer come out the other day, and he delivered some distressing and odd news: he said that there's nothing his company can do for me. He said that with these older mobile homes, if the roof is torn off, the walls will likely fall and cave in! He said some roofers don't realize this, and then they just go in and tear the roof off, with the aforementioned problems then occurring. I talked with him for a few minutes, but he didn't seem too interested in me after that. I e-mailed the roofer who came here a few weeks ago, and he said he's never heard of that, but that he'd have to examine the structure a bit more first.

Another local company had told me by phone last week that they're already slated to do about 4-5 roof replacements in my mobile home community.

Is this something any of you have heard of, or does it seem completely far-fetched? I can't imagine why he'd make that up, but it definitely makes me feel like there's no point in pursuing a roof replacement any further. Thanks again.

[1987Commodore]

Sounds like he is just not interested in the work. Walls caving in? Maybe if they removed the whole roof, including trusses, at once, but they're not going to do that - unless you specified a shingle roof, then they may have to upgrade everything to handle the extra weight. Maybe that is what he was saying - that adding a heavier shingled roof would (over time) cause issues with wall sagging. Then you would have to add perimeter blocking to support the added weight. A metal roof is much lighter.

[JD]

It is hell getting old. I replied to this post twice and somehow missed the very first sentence stating that you currently have a metal roof. If this is the original factory rolled galvanized roof, it is almost certainly not built for the weight of adding sheathing, underlayment and shingles. That is not to say that it could not be done or that you will definitely have warped ceilings after a year or two. I have seen some homes handle it quite well. But I have also seen a lot of homes with added shingles roofs where the inside of the home started looking like Kadafi's tent, with the ceilings all sagging down 4-6 inches.

The right thing to do is to install a metal panel roof, an aluminum insulated roof over, spay foam or a "rubber" single ply roof. Another option would be a serious coating product like "Liquid Rubber", but with the coating, you would want a good experienced contractor to be sure the prep work is done right and the spread rate is correct. This could also be DIY because seeing how it is your own roof, you would not take short cuts or cheat yourself. All of these roofs will run about 1/2lb to 1lb in weight per sq ft, the metal panel roof being the heaviest. But any of them should work for you.