LESLIE: Time to go to the roof with Paulette in Tennessee. How can we help you?
PAULETTE: Hi there. I just needed some information about buying a quality shingle or how to roof my home without blowing my top.
TOM: (chuckling) OK.
PAULETTE: I’d like to have something that has a guarantee, that’s really good, but I don’t want to overpay.
TOM: Well, let’s start with how many layers of roofing shingles do you have on the home now, Paulette. How old is it?
PAULETTE: The roof on there now is probably 30 years old and there’s only one …
TOM: (overlapping voices) That’s the original? Is that the original roof, then?
PAULETTE: It has been replaced once but they took everything off the first time.
TOM: OK. Now how long do you think you’re going to be in this house, Paulette? Do you think it’s going to be more than ten more years?
PAULETTE: Yes, I do.
TOM: OK. Then what I would recommend is that you again remove the old roofing shingles because – and the reason I asked you this is because if you put a second layer on, it tends to not last as long as the first layer did because of the added heat buildup that’s contained within that original layer. It tends to wear out the new shingle quicker because shingles are made from asphalt. There’s oils involved and as the oil evaporates, the quicker it evaporates the quicker the shingle dries out and starts to crack and not perform well. So I would recommend that you strip the original roof.
In terms of the new shingle, it’s really going to depend on two things. Number one, it’s going to depend on what look you’re trying to achieve. If you want to get something that looks like, for example, a wood shingle or a clay tile, that’s called dimensional shingle. It’s made up of different layers. It’s very attractive but it’s more expensive. But if you want just a basic roof, you can have just a plain, three-tab black shingle. They’re both going to last just as long.
And the second thing is – and this is especially important in an older house – is to make sure you improve the ventilation. Typically, older homes don’t have enough roof ventilation and there’s a direct relationship between how long your roof lasts and how well your attic is ventilated. If you keep the attic as cool as possible, especially in a warm …
LESLIE: The roof is going to last longer.
TOM: Yeah, especially in a warm environment like Tennessee, the roof will last as long as possible.
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