Roof repair life span
Some background: I have been looking at a duplex in north Florida that would be my first venture into REI, I have never owned real estate before so my experience has been reading, more reading, the podcast, and talking to non-investors that are long-time home owners.
The property claims to have a "10-yr old roof" - but after looking at the property, it appears they just put an additional layer of (asphalt) shingles on top of the ones that were already on there. As far as I know, there are no leaks or issues with the roof currently. I have a few questions about this and roof repairs in general:
- Calling the roof "10 yrs old" feels dishonest to me, is simply layering over existing roofing enough to call the roof "new"? I was under the impression you really needed to strip it down to the wood, replace boards as needed, and re-roof the whole thing.
- I totally understand it's cheaper/easier to just layer over, but is this normal/standard/acceptable?
- How do others typically plan for these big capex expenses? More specifically:
- How do you estimate the time remaining on the roof?
- Should I seek out that roofer that replaced the roof last and ask them what the lifetime is?
- How can I come up with an accurate estimate of the remaining lifetime and how do I know when it's time to replace it?
- Do you deduct the cost (e.g. $15k for a roof in 8 years) from the cash flow over the next eight years?
- Can a roof be replaced with tenants in the multifamily?
You know it's time to replace it, when you get sick of sending someone to patch it for leaks. LOL
While my preferred method would be to remove the old roof, nothing wrong with putting it on top, as long as they did it right and it's not leaking. I'd never hunt down the old roofer, find one you like and just get an estimate to replace it if you wanted.
I have proofs that are from the 1970-1980's in age (That's 40-50 years old)... still kicking, and no one is complaining, nothing leaking, so I ain't replacing.
As for working off a price, why not just take off the full cost to replace it. The seller will agree to taking off a price between what you get a quote for, or nothing at all. You just got to decide if you are fine with whatever you two agree on or not time you are said and done with closing on the property. It's like a courtship dance, no move is right or wrong, only thing that matters if both parties like what they see.
Trey Moore
10 years is still a good number.
Standard expectation for asphalt shingles is 30 years (give or take depending on weather and maintenance). Age expectations depends on type of materials. (Asphalt, metal, slate) and quality used.
Perfectly standard to do an overlay replacement. Stripping a perfectly good layer of plywood doesn't add anything and costs more.
Most areas used to allow up to 6 layers before requiring stripping down. Now it's around 2 layers max.
Trey Moore
Your inspector can give you a broad expectation based on the current condition.
Roof replacements are capitalized and depreciated.
Capex % reserve is what pays for major work on a property, which is why it's important not to underestimate this figure in your analysis.
If a roof is at its end of life, you can have a roof contractor give you an estimate of the condition and expectation of future repair/replacement costs needed. No point in doing that for a ten year old roof, your inspector can give you a ballpark.
Yes, you can replace a roof while people are living there.
Thanks for the information everyone, it was extremely helpful. I look into any codes around the number of layers (out of curiosity) and I won't worry too much about the roof unless there are issues.
Hey @Trey Moore let's connect! Seems like we have very similar challenges. I'm also looking at a Duplex/ roof situation.
Investors - is there a general rule of thumb for cost of replacing, or putting another layer on a roof that you use and can share?
Thanks!
Kraig