Roof and electrical panel issues in Cleveland C-area duplex

[David K.]

I am under contract for a duplex in a C neighborhood and just received the results of the home inspection. Most of the deferred maintenance / cap-ex items I can reasonably estimate. However, I was hoping to get some feedback from others in the area on a few items.

Roofing: The roof is roughly 1,900 SF. I believe I’ve heard James Wise throw out about 6k for new roofs for a duplex as a general ballpark number. Applying the estimates from the BP book on estimating rehab costs gives a pretty big range (~2.8k-$7.6k), so not really sure where that comes out from the local northeast Ohio perspective. I suppose 6k may be a reasonable ballpark, but any guidance is appreciated.

Electrical panel: the report also said that “an arcing sound is heard from the panel” and recommended that a licensed electrician inspect. Not really certain what this could mean. The panels are old (120/240 fuse box), so from a worst-case perspective might the panel need to be replaced? Is $2,000 a reasonable estimate for this?

Any feedback or thoughts is greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[Phil Chow]

As for the roof, it would depend on if it's a complete Tear-off (MUST be a complete tear off if there are currently 2 layers on it) and also are you installing 15yr, 30yr, or lifetime shingles?  If there are 2 layers on it currently, it the bottom layer asphalt or slate? Also if its complete tear off, does any of the sheathing need to be repair or replace?  I would estimate on the high side so you won't get a sticker shock later on.  As for the panel, if its a Federal Pacific, you should definitely change it out which is usually 1k-1.5k per panel.