I bought this house last year May(2006). Last hurricane season passed without anyproblems and leaks anywhere in the house. But this season I have a lot of leak spots all around the house. The leaks started during the windy rains about 2 months back and I noticed all the spots are small and I didnt really care a lot hoping I will get it fixed soon. But the last 3 days continues rain has created a huge mess and one of the room had the sheet rock fall down. I cut and removed most of wet sheetrock in the room and there is a hole of about 3'-1' x 5'-6' in the room.

I have uploaded some of the pictures here: Roof Pictures

I have called couple of local roofing people (from Craigslist) and they are scheduled for tomorrow. I am a newbe for all this house maintanence and repairs. I have been this country for only about 6 years and we don't have these kind of roofs back home.

I would like to know whats the best solution at this point. Just repair the leaks ? or the whole roof needs to be replaced ? Will Insurance cover anything if I have to replace whole roof ? I have insurance from Citizens. My premium is about $4K with about $4.1K (2%) hurricane deductible.

The house is about 2600-2800 Sqft including garage. The house is built in 1977.

I would appreciate any suggestions.

KBC

HI,
From your post I would say yes,you might want to replace the entire roof,being you have so many areas with moisture showing up.

This could be that its age is to the point of break-down(mastic and membrane begin to get dry in the sun)

A shingle in the low pitch that your home is(4/12 or so) will be subject to more possible water retention due to the lack of pitch.

Also being that you are in the south(palm trees in your pics) heat plays a big part in break-down too.
Make sure you get enough venting for the extreme heat!
This will help your new roof last a lot longer.

Hope this helps,
Ken

PS If these stains are all in the center of the building it could be just the ridge vent,they are faulty to a point and are easily remedied.

Flying Blue Eagle

RIGHT ON (KBC) Good job on explaing his roof problem, hope his Ins. co helps. He needs to talk to them befor anything is done. Ins. co dont like you to start repairs then call them;;

miamikk

I live in Miami.
I will give a call for insurance company and see what they say. Does anyone know if Insurance company actually pays atleast a part of replacement cost ?

Flying Blue Eagle

IF it is damages from storms. from what I can make out from what you are saying, it sounds like you have roof damaghe caused by hail . the ins. adjuster can look at the roof and tell. the ins. co. s I have delt with have a preset amount s for different things ,I!VE had them to cover full cost and sometimes only half or just a little .; TO tell you the truth talk to him and get as much as you can, alot of the time they offer a low amount and hope you will take it.If you think they have ,( say hey thats not a fair amount the cost of material & labor is a lot higher then that. WISH you luck .IF my answers have helped ,rate them below, also rate ( KBC)

miamikk

I am not sure but I think we rarely have hails during stroms in Miami, Florida . What do I say when I call Insurance company ?

Flying Blue Eagle

Gave you the best answers I could ,about the Questions you asked about your roof problem, and the Insurence Questions. F.B.E.

N0help4u

I have had a lot of roofer friends and a couple roofer boyfriends in my life and they all said when a roof is that bad you have to replace the whole thing. You will only have a more costly mess if you only patch the bad areas.

Flying Blue Eagle

Nohelp4u- Right ON ,You are so right ,he needs to replace the whole roof . I just hope the Ins . co helps him. ( Miamikk)- Hail is always a part of a TORNADO, AND Florida has a lot of them.

Relaxat41

how to get rid of mildew under your house.