Roof replacement in Lubbock
Everything that determines how long the new roof lasts gets covered up on day one. This is what is under there and why it matters.
A replacement is the one roofing job that is a genuine construction project on your house. There will be a skip or a trailer on your drive, there will be noise from early, and for part of one day your house will have no roof covering on it at all.
The work itself is not mysterious. What makes the difference between a roof that reaches its rated life and one that does not is almost entirely in the layers that disappear on day one.
What happens, in order
Tear off. Everything comes off down to the bare deck. This is the point of the exercise: it is the only time anyone sees what the roof is actually built on.
Deck inspection and repair. Soft, delaminated or rotten sheets get replaced. This is where surprises live, and it is why your contract should carry a per sheet price agreed in advance rather than negotiated while the roof is open.
Dry in. Underlayment goes down and the roof is weather tight again. On a well run job this happens the same day the tear off does.
Details. New flashing, new pipe boots, new valley metal. This is the part that quietly separates bids. Reusing old boots on a new roof saves a small amount of money and reintroduces the most common leak in Lubbock on day one.
Shingles and ventilation. The field goes on, ridge and intake ventilation are set, and the job is cleaned up. Magnetic sweep of the drive and the yard is standard and worth confirming, because nails in tyres is the classic post roof complaint.
The permit
The City of Lubbock requires a roofing permit to tear off and replace shingles. A remodelling permit is a separate thing and applies if the framing or the pitch is changing.
Ask who is pulling it and in whose name. It is a small cost and it is a real signal: a company that pulls permits under its own name is one that expects an inspector to look at its work and is planning to still be here.
What the bid should name
- The shingle by manufacturer, line and wind rating, not just “architectural”
- The underlayment, and whether it is synthetic or felt
- Ice and water shield or equivalent at valleys and penetrations
- New flashing, new pipe boots, new valley metal, each listed as new
- Ridge and intake ventilation, with what is going in
- Per sheet price for decking replacement
- The permit
- Who removes and refits the swamp cooler, if you have one
- Workmanship warranty length, separate from the manufacturer’s material warranty
- Payment schedule, which should not front load the whole job
If the bid is one line and one number, there is nothing there to compare, nothing to hold anyone to and nothing to claim against.
Questions people ask
- How long does it take?
A typical single storey Lubbock house is two days, sometimes one with a big crew, three or four if the decking is bad or the roof is cut up. Weather moves everything, and a tear off does not start unless the forecast allows the roof to be dried in the same day.
- Can they go over the old shingles?
A second layer is sometimes permitted by code depending on the situation, and it is almost always a false economy here. It hides the decking, it adds weight, it shortens the life of the new layer because it runs hotter, and the next roofer has to tear off two layers instead of one.
- Do I need to be home?
No, but somebody should look at the roof before the last of the light goes on day one, while a problem is still cheap to raise.
- What about my swamp cooler?
It needs to come off and go back, and whoever does that should be named in the bid. Half the roof leaks in this town start at a cooler that was refitted casually.