May 3, 2026 • 28 mins
Description: Dean reminds homeowners that a solid roof starts from the inside—repairing and insulating the attic before tackling the roof itself. He breaks down the world of roof tiles, explains tear-offs, and what it really means to do a “roof over,” including how roof shape can change. With California gearing up for a hot summer and a wet winter thanks to El Niño, Dean shares why now’s the time to get ahead on repairs. Plus, a full recap of roofing essentials to keep your home covered year-round.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Listen
Watch
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp The
House Whisper on demand on the iHeart Radio app. Thanks
for joining us on the show. We're in the third
hour here. If you've missed the previous two hours of
the show, don't miss the podcast. Every single show that
we do, just a few minutes after we go off
the air is up on the stream waiting for you
(00:23):
on the podcast form. You can find it anywhere your
favorite podcasts are found on, of course, the free iHeartRadio app,
on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts. Wherever you listen to your podcast,
you just search for Home with Dean Sharp or The
House Whisper and baboom, there it is, every minute of
this program there for you to listen to whenever however
(00:46):
you would like so, and today's show is no exception.
We're talking about roofs today on the program. Before we
take one more step forward, I'm going to remind you
that if your home needs some personal house Whisper attention,
book an in home design consult with me and the
t Yeah no, not another member of our team showing up.
(01:07):
Some people say that I booked a console with you, guys.
Is there any chance that Dean might actually come. Yeah,
it's actually the two of us that's who comes to
your house. Uh and uh yeah, So we're happy to
stand in your family room and look at the atrocity
that you're trying to solve or whatever the case may be. Free.
(01:28):
Well did I say free? It's not free. I was
gonna say live in person design consult. All you have
to do to find out more is go to house
whisperer dot design for more info house whisperer dot Design.
There you go. All right, we're talking roofs today, and
we have We've talked about a whole bunch of things.
(01:50):
I want to answer a question here that is a
common question, Dean, I'm reroofing. I also want to reinsulate,
and I'm thinking about doing termite treatment. What's the proper
order for all of this going down? And there is
a proper order for it, generally speaking, with a couple
of exceptions. So here's the thing. There are very few
(02:13):
of you out there anymore that have a roof so
old that you don't have sheathing, modern sheathing over your roof.
And what I mean by that is there was a time,
you know, a couple decades ago that we were still
running into a lot of old shake roofs that had
(02:35):
one by six slats up there on top of the rafters.
No plywood, no osb, just one by six slats that
the shake was attached to underlayment, you know, building paper,
and then the shake on top of that, and you
know big gaps. My home was a perfect example of it.
That's what we had going on. We had asphalt shingles
on top of one by six slats, and those slats
(02:58):
have gaps in between them, and if they're real close together,
there's still gaps, usually at least a three quarter inch
or one inch gap in between those slaps. Kind of
slats running like sighting. If that's the situation you've got
and you've never had sheathing put up on top of
that roof on top of it, now is the time.
That's what's gonna happen this time around. But the reason
(03:21):
I bring that up is that if that's the case,
there is no question whatsoever that you should wait to
reinsulate the attic until the roof is done, because the
tear off process is going to cause all sorts of
roofing debris to fall down inside your attic and your roofer.
If they're being as conscientious as possible, we're probably going
(03:43):
to try and go up there and run plastic sheeting
up there inside the attic space to catch as much
of that debris as possible, assuming that you're not going
to have that the reinsulation done, But if you're planning
to reinsulate, that's convenient because they're gonna make a mess.
And then after they're done, you clean all of that out,
(04:03):
You pull all of that debris out and all of
the old insulation, and then you reinsulate and your new
insulation stays nice and clean. Reinsulating first and then having
that done in that situation is going to cause a
mess that you don't need to do, so you do
it in the proper order. Now that's not so common anymore.
Nowadays most people have at least re roofed once. Over
(04:25):
that kind of house. You can still see the slats
up in the attic, but you see that there's osb
or plywood on top of them. And because of that,
now your attic space is really relatively sealed up unless
we're adding skylights or we're having to take off sections.
So I would still say wait on the attic insulation
(04:47):
until after the reroof is done, just to be safe
in case vent has to be cut out or you know,
there's always a possibility that something happens that's going to
cause some debris to fall down into the attic. But
generally speaking, if you're roof has already been resheet then
there's really no opportunity for the debris of a tear
out to fall down and get the attic dirty. Okay,
(05:08):
So the general answer is, let's reroof first, and that
also applies to termite treatments because sometimes reroofing involves repairing
old rafters or replacing some rotting facierboard on the outside.
That means bringing in new lumber. Anytime we bring in
new lumber, there's always a chance that we're with it
(05:32):
we are bringing in a hidden termite or two. All right,
And if you doubt that, just go to a lumberyard
and walk around long enough and you will spot termites
on top of some of the new lumber that's sitting
there waiting to come to your home. New lumbers should
always be carefully inspected as you're using it, by the way,
So but the point is to be perfectly safe, right,
So if you tented the house, and then you reroofed,
(05:53):
and then there was some new construction work done, some
new lumber added. You might have just reintroduced termites to
the the house that you just purged of termites, and
that's no good. So all in all, the rule is
this reroof get all the new wood in, get all
the debris done, and all the mess taken care of.
(06:14):
Then clean out your attic, reinsulate the attic, and if
you have to tent the house or do whatever termite
treatment is necessary. And that way everything old and new
without any further changes happening to the house is gonna
get handled. Okay, that was an important moment to take
to just set you up for the proper order of things.
(06:36):
Now when we come back, let's talk about something that
maybe you have never heard before. If we're about to
reroof and we're going to this expense and there's a
tear off to be done of the existing roof, have
you ever thought about actually changing the shape or the
pitch or a feature on the roof And you're thinking, oh,
(06:57):
I can't afford that, Are you sure? Let's talk about
it on the other side your home with Dean Sharp.
The house Whisper.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Forty, jumping all around trying to cover some important stuff.
It's not a complete roof clinic, but you've learned a
lot already. If you've missed any part of the show,
make sure you catch the podcast right after we're done.
It will be available to everyone everywhere on the iHeartRadio app,
on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify. We're there. Just search for
(07:31):
Home with Dean Sharp or the House Whisper, and you'll
find us. You'll find us. You'll see my ugly mug
right there staring at you, smiling away, threatening to ruin
your life by changing the design of your home to
something that you love. You won't. Yes, No, I am
seen as a threat. At times. I am perceived as
(07:53):
a threat. Sometimes, especially when we'll do a consult and
Tina and I will walk in, you realize one of
the two people is a is a listener and a
fan of the show. The other has never heard of
us and wonders why we're inviting this vampire into my house?
Why is that? Why are we giving the these people
leeway to tell us how to live our lives? Uh.
(08:17):
But you know, in the end, everybody loves us because
I'm only there to help. That's the way it works.
All right, Hey, turn that off? What what do you
think is going on here? All right, let's talk about
roofs now.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
If you're gonna be reroofing, uh, then I want to
have a discussion about something that you're not gonna hear
anywhere else, and that is that instead of just you know,
pull it off, put on the new one, pick the
you know, pick the new shingle. It's all well and good,
there's nothing wrong with any of that. But but I
also want you to consider, now is the time to
(08:57):
possibly make change just to the roof that isn't just
replacing the material that it's covered with. Now is the
time maybe to make some design changes to the roof.
We call it a roof over or overframing. There are
things we can do to the roof before after we
tear off the old one. Actually sometimes before we tear
(09:18):
off the old one. Get ahead of myself here, there
are things we can do to the roof to fix it.
Fix it in terms of let's say you've got a
wavy roof. You're like, oh, you know, I mean, we
had a caller I think last week, had a big
wave in their roof, and I'm like, have the roofers
address that before they put the new stuff on. They
can do that. You may have rafters that aren't failing.
(09:39):
I'm not talking about cracked rafters. I'm talking about rafters
that maybe got installed upside down so that now they're
sagging low or maybe just over the years, you know,
the a section of the roof has sagged a little bit,
not structurally failing, just sagged and esthetically it creates this
noticeable wave. Maybe the ridge board is se at some
(10:00):
point and it's creating a little, you know, up and
down roller coaster ride across the top of your roof. Visually,
wavy roofs, sagging roofs, those things can be fixed with
framing before we put the new stuff on. Doesn't mean
that the whole roof has to be rebuilt. Just means
that the SAgs and the waves are filled in and addressed.
And I'm not going to get into exactly how we
(10:20):
do that. I'm just telling you it can be done,
and it's not that big of a thing, and the
rewards are massive because now we get back to having
a straight ridge and straight roof planes as intended, but
maybe even going a step further. You've always looked at
your home and said, you know, I really like this house,
(10:41):
and I like what it's doing for us. But honestly,
that roof is just boring as heck, and if it
was just a little bit stronger, if it was just
a little bit more, something something right. Quite often the
answer to doing something really dramatic with the roof is
to increase the pitch of the roof, actually enlarge the
(11:01):
height of the roof, which just about every single family
home in California can afford to do by code. I mean,
you get a lot of leeway when it comes to that.
But if you really want your roof to stand out
and to be set apart instead of it being the
weakest part, you know, like thinning hair on top of
(11:22):
a head, we can make it bold, we can make
it strong, we can make it significant. It's already significant.
That's the point that I'm trying to say. It just
may be attracting just enough attention and all the wrong
attention at the same time. Most homes, most single family standard,
even ranch style homes in California actually across the country.
(11:43):
Most homes, when you look at their roof profile and
you're standing out at the street just looking at the house,
you don't realize it because you don't really want to
look at the roof too much because it's n But
it is taking up at least at least twenty percent
of the field of view that you're looking at.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Now.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
If you have a flat roof, obviously that's you know,
like one percent, but a standard pitched roof about thirty
closer to forty percent. That's almost half of what you're
looking at when you look at your house. And yet
if you find yourself never really looking at the roof,
it probably means it's not from a design perspective, holding
up its end of the bargain. And so sometimes increasing
(12:26):
the pitch, now raising the ridge of your roof a
foot or two, and then having it come back down
to the exact same starting point down below. And you
can imagine that would mean putting in some wedge shape
framing elements. But here's the thing. We wouldn't be tearing
off the whole roof and rebuilding it from ground zero.
We can actually do that with a little bit of
(12:48):
acknowledgment and support from a structural engineer, and it's entirely
legal to do this. We can do this right on
top of the existing roof, including sometimes right on top
of the existing roofing material, meaning you might be able
to save yourself the cost of the tear offf What
we would do is just encapsulate that stuff into the
(13:09):
existing roof and start fresh and new with a higher
pitched roof up above it. Are you serious, Dean? Is
that a thing? Is so a thing? And you would think, Okay,
there's going to be a lot of extra cost with
the framing. There will be extra cost with the framing.
You'll also save somewhere between three and five thousand dollars
by not tearing off the old roof, So think about that. Haha.
(13:30):
All right, more when we come back. You're Home with
Dean Sharp, the house Whisperer.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
For the Western United States. At least, we're in an
El Nino year and they're predicting it's a severe one.
It's going to be a hotter than average summer and
a wetter than average winter by far could be could
be if the worst predictions come true, the worst most
severe El Nino condition in the last one one hundred
and forty years, meaning I'm assuming making an assumption here
(14:04):
that nobody's one hundred and forty out there, so that
would mean the most severe El Nino possible in our lifetimes.
So you know, it's worth thinking about. Again, I'm not
pandering in fear here, I'm just letting you know, this
is what experts are saying. And the last time El
Nino hit us and with heavy rains, which is just
(14:27):
a couple three years ago, five billion dollars worth of
residential home damage here in southern California, the majority of
which took place in homes in which the homeowners just
didn't take it very seriously that it was coming and
that it was going to be as bad as it was.
So that's all I'm saying, you know, an ounce of prevention,
you know, they say, So there you go. All right,
(14:49):
let's get back to talking about roofs. The designer is
jumping in here and taking over the conversation because he
has some things to say to you about things that
you can do if we're gonna reroof and they're not
necessary things to say I mean, they're not necessary things
to absolutely have to do. But you know, it's my
job to put out in front of you options that
(15:11):
you think about, Tina, And I always tell people, as
your designers, it's our job to, you know, suggest a
thousand things. It's your job to say no nine hundred
and ninety times. And once you're fully informed and educated
and we've worked it all out, those last ten items
that you've decided to go ahead with, they will end
up being the gain changing things about your house. And
(15:34):
so there you go. So here are some things to consider.
I already talked about roofing over or overframing your roof
to solve the waviness problem or a sagging roof ridge,
or just to change the pitch of your roof and
raise it. And I said this right before the break,
but I'm just gonna, you know, underscore this. In many cases,
(15:56):
when we changed the roof pitch on a roof, we
can leave the old roofing material on unless it's decrepit
and causing moisture problems. We can leave the old roofing
material on, we attach through it and then build up
a new roofing plane up above it. A new roof
deck up above it, raising the pitch of the roof,
substantially changing the vibe of the house from the curb
(16:18):
for sure. For sure. Uh. And that leaving the existing
material on, or at least most of it. Some of
it we have to pull off, but most of it
on means that you're saving thousands of dollars in the
tearoff costs, which then can go to, you know, mitigate
the additional costs of the carpentry work. Now, is it
going to cost? Is it going to be a wash? No,
(16:39):
it won't be a wash financially. But the whole point
of me bringing it up is it makes a major change,
a major change to your house. And because one cost
is being avoided while the other cost is being added,
it's not as much of an additional cost as you think.
And so it's worth asking the question. That's the point.
(17:01):
It's worth asking the question. Asking questions. Window shopping and
dreaming is free. I say that again and again, and
I will always tell it to you. It's free. So
ask question window shop, dream and you'll get answers and
then you make a decision. Okay, but you're never going
to be able to make a decision about something for
(17:24):
which you have not asked the question. So there you go.
Now there are other changes that can happen to this
house while the roof is Decisions to make before the
roof gets changed out, consider changing the facial size on
your house. Some of your facia is just way too
big for the size of your house. It's like just
(17:45):
appallingly large facia. It can be cut down, it can
be reduced in size. No, it doesn't change anything about gutters.
It doesn't change anything about anything. Okay, change the facial size.
Consider removing it altogether. Some of you can do your
house a huge favor by pulling the facia off the
house completely and then just using the exposed raftertails that
(18:08):
are coming out of the eve as the finished look
of the house. We did that to our little place
we've got. You know, we live in a cottage, and
yet our cottage was trying by somebody, a builder, to
be you know, all finished off, all fancy on the
edge of the roof, and I'm like, listen, this is
a cottage. I want sticks sticking out. Uh, you know,
(18:29):
I want that whole exposed rafter feel. It makes it
that much more rustic and that much more homeye, And
so first thing I did to this place before we
reroofed was pull all the faciaboard off, repaired whatever rafters
I needed to, and then we reroofed. With the raftertails exposed.
Suddenly the outside edge of the roof has got a
(18:49):
bunch of architectural detail to it that it never had before. Well,
it was always there, it was just covered up by
a flat piece of rotting wood. So consider, possibly, if
you are looking for a cottage or a more rusticated effect,
pulling the facier board off. The facier board is a
you know, is a is a fine finish surface as
opposed to exposed raftertails. There you go. Also, when it
(19:12):
comes to the facier board, consider painting it and the
eaves a darker, richer color that visually thickens and makes
the roof edge more substantial. In other words, instead of
doing the old builder thing, which is just like you know,
I mean, there's like an eighty percent chance you have
white facier board on your house, Okay, instead of just
going with that old boring builder standard, you actually pick
(19:37):
a tone, a darker tone, out of your new roofing
material and decide to paint your facia and the eve
boards underneath all of that color, and suddenly, especially if
you have an asphalt composite tile roof, which you know,
the roof is only like a quarter of an inch thick,
But now suddenly, instead of that being shown off for
(19:59):
the thin little thing that it is, because there's a
big piece of white wood right under the edge, we
take a color out of that roof and wrap that
around that facierboard and down underneath, and suddenly the roof
has presence, it has body, it has thickness to it,
it's substantial. It is a paint trick, and it always works.
By the way. That's just paint, Okay, just paint. Consider
(20:24):
getting all those vent pipes that are running up willy
nilly all over the house because the builder didn't care
where he put them or she put them, because they
just ran at the closest distance up from the bathroom
or the sink below. Consider it using the attic space
and putting a forty five degree bend on that vent
pipe so that it comes out of the roof on
(20:46):
the back side of the roof, so you don't have
to have the front side or the street curb appeal
messed up with these little vent pipes sticking out of
the roof all over the place. Keep it clean and unperforated,
unpenetrate it up front, and consider replacing the old asphalt
composite shingles with something more authentic looking a roofing material
(21:10):
like split wood shake or slate, or replacing an S
shaped Spanish tile with real two piece Spanish tile. Now
I know what you're saying. You're like, Dean, we have
asphalt shingles on our roof because there is no such
things as a fire rated split wood shake or slate.
(21:31):
Not true. Let's talk about it briefly. On the other
side of the break. You hang tight your Home with
Dean Sharp, the house whisper.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
I hope I have given you some things to think
about regarding your roof today, and some both technical and
design information. I'm not quite done. I very quickly want
to follow through with the thing I said right at
the end of the last segment, which is consider replacing
the old asphalt composite shingles on your roof with a
more authentic looking roofing material like split wood shake or slate,
(22:12):
or taking off the S shaped Spanish tiles which are
builder tiles and replacing them with real two piece Spanish
tiles more authentic looking. That one's easier for you to
understand because you know they're out there, and you know
the S shaped tile is less expensive because it's easier
(22:33):
labor because it's just one piece. The S has the
upper part and the trough built into it. But it's
not as authentic looking as good old, authentic two piece tiles.
And the fact of the matter is a well installed
authentic roof is just as effective, if not more long
term effective than the S statement. I mean, they're both brittled,
(22:54):
they're both things you shouldn't walk on, and so why
not go for authenticity if it radically changes and it
will the appearance of your home as far as the
other stuff is concerned. You're like, I thought, we all
had to take shake off of our roofs because it's
not fire safe. You're right, wood shake is not fire safe.
But this is the twenty first century, my friend. It
(23:16):
is twenty twenty six the last time I checked. And
let me tell you, there has never been a time
in history where there are more roofing options for your home,
including completely authentic looking options. I say authentic looking because
I can direct. In fact I will right now, but
write these two names down. Cedar not with a AR,
(23:39):
but Ceedure it's the name of a company. And Da
Vinci okay, as in Leonardo. These are two companies that
make synthetic shake and split shake roofing products. Class A
fire rated looks like you've got shake, I mean with
(24:00):
like three quarter inch reveals and rough edges, and it
can get worn, it can be in different colors. I mean,
it is amazing stuff. It can take your roof and
make it look like the shake shingle roof you always
dreamed of. Yeah, you can have it. You can have it,
and you can do all the funky tricky things with
it because they're actually shake pieces. They're just not made
(24:23):
out of wood, okay. And so it's a fire safe
shake roof. And the same as with slate if you
wanted that slate effect. But maybe your house is like
I can't put that much stone up there, and I
can't afford slate. Yeah, well you can afford the synthetic
version of slate, which is a lightweight roof, arguably lighter
(24:44):
than the asphalt tile roof, and you know it's a
multi multi decade roof up there, a walkable roof because
it's not brittle like slate, and yet you can do
all the tricks and things that you want. And so
the point is this, my friend, you got to reroof.
If you're in the market for reroofing, start thinking about
(25:08):
it now because rains are very likely coming and you
want to get ahead of the game. You don't want
to pay too much for it. But pause, pump the
brakes and think design. Think about all of these tricks
and options, and if you exclude them all just reroof, fine, great.
I am happy that you have moved forward and got
(25:28):
what you wanted. But I want you to know everything
that's available. So there you go. All right, that's about
all it all I've got for you today. I've got
time for at least. I want to leave you with
this thought. There's a show on TV. And I don't
bring you a lot of quotes from shows, but the
occasionally I do. There's a show on TV that Tina
and I really love. It's called Shrinking. It's about a
(25:50):
practice of these three psychologists practicing together. And this season's
finale it's very funny, very touching show. This season's finale,
there was a dialogue that really got to me. Harrison
Ford plays Paul. He's the mentor, psychologist, a father figure.
He's trying to get Jason Seagull's character Jimmy unstuck from
(26:11):
his trauma. Jimmy lost his wife, the love of his life,
in a tragic accident, and so Paul says to Jimmy, look, kid,
if you're ever gonna move forward, you gotta let go
of the past. And I know that's scary. You're never
gonna forget it, but letting go of the past just
means you don't allow your scars to hold you back anymore.
(26:35):
And with eyes tearing up, Jimmy says, scars, I'm covered
in them, Paul, and Paul answered, good, what a shame
to be forty two years of age and not completely
covered in scars. They're the evidence of a life fully lived.
(26:56):
Now you got a choice to make. Either staysty or
you can go make some new scars. I love that,
Go make some new scars. What a shame to be
forty two years of age and not completely covered in
They're the evidence of a life fully lived. Go make
(27:17):
new scars. It's a brilliant sentence. It says life is
worth living, while at the same time acknowledging that you're
not going to do it perfectly and that it won't
be without pain. But it's still something beautiful to chase after.
I love advice and encouragement that is hopeful without being pollyannish,
And there it is. Sometimes the writers who do our
(27:41):
media are brilliant in the things that they put together.
And that really touched me, brought Tina and I both
to tears, made me think about my own life, my
own scars, which so often I'm ashamed of or embarrassed of,
or wished that never happened. And the fact of the
matter is, you know what, there they are, It's the past.
Let it go, move on, go make new stars scars.
(28:04):
And that is essentially what I say to you every
week when I tell you get out there and get
busy living yourself a beautiful life. We will see you
right back here next weekend. Take care. This has been
Home with Dean Sharp the House Whisper. Tune into the
live broadcast on KFI AM six forty every Saturday morning
(28:24):
from six to eight Pacific time and every Sunday morning
from nine to noon Pacific time, or anytime on demand
on the iHeartRadio app.
KFI AM six forty. You're listening to Dean Sharp The
House Whisper on demand on the iHeart Radio app. Thanks
for joining us on the show. We're in the third
hour here. If you've missed the previous two hours of
the show, don't miss the podcast. Every single show that
we do, just a few minutes after we go off
the air is up on the stream waiting for you
(00:23):
on the podcast form. You can find it anywhere your
favorite podcasts are found on, of course, the free iHeartRadio app,
on Spotify, on Apple Podcasts. Wherever you listen to your podcast,
you just search for Home with Dean Sharp or The
House Whisper and baboom, there it is, every minute of
this program there for you to listen to whenever however
(00:46):
you would like so, and today's show is no exception.
We're talking about roofs today on the program. Before we
take one more step forward, I'm going to remind you
that if your home needs some personal house Whisper attention,
book an in home design consult with me and the
t Yeah no, not another member of our team showing up.
(01:07):
Some people say that I booked a console with you, guys.
Is there any chance that Dean might actually come. Yeah,
it's actually the two of us that's who comes to
your house. Uh and uh yeah, So we're happy to
stand in your family room and look at the atrocity
that you're trying to solve or whatever the case may be. Free.
(01:28):
Well did I say free? It's not free. I was
gonna say live in person design consult. All you have
to do to find out more is go to house
whisperer dot design for more info house whisperer dot Design.
There you go. All right, we're talking roofs today, and
we have We've talked about a whole bunch of things.
(01:50):
I want to answer a question here that is a
common question, Dean, I'm reroofing. I also want to reinsulate,
and I'm thinking about doing termite treatment. What's the proper
order for all of this going down? And there is
a proper order for it, generally speaking, with a couple
of exceptions. So here's the thing. There are very few
(02:13):
of you out there anymore that have a roof so
old that you don't have sheathing, modern sheathing over your roof.
And what I mean by that is there was a time,
you know, a couple decades ago that we were still
running into a lot of old shake roofs that had
(02:35):
one by six slats up there on top of the rafters.
No plywood, no osb, just one by six slats that
the shake was attached to underlayment, you know, building paper,
and then the shake on top of that, and you
know big gaps. My home was a perfect example of it.
That's what we had going on. We had asphalt shingles
on top of one by six slats, and those slats
(02:58):
have gaps in between them, and if they're real close together,
there's still gaps, usually at least a three quarter inch
or one inch gap in between those slaps. Kind of
slats running like sighting. If that's the situation you've got
and you've never had sheathing put up on top of
that roof on top of it, now is the time.
That's what's gonna happen this time around. But the reason
(03:21):
I bring that up is that if that's the case,
there is no question whatsoever that you should wait to
reinsulate the attic until the roof is done, because the
tear off process is going to cause all sorts of
roofing debris to fall down inside your attic and your roofer.
If they're being as conscientious as possible, we're probably going
(03:43):
to try and go up there and run plastic sheeting
up there inside the attic space to catch as much
of that debris as possible, assuming that you're not going
to have that the reinsulation done, But if you're planning
to reinsulate, that's convenient because they're gonna make a mess.
And then after they're done, you clean all of that out,
(04:03):
You pull all of that debris out and all of
the old insulation, and then you reinsulate and your new
insulation stays nice and clean. Reinsulating first and then having
that done in that situation is going to cause a
mess that you don't need to do, so you do
it in the proper order. Now that's not so common anymore.
Nowadays most people have at least re roofed once. Over
(04:25):
that kind of house. You can still see the slats
up in the attic, but you see that there's osb
or plywood on top of them. And because of that,
now your attic space is really relatively sealed up unless
we're adding skylights or we're having to take off sections.
So I would still say wait on the attic insulation
(04:47):
until after the reroof is done, just to be safe
in case vent has to be cut out or you know,
there's always a possibility that something happens that's going to
cause some debris to fall down into the attic. But
generally speaking, if you're roof has already been resheet then
there's really no opportunity for the debris of a tear
out to fall down and get the attic dirty. Okay,
(05:08):
So the general answer is, let's reroof first, and that
also applies to termite treatments because sometimes reroofing involves repairing
old rafters or replacing some rotting facierboard on the outside.
That means bringing in new lumber. Anytime we bring in
new lumber, there's always a chance that we're with it
(05:32):
we are bringing in a hidden termite or two. All right,
And if you doubt that, just go to a lumberyard
and walk around long enough and you will spot termites
on top of some of the new lumber that's sitting
there waiting to come to your home. New lumbers should
always be carefully inspected as you're using it, by the way,
So but the point is to be perfectly safe, right,
So if you tented the house, and then you reroofed,
(05:53):
and then there was some new construction work done, some
new lumber added. You might have just reintroduced termites to
the the house that you just purged of termites, and
that's no good. So all in all, the rule is
this reroof get all the new wood in, get all
the debris done, and all the mess taken care of.
(06:14):
Then clean out your attic, reinsulate the attic, and if
you have to tent the house or do whatever termite
treatment is necessary. And that way everything old and new
without any further changes happening to the house is gonna
get handled. Okay, that was an important moment to take
to just set you up for the proper order of things.
(06:36):
Now when we come back, let's talk about something that
maybe you have never heard before. If we're about to
reroof and we're going to this expense and there's a
tear off to be done of the existing roof, have
you ever thought about actually changing the shape or the
pitch or a feature on the roof And you're thinking, oh,
(06:57):
I can't afford that, Are you sure? Let's talk about
it on the other side your home with Dean Sharp.
The house Whisper.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six.
Speaker 1 (07:10):
Forty, jumping all around trying to cover some important stuff.
It's not a complete roof clinic, but you've learned a
lot already. If you've missed any part of the show,
make sure you catch the podcast right after we're done.
It will be available to everyone everywhere on the iHeartRadio app,
on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify. We're there. Just search for
(07:31):
Home with Dean Sharp or the House Whisper, and you'll
find us. You'll find us. You'll see my ugly mug
right there staring at you, smiling away, threatening to ruin
your life by changing the design of your home to
something that you love. You won't. Yes, No, I am
seen as a threat. At times. I am perceived as
(07:53):
a threat. Sometimes, especially when we'll do a consult and
Tina and I will walk in, you realize one of
the two people is a is a listener and a
fan of the show. The other has never heard of
us and wonders why we're inviting this vampire into my house?
Why is that? Why are we giving the these people
leeway to tell us how to live our lives? Uh.
(08:17):
But you know, in the end, everybody loves us because
I'm only there to help. That's the way it works.
All right, Hey, turn that off? What what do you
think is going on here? All right, let's talk about
roofs now.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
Uh.
Speaker 1 (08:33):
If you're gonna be reroofing, uh, then I want to
have a discussion about something that you're not gonna hear
anywhere else, and that is that instead of just you know,
pull it off, put on the new one, pick the
you know, pick the new shingle. It's all well and good,
there's nothing wrong with any of that. But but I
also want you to consider, now is the time to
(08:57):
possibly make change just to the roof that isn't just
replacing the material that it's covered with. Now is the
time maybe to make some design changes to the roof.
We call it a roof over or overframing. There are
things we can do to the roof before after we
tear off the old one. Actually sometimes before we tear
(09:18):
off the old one. Get ahead of myself here, there
are things we can do to the roof to fix it.
Fix it in terms of let's say you've got a
wavy roof. You're like, oh, you know, I mean, we
had a caller I think last week, had a big
wave in their roof, and I'm like, have the roofers
address that before they put the new stuff on. They
can do that. You may have rafters that aren't failing.
(09:39):
I'm not talking about cracked rafters. I'm talking about rafters
that maybe got installed upside down so that now they're
sagging low or maybe just over the years, you know,
the a section of the roof has sagged a little bit,
not structurally failing, just sagged and esthetically it creates this
noticeable wave. Maybe the ridge board is se at some
(10:00):
point and it's creating a little, you know, up and
down roller coaster ride across the top of your roof. Visually,
wavy roofs, sagging roofs, those things can be fixed with
framing before we put the new stuff on. Doesn't mean
that the whole roof has to be rebuilt. Just means
that the SAgs and the waves are filled in and addressed.
And I'm not going to get into exactly how we
(10:20):
do that. I'm just telling you it can be done,
and it's not that big of a thing, and the
rewards are massive because now we get back to having
a straight ridge and straight roof planes as intended, but
maybe even going a step further. You've always looked at
your home and said, you know, I really like this house,
(10:41):
and I like what it's doing for us. But honestly,
that roof is just boring as heck, and if it
was just a little bit stronger, if it was just
a little bit more, something something right. Quite often the
answer to doing something really dramatic with the roof is
to increase the pitch of the roof, actually enlarge the
(11:01):
height of the roof, which just about every single family
home in California can afford to do by code. I mean,
you get a lot of leeway when it comes to that.
But if you really want your roof to stand out
and to be set apart instead of it being the
weakest part, you know, like thinning hair on top of
(11:22):
a head, we can make it bold, we can make
it strong, we can make it significant. It's already significant.
That's the point that I'm trying to say. It just
may be attracting just enough attention and all the wrong
attention at the same time. Most homes, most single family standard,
even ranch style homes in California actually across the country.
(11:43):
Most homes, when you look at their roof profile and
you're standing out at the street just looking at the house,
you don't realize it because you don't really want to
look at the roof too much because it's n But
it is taking up at least at least twenty percent
of the field of view that you're looking at.
Speaker 2 (12:02):
Now.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
If you have a flat roof, obviously that's you know,
like one percent, but a standard pitched roof about thirty
closer to forty percent. That's almost half of what you're
looking at when you look at your house. And yet
if you find yourself never really looking at the roof,
it probably means it's not from a design perspective, holding
up its end of the bargain. And so sometimes increasing
(12:26):
the pitch, now raising the ridge of your roof a
foot or two, and then having it come back down
to the exact same starting point down below. And you
can imagine that would mean putting in some wedge shape
framing elements. But here's the thing. We wouldn't be tearing
off the whole roof and rebuilding it from ground zero.
We can actually do that with a little bit of
(12:48):
acknowledgment and support from a structural engineer, and it's entirely
legal to do this. We can do this right on
top of the existing roof, including sometimes right on top
of the existing roofing material, meaning you might be able
to save yourself the cost of the tear offf What
we would do is just encapsulate that stuff into the
(13:09):
existing roof and start fresh and new with a higher
pitched roof up above it. Are you serious, Dean? Is
that a thing? Is so a thing? And you would think, Okay,
there's going to be a lot of extra cost with
the framing. There will be extra cost with the framing.
You'll also save somewhere between three and five thousand dollars
by not tearing off the old roof, So think about that. Haha.
(13:30):
All right, more when we come back. You're Home with
Dean Sharp, the house Whisperer.
Speaker 2 (13:35):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
For the Western United States. At least, we're in an
El Nino year and they're predicting it's a severe one.
It's going to be a hotter than average summer and
a wetter than average winter by far could be could
be if the worst predictions come true, the worst most
severe El Nino condition in the last one one hundred
and forty years, meaning I'm assuming making an assumption here
(14:04):
that nobody's one hundred and forty out there, so that
would mean the most severe El Nino possible in our lifetimes.
So you know, it's worth thinking about. Again, I'm not
pandering in fear here, I'm just letting you know, this
is what experts are saying. And the last time El
Nino hit us and with heavy rains, which is just
(14:27):
a couple three years ago, five billion dollars worth of
residential home damage here in southern California, the majority of
which took place in homes in which the homeowners just
didn't take it very seriously that it was coming and
that it was going to be as bad as it was.
So that's all I'm saying, you know, an ounce of prevention,
you know, they say, So there you go. All right,
(14:49):
let's get back to talking about roofs. The designer is
jumping in here and taking over the conversation because he
has some things to say to you about things that
you can do if we're gonna reroof and they're not
necessary things to say I mean, they're not necessary things
to absolutely have to do. But you know, it's my
job to put out in front of you options that
(15:11):
you think about, Tina, And I always tell people, as
your designers, it's our job to, you know, suggest a
thousand things. It's your job to say no nine hundred
and ninety times. And once you're fully informed and educated
and we've worked it all out, those last ten items
that you've decided to go ahead with, they will end
up being the gain changing things about your house. And
(15:34):
so there you go. So here are some things to consider.
I already talked about roofing over or overframing your roof
to solve the waviness problem or a sagging roof ridge,
or just to change the pitch of your roof and
raise it. And I said this right before the break,
but I'm just gonna, you know, underscore this. In many cases,
(15:56):
when we changed the roof pitch on a roof, we
can leave the old roofing material on unless it's decrepit
and causing moisture problems. We can leave the old roofing
material on, we attach through it and then build up
a new roofing plane up above it. A new roof
deck up above it, raising the pitch of the roof,
substantially changing the vibe of the house from the curb
(16:18):
for sure. For sure. Uh. And that leaving the existing
material on, or at least most of it. Some of
it we have to pull off, but most of it
on means that you're saving thousands of dollars in the
tearoff costs, which then can go to, you know, mitigate
the additional costs of the carpentry work. Now, is it
going to cost? Is it going to be a wash? No,
(16:39):
it won't be a wash financially. But the whole point
of me bringing it up is it makes a major change,
a major change to your house. And because one cost
is being avoided while the other cost is being added,
it's not as much of an additional cost as you think.
And so it's worth asking the question. That's the point.
(17:01):
It's worth asking the question. Asking questions. Window shopping and
dreaming is free. I say that again and again, and
I will always tell it to you. It's free. So
ask question window shop, dream and you'll get answers and
then you make a decision. Okay, but you're never going
to be able to make a decision about something for
(17:24):
which you have not asked the question. So there you go.
Now there are other changes that can happen to this
house while the roof is Decisions to make before the
roof gets changed out, consider changing the facial size on
your house. Some of your facia is just way too
big for the size of your house. It's like just
(17:45):
appallingly large facia. It can be cut down, it can
be reduced in size. No, it doesn't change anything about gutters.
It doesn't change anything about anything. Okay, change the facial size.
Consider removing it altogether. Some of you can do your
house a huge favor by pulling the facia off the
house completely and then just using the exposed raftertails that
(18:08):
are coming out of the eve as the finished look
of the house. We did that to our little place
we've got. You know, we live in a cottage, and
yet our cottage was trying by somebody, a builder, to
be you know, all finished off, all fancy on the
edge of the roof, and I'm like, listen, this is
a cottage. I want sticks sticking out. Uh, you know,
(18:29):
I want that whole exposed rafter feel. It makes it
that much more rustic and that much more homeye, And
so first thing I did to this place before we
reroofed was pull all the faciaboard off, repaired whatever rafters
I needed to, and then we reroofed. With the raftertails exposed.
Suddenly the outside edge of the roof has got a
(18:49):
bunch of architectural detail to it that it never had before. Well,
it was always there, it was just covered up by
a flat piece of rotting wood. So consider, possibly, if
you are looking for a cottage or a more rusticated effect,
pulling the facier board off. The facier board is a
you know, is a is a fine finish surface as
opposed to exposed raftertails. There you go. Also, when it
(19:12):
comes to the facier board, consider painting it and the
eaves a darker, richer color that visually thickens and makes
the roof edge more substantial. In other words, instead of
doing the old builder thing, which is just like you know,
I mean, there's like an eighty percent chance you have
white facier board on your house, Okay, instead of just
going with that old boring builder standard, you actually pick
(19:37):
a tone, a darker tone, out of your new roofing
material and decide to paint your facia and the eve
boards underneath all of that color, and suddenly, especially if
you have an asphalt composite tile roof, which you know,
the roof is only like a quarter of an inch thick,
But now suddenly, instead of that being shown off for
(19:59):
the thin little thing that it is, because there's a
big piece of white wood right under the edge, we
take a color out of that roof and wrap that
around that facierboard and down underneath, and suddenly the roof
has presence, it has body, it has thickness to it,
it's substantial. It is a paint trick, and it always works.
By the way. That's just paint, Okay, just paint. Consider
(20:24):
getting all those vent pipes that are running up willy
nilly all over the house because the builder didn't care
where he put them or she put them, because they
just ran at the closest distance up from the bathroom
or the sink below. Consider it using the attic space
and putting a forty five degree bend on that vent
pipe so that it comes out of the roof on
(20:46):
the back side of the roof, so you don't have
to have the front side or the street curb appeal
messed up with these little vent pipes sticking out of
the roof all over the place. Keep it clean and unperforated,
unpenetrate it up front, and consider replacing the old asphalt
composite shingles with something more authentic looking a roofing material
(21:10):
like split wood shake or slate, or replacing an S
shaped Spanish tile with real two piece Spanish tile. Now
I know what you're saying. You're like, Dean, we have
asphalt shingles on our roof because there is no such
things as a fire rated split wood shake or slate.
(21:31):
Not true. Let's talk about it briefly. On the other
side of the break. You hang tight your Home with
Dean Sharp, the house whisper.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
You're listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from
KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 1 (21:48):
I hope I have given you some things to think
about regarding your roof today, and some both technical and
design information. I'm not quite done. I very quickly want
to follow through with the thing I said right at
the end of the last segment, which is consider replacing
the old asphalt composite shingles on your roof with a
more authentic looking roofing material like split wood shake or slate,
(22:12):
or taking off the S shaped Spanish tiles which are
builder tiles and replacing them with real two piece Spanish
tiles more authentic looking. That one's easier for you to
understand because you know they're out there, and you know
the S shaped tile is less expensive because it's easier
(22:33):
labor because it's just one piece. The S has the
upper part and the trough built into it. But it's
not as authentic looking as good old, authentic two piece tiles.
And the fact of the matter is a well installed
authentic roof is just as effective, if not more long
term effective than the S statement. I mean, they're both brittled,
(22:54):
they're both things you shouldn't walk on, and so why
not go for authenticity if it radically changes and it
will the appearance of your home as far as the
other stuff is concerned. You're like, I thought, we all
had to take shake off of our roofs because it's
not fire safe. You're right, wood shake is not fire safe.
But this is the twenty first century, my friend. It
(23:16):
is twenty twenty six the last time I checked. And
let me tell you, there has never been a time
in history where there are more roofing options for your home,
including completely authentic looking options. I say authentic looking because
I can direct. In fact I will right now, but
write these two names down. Cedar not with a AR,
(23:39):
but Ceedure it's the name of a company. And Da
Vinci okay, as in Leonardo. These are two companies that
make synthetic shake and split shake roofing products. Class A
fire rated looks like you've got shake, I mean with
(24:00):
like three quarter inch reveals and rough edges, and it
can get worn, it can be in different colors. I mean,
it is amazing stuff. It can take your roof and
make it look like the shake shingle roof you always
dreamed of. Yeah, you can have it. You can have it,
and you can do all the funky tricky things with
it because they're actually shake pieces. They're just not made
(24:23):
out of wood, okay. And so it's a fire safe
shake roof. And the same as with slate if you
wanted that slate effect. But maybe your house is like
I can't put that much stone up there, and I
can't afford slate. Yeah, well you can afford the synthetic
version of slate, which is a lightweight roof, arguably lighter
(24:44):
than the asphalt tile roof, and you know it's a
multi multi decade roof up there, a walkable roof because
it's not brittle like slate, and yet you can do
all the tricks and things that you want. And so
the point is this, my friend, you got to reroof.
If you're in the market for reroofing, start thinking about
(25:08):
it now because rains are very likely coming and you
want to get ahead of the game. You don't want
to pay too much for it. But pause, pump the
brakes and think design. Think about all of these tricks
and options, and if you exclude them all just reroof, fine, great.
I am happy that you have moved forward and got
(25:28):
what you wanted. But I want you to know everything
that's available. So there you go. All right, that's about
all it all I've got for you today. I've got
time for at least. I want to leave you with
this thought. There's a show on TV. And I don't
bring you a lot of quotes from shows, but the
occasionally I do. There's a show on TV that Tina
and I really love. It's called Shrinking. It's about a
(25:50):
practice of these three psychologists practicing together. And this season's
finale it's very funny, very touching show. This season's finale,
there was a dialogue that really got to me. Harrison
Ford plays Paul. He's the mentor, psychologist, a father figure.
He's trying to get Jason Seagull's character Jimmy unstuck from
(26:11):
his trauma. Jimmy lost his wife, the love of his life,
in a tragic accident, and so Paul says to Jimmy, look, kid,
if you're ever gonna move forward, you gotta let go
of the past. And I know that's scary. You're never
gonna forget it, but letting go of the past just
means you don't allow your scars to hold you back anymore.
(26:35):
And with eyes tearing up, Jimmy says, scars, I'm covered
in them, Paul, and Paul answered, good, what a shame
to be forty two years of age and not completely
covered in scars. They're the evidence of a life fully lived.
(26:56):
Now you got a choice to make. Either staysty or
you can go make some new scars. I love that,
Go make some new scars. What a shame to be
forty two years of age and not completely covered in
They're the evidence of a life fully lived. Go make
(27:17):
new scars. It's a brilliant sentence. It says life is
worth living, while at the same time acknowledging that you're
not going to do it perfectly and that it won't
be without pain. But it's still something beautiful to chase after.
I love advice and encouragement that is hopeful without being pollyannish,
And there it is. Sometimes the writers who do our
(27:41):
media are brilliant in the things that they put together.
And that really touched me, brought Tina and I both
to tears, made me think about my own life, my
own scars, which so often I'm ashamed of or embarrassed of,
or wished that never happened. And the fact of the
matter is, you know what, there they are, It's the past.
Let it go, move on, go make new stars scars.
(28:04):
And that is essentially what I say to you every
week when I tell you get out there and get
busy living yourself a beautiful life. We will see you
right back here next weekend. Take care. This has been
Home with Dean Sharp the House Whisper. Tune into the
live broadcast on KFI AM six forty every Saturday morning
(28:24):
from six to eight Pacific time and every Sunday morning
from nine to noon Pacific time, or anytime on demand
on the iHeartRadio app.
Home with Dean Sharp News
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The MeatEater Podcast
Building on the belief that a deeper understanding of the natural world enriches all of our lives, host Steven Rinella brings an in-depth and relevant look at all outdoor topics including hunting, fishing, nature, conservation, and wild foods. Filled with humor, irreverence, and things that will surprise the hell out of you, each episode welcomes a diverse group of guests who add their own expertise to the vast world of the outdoors. Part of The MeatEater Podcast Network.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by Audiochuck Media Company.