Two-Layer Roofs on Older Cuyahoga Falls Homes and Why Tear-Off Wins

Why do so many Falls roofs have two layers?

Timing. The median home in Cuyahoga Falls was built in 1959. The shingles of that period lasted fifteen to twenty years, so the first wave of reroofing hit in the 1970s and 1980s. Laying new shingles over old ones saved the cost of tear-off and a dumpster, and it was accepted practice. Roofers called it a layover or a recover.

The result is a city where two layers are ordinary on any house older than about 1970. They are a major reason roof replacement cost in Cuyahoga Falls varies so much between houses that look alike.

How can you tell from the ground?

• Look at the rake. That is the sloped edge at the gable end. Two layers make a thick edge, often with one row of shingles visibly stepped back from the other.
• Look at the surface. A layover telegraphs the old roof through the new one. Rows look wavy or humped instead of flat.
• Look at the eave. Sometimes there are two strips of drip edge, one from each job, or none at all.
• Look at the flashing. Around a chimney or along a wall, a layover often buries the old flashing and relies on a heavy bead of tar.

If you cannot tell, that is normal. It takes about a minute on a ladder to be sure, and it is one of the first things checked at an inspection.

What does Ohio's code say about a third layer?

It says no. Under the roofing chapter of the Residential Code of Ohio, a roof recover is not permitted where the existing roof has two or more applications of any type of roof covering. So a house with two layers has exactly one legal path, which is to remove them.

The same chapter deals with flashing during reroofing. Existing flashings have to be replaced where they are rusted, damaged or deteriorated. A layover makes it easy to skip that. A tear-off makes it hard to miss.

What is wrong with leaving a layover alone?

If it is not leaking, nothing has to happen today. But a two-layer roof has built-in problems.

• Weight. A square of asphalt shingles weighs a couple of hundred pounds or more. Two layers put double that load on framing sized for one.
• A hidden deck. Nobody has seen the wood since the first roof went on. Rot near the eaves and around old leaks stays out of sight until it is serious.
• Heat. The top layer sits on a blanket of old asphalt instead of on a deck that can shed heat. It ages faster.
• Poor seating. Shingles are meant to lie flat on a smooth surface. Over the bumps of an old roof they do not seal as well, and wind finds the gaps.
• Harder repairs. A patch has to tie into two brittle layers at once.

What does a tear-off uncover on a Falls house?

On the plank decks common in houses from the 1950s and before, it uncovers gaps, a few split boards and usually some dark, soft wood along the bottom edge where ice has sat. On plywood it may show sheets that have come apart near a past leak.

It also shows the things nobody could have known about. Flashing that was never there. A bath fan that vents into the attic instead of outdoors. Daylight beside the chimney. An eave with no drip edge, so the fascia has been wicking water for half a century.

All of that can be fixed in an afternoon while the deck is bare. None of it can be fixed through two layers of shingles.

Does a tear-off cost more?

Yes, and it is fair to say so. There is more labor in stripping two layers than one, and more weight in the dumpster. What you get for it is a roof laid on wood that has been looked at, with new flashing, new underlayment and ice and water shield where the code wants it.

How much more depends on the house. The page on what a new roof costs in the Falls lists layers as one of six price drivers and shows labeled market ranges. The exact figure for your roof comes in writing after it is measured.

How much time does a second layer add?

On a small ranch or Cape Cod, hours instead of days. The roof still usually falls inside the one to two day range for a single-family tear-off. Deck repairs found along the way are what stretch a schedule, not the stripping itself.

What should you ask any roofer about layers?

• How many layers are on my roof now, and can you show me a photo of the edge?
• Does your price remove all of them?
• How do you handle boards or sheets that turn out to be bad?
• Is the chimney and wall flashing new, or reused?
• Who applies for the county permit?

The owner answers those at every free roof inspection in Cuyahoga Falls, with pictures. If you want to see where layered roofs are most common, the guides to the State Road and Portage Trail neighborhoods and the downtown streets go into detail. The full scope of a tear-off is on the roof replacement page.