Tear-off

A tear-off is the only way to inspect the decking and the original installation. Hidden problems — rotted plywood, missing ice-and-water shield, illegal nail patterns from the last reroof — only show up once the old roof is in the dump trailer. On a properly-scoped storm claim, the tear-off itself is a paid line item, and any decking damage uncovered during the tear-off becomes a supplement item.

Tear-offs are noisy, dusty, and one-day jobs on most NC residential homes. We tarp landscaping, run a magnetic sweep for nails before we leave, and dump the old material in a roll-off on site. Skipping the magnetic sweep is one of the storm-chaser tells — nail damage in tires and lawn-mower decks shows up for months after a sloppy tear-off.