am I crazy?

[Tdoggy187]

Well guys I own a home that is 117 years old. I had a land contract with someone for 3 years who lets just say didn't really take care of the place and tried to make some upgrades but didn't d a good job :-(

Needless to say I now need a new roof. A bunch of new ceilings and some other work. The house is a 2 story house. We are currently living on the main level of the house. We use the upstairs for storage. Thats about it. I'm looking at a new roof and new ceilings upstairs. Hoping the water hasn't damaged the inside of the walls. From taking some paneling down looks like it hasn't so far.

I'm thinking of just putting a door up downstairs blocking off the entrance to upstairs. Then start with re-doing the whole downstairs. Putting up paneling, new carpets, etc. Then in September put up a new roof and new ceilings and then start to use the upstairs. What do you guys think?

Instead of building down I want to build up. Think I should?

Their are two roof leaks that I can see. I will patch them up for now. We are having a pretty good winter. So I can't see the roof coming down anytime soon. Just some more leaking until I get that patched up.

I will send some pictures soon. so you guys can help, Thanks for allt he help so far :-)

[Mr T]

Fix the roof first. Otherwise if you find hidden structural you may be redoing stuff that you allready have replaced. Also you dont want your bad roof ruining what you have already repaired. Doing the same project twice doesnt make it any better.

Ice likes to find it's way into patches and open them back up. If your insulation in the ceiling is damaged and you are heating the upstairs you will be at increased risk for ice dams forming and causing more leaks.

Once the roof is on, open up the walls and ceiling to make sure everything dries out before mold sets in.

Dont forget to plan for insulation expenses, updating electrical/plumbing (if any exists) HVAC, phone/cable into the budget when you start working on the interior. Try to plan to have at least insulation up before summer so you dont bake the rest of your house. (that would require any work inside the walls done and your ceiling to be put up first.)

Explore your attic well before you start the roof, you may want to take your roofer in there too. There's nothing worse then starting a roofing project, finding major problems and not having the finances for it.

Plan carefully so you dont break the bank...been there done that!

[scuba_dave]

I agree, roof 1st
That's what I did at my last house
I also closed off 1 room at a time, gutted the walls & added new insulation

I'd also plan on opening up all the walls and insulating
My current house I have dormered the upstairs & new insulation & windows
1st floor new windows, some insulation. Other outside walls "eliminated" with addition of a sunroom, greenhouse, enclosed front porch, garage, & new 6" 1/2 wall on the front of the house (planned) with R19

With all the windows replaced, new doors, basement sill plate insulated, I have saved the cost of the work in lowered heating bills in just 4 years
My basement used to dip down to 47!! Single pane windows, broken panes, poor caulking, door not air tight. Now it stays 60-63, recently dipped to 57 with 3 straight temsp in single digits

Better to do it right the 1st time

[Tdoggy187]

Well guys here is the deal. If I do the roof now I'm going to be pretty broke. But I got someone that owes me a big favor. Basically I can get the roof and ceilings done in possibly September for basically nothing. "This is the soonest he can do it" We are now in January and I probably got 2 more months of some more possible snow. I'm figuring I just put up a door downstairs for now and do some carpets and buy some furniture then do the roof in September. What is the worst that can happen? The whole upstairs might have to be redone anyway. With what you guys are talking about with insulation and all. So I figure spruce up the downstairs a little for now and then just start re-doing the whole upstairs with a new roof and then some new ceilings in September. He will do all the work. Whatever needs to be done up there. What do you think? Can I make this happen?

I patch up the two leaks for now. Which won't cost much. Spruce up the down stairs a little. Then everything new upstairs come September :burnout:

[Mr T]

Whats the worst that can happen?

Black mold (they just had to tear a house down up the road cause it was soo bad with it), Severe structural damage to the point the entire (trusses and all) roof needs replaced, possibly structural in the walls. Gravity is your friend here, water that gets in, goes down. If it's bad enough it could make it to the first floor even.

If you dont wanna do the roof now, do yourself a major favor and get someone who knows what they are doing up into your attic to inspect for water damage. Ask them if it can wait. That is the absolute least you should do. When you got a roof leak it's almost never where they water is visible. I would do minimal work upstairs till the roof is done, otherwise you could be doing it twice.

I bought my current house as a repo. It had a bad roof when it was repod and sat with it for 2 years. We spent $14,000 just on the roof. Luckily we got to it in time and there was only 1 structural board bad, but a whole pallet of sheating.

You got 2 votes for roof now so far... but it's your house..

[scuba_dave]

I bought my last house (1905) in the summer
So I had a summer to patch the roof
In the end it was 3 years before I replaced the roof
But if I had known how bad it was I would have done it the 1st year
I ended up having to redo work after I replaced the roof

There ended up being 3-5 layers of roofing on the house. Water was just sitting inside the layers & never dried out. Luckily my patching stopped the water getting into the house

Check for damage now & see if anything can be patched
As soon as warm weather starts patch any problems you can see
Mold is a big problem, and I have seen a house on another Town torn down due to this issue

[jeffo]

It just doesn't make any sense to do any work to the interior of a building if there's chance it will get wet with water from a leaky roof!

[Tdoggy187]

Yeah their is mold on 3 ceilings that I can see. Should I rip these ceilings down? I already ripped one down. Two to go I guess. Then can I just patch up the leaks and hope it holds till September? I got to think this roof has been leaking for at least 3 years now and it has damaged the 3 ceilings so far. I don't see how it would come down stairs though? And looks like everything is just fine behind the paneled walls. I'm not sure what to do....





Yeah I don't plan on doing to much to downstairs. I just want to do some carpets and add some furniture. The rest I'd leave alone. I just don't want to put all my money into the roof right now when I can get it done practically for free Come September. :proud:

[Tdoggy187]

Guys drywall and sheet rock are the way to go for insulation? Or should I do different??? Any ideas??

[crokett]

I'd pay to fix the roof now and have your friend who owes you the favor help do some of the interior stuff when he can do it. If your friend is a compentent roofer chances are he knows his way around the rest of the house.

[Mr T]

IF water gets through your top plate it can travel easily down to the bottom plate of your upstairs through wall cavity.. that area will be constantly wet untill it rots through your bottom plate... next is your ceiling and top plate of the down stairs...if it gets through that it's headin to the bottom plate of your downstairs and then you got some serious problems. Ditto if it gets into your foundation and freezes.

3 years is a very long time for a bad roof. Alot of the damage may not even be visible.

Mold will also grow inside your wall cavities. If it's missed it can continue to grow especially if it's being 'fed' by moisture. If you have ever seen a house that was flooded (had plenty up here last summer) they will rip out ANY wallboard that the water contacts. Not just because it got wet but because of the mold risk. The threat of mold outbreaks is what totalled many of the houses in New Orleans that werent alread destroyed by the storm. You are going to want to rip down all the ceilings and every wall in that area.

Will your friend do just the roof for free or also rebuild the top 1/4 of your house too? Are you sure? You better check first! Not all roofers are framers.

Drywall and sheetrock is just a wall covering, insulation goes behind it. inside the wall cavity. (fiberglass/celluose/ect). Do not even think about installing any insulation with a wet roof. it *WILL* get ruined if it gets wet. Insulation can also hold water speeding up rot and mold growth.

This is why all 4 of the responders have advised to fix roof first.

[Tdoggy187]

I really appreciate all the input. Starting with the roof is the way to go, I agree.
After all your guys input :-)

The only worry I have is that exactly what you said has already happened. That the water run off is in the down stairs wall cavities. :-( Their is obvious mold on 3 ceilings so far. I have only tore one down so far. 2 to go. But i don't see any mold inside the paneled walls? Is this a good sign?

Slapping on a roof onto this could be a problem right?

What should I have checked before I slap on a roof? Should I have a contractor come here and start looking inside walls?