How do know the deck damages not concurrent with the roof damage?
Why wasn't the insurance estimated conditional upon the potential of "unforeseen" decking damage, from the roof damage?

Unless you can know the unknown, any repair or renovation cannot be "capped". And you're not being at all fair to the roofer to try to make it his issue to absorb the costs for. If you have more damage to the decking than can be seen from the attic, then you're just gonna have to replace more decking than you may want to. It's the ONLY way to do the job correctly.

The other issue is, if this is not due to the recent damage, you may have a ventilation issue with the attic which is rotting out the decking from the interior. You do have soffit vents and ridge vents, correct?

We have a skylight in the roof that has leaked in the past and I suspect that he is trying to limit his exposure for whatever repair is associated with that...

which is fair to him. if you KNOW the skylight
leaked...then you know there is damage to the
roof decking. to into the attic & take a look.
water damage will make darker areas on the
decking. and quite frankly...one doesn't know
the extent of the damage until it is uncovered.

no one has xray eyes!

He is quoting a repair cost of $3.00 per linear foot. Is this good?, bad?

that depends upon thickness of plywood, his cost
to get on site & cost to remove & install.

amount of felt to cover all of roof wouldn't change.
new drip edge..all should be included in price.

best of luck.

the only problem I have with the roofer..sure they're trying to limit there expense not covered..I fixed roofs..it can be a can of worm..and fast.

what gets me is by lineal foot? roof sheathing is replace by sheet..generally 4x8
might be $20/30 for sheet..location is critical..around my parts they can and do use 1/2 sheathing..snow bound areas..5/8..3/4..but its per sheet..not lineal foot?? unless you have 1x6 roof decking..old school stuff..

hey..just my 2 cents

Or the OP meant square foot!

Hi Everybody and thank you for the fast response. Part of my reluctance is that the, "deteriorated decking" issue came up after the price had been agreed upon. it was one of those, .....Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you about this........ The state farm adjuster and the contractor went up on the roof to see the what the damage was. They both walked the roof. There was no mention of, "deteriorated decking" in the adjusters report that the claim amount was based on.

dkenny, I asked him specifically why equivalent width plywood couldn't be used. He said that the spots could be all over the roof and that it was more expensive to cut the wood than it is to buy the decking. This is a 1922 bungalow with 3 layers on it. It just occurred to me what he is talking about. The long boards.

Everybody, I'm not trying to stiff the contractor. I'm just trying not to be taken for a ride.. That's why I asked for some perspective from you. I've never replaced a roof before and have certainly never heard of, "deteriorated decking".

snoonyb- the answer to your question below is that I didn't know I could. This damage was wind and hail only. I will call the ins. agent tomorrow to see if this is some thing that can be passed through.

"Why wasn't the insurance estimated conditional upon the potential of "unforeseen" decking damage, from the roof damage?"

Thanks to all for keeping me grounded. At least now, I have a better idea of what I'm looking at.

You need to get some referrals on this roofer. If several people tell you he's fair, sign the deal as he wrote it. He's barely covering his costs at $3.00 per square foot.

3 layers and deteriorated decking isn't worth "repair". That's a tearoff and replacement. If you don't do that now, you'll do it soon. A 3rd layer doesn't end up with a lot of life.

Live also raises a good point in the most if not all roofing manufacturers recommend no more than two roof's if I am not mistaken so that should definitely be stripped in my mind as well.

"I asked him specifically why equivalent width plywood couldn't be used. He said that the spots could be all over the roof and that it was more expensive to cut the wood than it is to buy the decking. This is a 1922 bungalow with 3 layers on it. It just occurred to me what he is talking about. The long boards."

This paragraph says that you still do not know what type of material the decking is, so, is it 1X6, 1X6 T&G, 2X6 T&G, 1X8 shiplap, plywood, or.....?

Wind lifts and displaces, hail melts and water penetrates, often wind driven, damaging the underlying decking.

Is the roofers quote to remove all three layers and replace, or just repair?

Hmmm I've never seen 3 layers of shingles.

tearing it all off would be best option.
then plywood can be cut for all areas needing repair.
felt & drip edge replace & shingling can begin.

$3.00 per sq ft is fair. just break it down.
time to order & get wood in site. time to cut
haul up on roof & install. $3.00...very inexpensive.

best of luck.

No way in hades would I *ever* patch a roof with 3 layers on it! That's one more than the house should ever have. Whoever did the shingle over the third time should be shot. It ALL needs to come off.

Here, on the truly left coast, they allow 3 layers of comp.

In the OP's favor, while he has joined the group that didn't post here seeking advice prior, and to his credit, he is also not seeking absolution.

Refreshing!

I imagine 3 layers of shingles with zero possibility of snow is equivalent to 1 layer of steel roofing and a foot of wet snow. The second scenario is very heavy, probably heavier than 3 layers..

We can't estimate what we can't see. Most likely t and g boards, if they are 3/4" $3.00 at square foot the roofer looses money especially for complex hips and valley.

Lets assume the nearly 100 year old sheathing needs to be totally replaced and get a price. The insurance company will never give you any credit for old damaged sheathing. A good contractor will be able to tell if the damage is recent rot or old.

if the adjuster did not note problematic decking, maybe a new look by the adjuster will help...or maybe get another quote from a different contractor.

I understand now while the $3 per lineal foot..
my guess would be 1x6 or maybe 1x4 roof sheating..or $6 or $12 per sq foot..
3 layers of roofing..the disposal cost alone would be hugh..
80lbs per square(nominal)..TIMES 3!!!

I cannot imagine try to make a patch look good with 3 layers..its hard enough to make a patch look good with 2 layers..

-dkenny

Tear it off and fix what needs fixing. The price seems fine, you can renegotiate if it turns out to be cheaper and easier to re-deck the whole thing. You don't want to cap the amount of repair and leave rotten wood that will result in leaks later. -- It will be much more expensive later on.