Roofing rules will increase cost for homeowners

Putting a roof on a house in Spokane is about to get more expensive for some people.

The International Building Code, which takes effect in the city on July 1, only permits homes to have two layers of roofing, as opposed to the three currently allowed. In addition, people can’t remove just one layer of roofing and replace it with a new one — they have to strip everything off, roofers and city officials say. In some cases, they’ll also have to add new sheathing.

Many older homes in Spokane have been strip-sheathed, meaning gaps have been left in that base layer, creating openings to the homes’ attics. Under the new code, those gaps would need to be sealed by laying down new oriented strand board, which would add significantly to the cost of the job.

“A lot of people think we can just go in and tear one layer off and put one back on,” said Joe Gipson, sales manager at Barton Roofing in Spokane. “Now it’s a whole new ballgame with a few thousand dollars more involved.”

The increased price of lumber will add to the cost as well. Last year, roofers say, a sheet of oriented strand board went for about $6. Now it’s up closer to $17 or $18.

Gipson said one recent bid he did for $3,500 would have been closer to $5,500 under the new rules.

Complicating matters is the prevalence of unlicensed roofers who undercut professional contractors and don’t abide by the rules, said Ardee Ableman, the city’s inspector supervisor and deputy building official.

“They’ll put on four roofs. They don’t care, until they get caught,” Ableman said. “That makes the whole industry very competitive. Everybody’s shaving every dollar they can to try to make sales.”

Ableman said, however, that the new code, if followed, will make for a better roof. It will cause less weight to be stacked on the roof and the roofing material will hold better, he said.

“A big part of our role out there is refereeing,” Ableman said of the city’s building inspectors. “We protect our good contractors. We do everything we can to protect them because our focus is safety.”

Mark Richard, government affairs director for the Spokane Home Builders, warned that the new rules could cause people to delay putting on a new roof because of the cost, or create safety issues when homeowners try to do it themselves.

“For our members who are licensed and bonded, they can accept a level playing field. The challenge comes when you have a guy thinking he’s going to be a roofer out of the back of his pickup or the homeowner decides he’s going to do it on his own,” Richard said. “Safety is an issue, and you’re getting sub-par work.”

City Councilman Bob Apple, who also owns Comet Roofing, is concerned enough about the potential increase in cost to homeowners that he has written to the city attorney and building department asking if the city could be exempted from compliance with several sections of the new law, including the one involving roofing.

The City Council is scheduled to consider the International Building Code at its Monday meeting, Apple said. Since the code was adopted by the state Legislature, the city is required to have standards at least as strict.

“It’s a great idea for me because I’ll make a lot more money, but I realize for the community overall it’s a bad idea,” Apple said. “It adds up real fast. All I’m trying to do is get some modifications in there.”