I finally saw what 8 years of lake effect snow did to my neighbor's roof

My neighbor on West 112th just replaced his original 2010 asphalt shingles and the difference is wild. The south side of his roof looked almost new but the north side was completely bald with exposed felt, all from wind and ice dams off Lake Erie. He paid $9,200 for a full tear off with ice and water shield on the whole thing. Has anyone else noticed their roof aging way faster on one side than the other in Cleveland?

2 comments

2 Comments

miles_young5911d ago

Did you check which way his ridge vent was facing? Because I've seen the exact opposite pattern on my own house (south side got hammered way worse) and I'm betting it comes down to wind direction during storms more than the lake effect itself. The prevailing winds here usually slam the north and east sides with the worst of it, sure, but if his house gets a weird wind tunnel effect off the lake that channels gusts differently, that could explain the bald north side. Also, that $9,200 price tag sounds about right for a full tear off with ice and water shield everywhere (which is smart for Erie exposure), but I'd question if the original shingles were installed right in the first place. A bad nail pattern or not enough starter strip can make one side fail way faster regardless of the weather.

adam_patel9d ago

Funny you mention that, a buddy of mine had the exact same thing happen with his place near the lake. His north facing side looked like a desert while the south was totally fine, even though the storms were blasting the north. We climbed up there and realized his ridge vent was installed backwards, so it was sucking hot air out of the attic but also pulling moisture right into the north side sheathing. He spent like $600 just fixing that vent and then another $5k on a partial re roof, and now it's holding up way better. Kinda makes you wonder how many of these "bad lake exposure" problems are really just shoddy roofer work.