Roofing in Sherwood and Wilsonville: Is Your Roof Due?

Sherwood went from about 3,000 residents in 1990 to nearly 12,000 by 2000, according to census figures. That's a lot of houses going up at the same time, and a lot of roofs that are now 25 to 35 years old. Wilsonville's newer neighborhoods tell a similar story on a slightly later timeline.

If you own one of those homes, your roof has either been replaced once already or it's close to needing it. This guide walks through how to tell which, what to ask about a roof that's already been redone, and how shared roofs on townhomes and duplexes get handled. It's written for Sherwood and Wilsonville homeowners, but most of it applies anywhere in the south metro.

Why So Many Sherwood and Wilsonville Roofs Are Hitting the Same Age

When a neighborhood gets built all at once, the roofs go on all at once too. Same builder, same year, usually the same shingle. And most builders chose that shingle for price, not longevity.

In our experience, those original builder-grade roofs start to give out around the 20-year mark. That's why you'll see one house on a street get a new roof, and then three more over the next couple of years. They were all on the same clock.

In Sherwood, most of the 1990s boom homes are well past that point. In Wilsonville, planned communities like Villebois, which has been building out for close to two decades, are now reaching it with their earliest homes. Older Wilsonville neighborhoods like Charbonneau are generally on second or third roofs by now.

If Your Roof Has Already Been Replaced Once

A lot of 1990s homes in Sherwood had their first replacement sometime in the 2010s. That's great, but it doesn't automatically mean you're in the clear. It's worth finding out a few things about that roof.

Who installed it, and do they still stand behind it? A workmanship warranty is only as good as the company behind it. If the contractor is gone, that coverage is gone too.

What warranty came with the shingles? Most shingles are sold with a "lifetime" warranty, but that usually becomes prorated after about ten years and only covers the material. Labor and disposal are on you.

Was the ventilation updated? This is the one that gets skipped most. The attic ventilation standard has roughly doubled in the last decade, from one square foot of vent per 300 square feet of attic to one per 150. A quick reroof done ten or fifteen years ago probably didn't touch it. Poor ventilation traps moisture in your attic, which raises your heating bill, invites mold, and cooks the shingles from underneath in summer. Sean O'Hare, who founded Evolution RoofWorks, estimates that proper ventilation adds 7 to 15 percent to a shingle's life.

Signs Your Sherwood or Wilsonville Roof Needs Replacing

Whether it's the original roof or the second one, these are the signs we look for. Most of them can be spotted from the ground.

• Shingles that look shiny when the sun hits them at an angle, which means the fiberglass mat underneath is showing through
• Piles of granules in the gutters or at the base of downspouts
• Shingle tabs lifting or flapping in the wind
• Moss spreading on the north-facing side
• Any water stain on a ceiling, even a small one

If you're seeing more than one of these, a roof inspection will tell you how much life is left. A good inspection includes getting on the roof and going into the attic. We do both every time.

Shared Roofs: Townhomes, Duplexes, and HOAs

Plenty of homes in both cities share a roof with a neighbor. That makes townhome roof replacement trickier, especially when one owner is ready and the other isn't.

We ran into exactly that with a homeowner who lived in a duplex. Her neighbor refused to replace their half, and the roof wasn't a simple gable you could split down the middle. So we found the smallest point where the two roof sections met, replaced hers right up to that line, and wove the new roof into the old one so it would stay watertight. Sean calls it one of his favorite jobs, because she'd assumed she was stuck.

If you're in a similar spot, a few things help:

• Talk to your neighbor early. Replacing a shared roof at the same time is almost always cheaper and cleaner.
• Check your HOA rules. Many planned communities have rules about shingle color and style, and some require approval before work starts.
• Ask how the transition will be handled. Where the new roof meets the old one is the most likely place for a future leak, so it needs a real plan.

What to Expect When You Call Us

We'll come out, get on the roof, and check the attic. Then we'll sit down with you the same day and go through what we found. If a repair makes sense, we'll say so. If the whole roof is going to need replacing within a couple of years, we'll tell you that too, because patching a roof that's about to fail isn't a good use of your money.

If replacement is the answer, you'll get four options to choose from, with everything each one includes spelled out. There's no pressure to sign that day, and we won't flood you with follow-up calls.

Frequently Asked Questions

The Bottom Line

Sherwood and Wilsonville have a lot of homes whose roofs were built on the same schedule, and many of them are at or past the age where problems show up. If yours is original, get it looked at. If it's been replaced once, find out what was actually done, especially in the attic.