Roof replacement in Warwick

A suburb built in thirty years

Warwick had about 29,000 residents in 1940. Its growth came largely between 1950 and 1980, as families moved out of Providence into new tract neighborhoods, many of them in the eastern half of the city along the bay. The city’s comprehensive plan puts the median year built of its housing at 1960. That means thousands of ranches, Capes and raised ranches that are now on their third roof, or due for it.

What those houses need at replacement time

1. Count the layers. Many roofs from this era got a second layer of shingles instead of a tear-off.
2. Check the deck once it is bare, especially at the eaves and around chimneys.
3. Open up soffit vents and add a ridge vent; many of these attics barely breathe.
4. Run ice-barrier membrane along the eaves of low-pitched roofs.
5. Use high-wind nailing and sealed starter strips on exposed lots.

The shoreline

The 1938 hurricane destroyed much of Oakland Beach, then a summer resort, and Hurricane Carol in 1954 added to the damage. The neighborhood was rebuilt over the decades that followed, and today the houses along Warwick’s coves share the same exposure to wind and salt air. See roofing for wind and salt air for the details that matter.