Roof Replacement in Long Beach, WA
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A Long Beach roof is built on the assumption that a winter gust will take some of its shingles, and that the house has to stay dry until they are replaced. Washington's residential code treats the layer under the shingles that way. Its underlayment rules come in two versions, one for ordinary ground and one for "areas where wind design is required," and the code applies the second wherever the design wind speed "equals or exceeds 140 miles per hour in a special wind region." The City of Long Beach's own design table, part of its code since 2017, gives the city 140 and answers the special wind region question with "Yes." So the stricter version applies to every house in the city, and what it changes is the roof under the roof.
The roof under the roof
Three things are different about the underlayment on a Long Beach house, and none of them shows once the shingles are on. It is heavier: the wind-design rules name the heavier grades of asphalt felt, Type II under one standard and Type III or IV under the other, in place of the lighter grades allowed elsewhere. It is doubled: two layers on every slope, each sheet lapped over half of the one below so that the deck is covered twice, where the rest of the state doubles up only on low-pitched roofs. And it is nailed, not stapled: cap nails with 1-inch heads on a 12-inch grid across the field and 6 inches along the laps, where the ordinary rule asks only that the felt be "fastened sufficiently to hold in place." Two layers of heavy felt nailed down on a grid is a surface that can shed rain for a while with a course of shingles gone, on a coast where that happens.
The code also accepts a self-adhering membrane over the whole deck as an alternative, installed to the instructions of both the membrane maker and the shingle maker. The two approaches are priced and scheduled differently, and a Long Beach roof from VResh Construction is specified as one or the other in writing, doubled felt with cap nails or a full self-adhered deck, so that the choice is visible ahead of the tear-off. A synthetic underlayment, as described on the main roof replacement page for the metro, falls outside the wind-design list and applies only to a Long Beach roof, subject to its evaluation report and the building official's agreement.
The same city table answers a question the code leaves to each jurisdiction: whether an ice barrier is required at the eaves. Long Beach's answer is no. The strip of self-adhered membrane that most roofers run along the eaves is a code requirement in colder places and a standard line on VResh's roofs; in Long Beach, it is a practice rather than a rule, and it is priced as such. The shingles themselves are the same question as on the Oregon coast: at 140, the code's shingle table accepts only Class G or H, and the class is printed on the bundle.
Who sees it
Long Beach's list of work exempt from a building permit covers "residential roofing and siding repair" and stops there; replacement is not on it, and the list says in the same line that roof deck repair is not covered by the exemption. Whether a particular re-roof needs a permit is the building official's answer, and a replacement is not on the list that would excuse it from one. That matters here because the underlayment is the part of a Long Beach roof that a permit puts in front of someone other than the roofer. What the city inspects on a re-roof, and whether the felt is looked at before the shingles cover it, the building department states when it issues the permit, and VResh asks then, since the sequence in another town is no guide. The city wants 24 hours' notice for an inspection, and if the underlayment is on the list, that notice sets the shape of the week: the deck is stripped and covered on one day, and the shingles wait for the walk. Starting work before the permit is issued draws a second fee equal to the first, under the city's code.
Serving Portland Metro Area
VResh Construction provides window replacement, siding installation, roofing, dry rot repair and full exterior renovation services throughout the Portland metro area and Southwest Washington.
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Southwest Washington
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We answer calls and texts at any hour. For storm damage, active leaks, or structural emergencies, calling directly is the fastest path to a response.
Roof replacement questions from Long Beach, WA
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We have a wealth of experience working as main building contractors on all kinds of projects, big and small, from home maintenance and improvements to extensions, refurbishments and new builds.
The layer the storm tests first
On a Long Beach roof, the felt under the shingles is built to the code's wind-design rules, doubled and cap-nailed, and where the city inspects it, its inspector confirms it before the shingles go on. Call or text (503) 272-6436.