- 01
Re-covering a tar-and-gravel Eichler roof
Palo Alto's Eichler guidelines, which are voluntary, ask for replacement roofing with a plain appearance where the street can see it, and name tar and gravel, single-ply, foam and composite shingles. Standing-seam metal is not encouraged. They ask owners to keep the thin roof edges, overhanging eaves, exposed beam ends and wood fascia, not to box in beam ends or wrap fascia in aluminum or vinyl, and to look at insulated roofing that pairs with those materials.
- 02
Gable roofs that are steep under the code
The Energy Code treats a roof as low-sloped only below 2:12, so a 3:12 Eichler gable counts as steep: replacing more than half of it calls for an aged reflectance of 0.20 with emittance of 0.75, or an SRI of 16, unless an equivalent applies. On a flat-with-shed Eichler the flat bay falls under the low-slope rule, with its 0.63 reflectance and R-14 continuous insulation unless R-10 is already there. One house can carry both rules, so ask the bid to say which section of roof meets which.
- 03
Re-shingling the Community Center tract
Shingled Eichlers are uncommon, and the Community Center tract of 1973 is the example the city's guidelines give. Where shingle roofs were original, the preferred treatment is to re-roof with shingles again rather than switch to a flat-looking membrane. Composite shingles also appear on the guidelines' list of plain roofing that suits Eichlers elsewhere, so a shingle bid here is the expected choice, not an exception that needs explaining.
- 04
Wood shingle and clay tile in Professorville
The district's design guidelines, dated October 2016, ask owners to keep existing wood shingle and clay tile roofs where feasible and, when replacement is necessary, to match the color, shape and size of the historic material. They also ask owners to avoid standing-seam metal, which was never found there, and not to box in exposed rafter tails, replacing rotten ones with new members of the same profile. A roof construction weighing 25 pounds per square foot or more, as heavy tile can, is exempt from the cool-roof reflectance rule.
- 05
Chimneys and sprinklers when the job grows
Palo Alto's amendments to the residential code require a spark arrester on the existing chimney whenever any repair, replacement or alteration is made to the roof of an existing house. A separate amendment requires automatic fire sprinklers when the roof structure, exterior walls or both are removed, altered or replaced in at least half of the existing building. That trigger names the structure, so a re-roof that grows into new rafters across the house is worth raising with the Building Division early.
