Repair

Historic Roof Repair on Older Homes: Decking, Chimneys, Porches

By Murfreesboro Roof Repair · October 26, 2026 · 8 min read

Most of what we write about is the builder-grade stock that fills Blackman and Barfield, because that is most of the city. Historic roof repair in Murfreesboro is a different job. Murfreesboro was a county seat with a courthouse square a century before the first subdivision went in off Veterans Parkway, and the older streets — the East Main Street historic district, North Maney Avenue, the 1920s–50s bungalows and ranches around MTSU, the mid-century streets off Broad Street and Old Fort Parkway — have roofs that need a different kind of attention.

What is up there

Murfreesboro never had much slate or clay tile; this was never that kind of money. What the older houses have instead:

Plank decking. Houses built before the 1960s were decked with 1x6 or 1x8 boards, sometimes with gaps between them (skip sheathing, from the days of wood shingles). Boards cup, shrink, and leave gaps where nails miss. Modern shingles need a solid deck, and a repair on plank decking often means adding a layer of plywood over the section.

Multiple layers. Two layers is normal on a 1950s house here; three is not rare. Each one was put over the last without anyone looking at the boards underneath. The bottom layer is often the original asphalt or even wood shingles.

Brick chimneys, caulked. Real masonry chimneys, sometimes two, with flashing that has been "repaired" over decades with roof cement and caulk instead of cut-in counter-flashing. The cement cracks every summer and the chimney leaks every fall.

Low-slope additions. A back porch enclosed in 1965, a kitchen bumped out in 1980, a carport roofed over. These sit at 2/12 or flatter with regular shingles on them, and they leak in every heavy rain.

Original standing seam. A few of the East Main houses and older farmhouses at the edges of town still have painted terne or galvanized standing-seam roofs from before the war. Those can be repaired and repainted almost indefinitely if the seams are sound.

Hip roofs with worn valleys. The 1940s–60s ranches are mostly hips, which means valleys at every corner, and fifty years of rain has worn the valley shingles thin.

What historic roof repair in Murfreesboro involves

Chimney flashing, done right. Grind the old cement off, cut a reglet into a mortar joint, install step flashing woven into the shingles and counter-flashing let into the joint. $700–$1,500 depending on the chimney; more if the crown or the top courses of brick need work, which on a 1930s chimney they often do. A mason may be needed for that part.

Valley re-lay over plank decking. Strip the valley, cover the boards with plywood if the gaps are wide, membrane, new shingles. $600–$1,400. On a three-layer roof this may not be possible without addressing the layers.

Low-slope porch roofs. Take the shingles off and put on a product that belongs at that pitch — a self-adhered modified bitumen or a small TPO section. $900–$2,500 for a typical porch. This one repair stops more leaks on the older streets than any other.

Sistering rafters and re-decking a section. Where a leak has been going for years, rafters near the eave are soft. $90–$150 per sheet of new decking plus framing repair; a soft rafter tail is a few hundred dollars each.

Standing-seam repair. Re-solder or seal a seam, replace a rusted panel, repaint with a proper metal roof coating. Cheaper than most people expect and a lot cheaper than replacing a roof that could last another fifty years.

When a repair on an old roof is the wrong move

The limit is layers and decking. If a roof has three layers, or two layers over plank decking with wide gaps, a repair means peeling through history to get to something solid, and it does not hold. That roof needs a full tear-off, new plywood over the boards, and one clean layer. The tear-off and re-decking add $2,000–$5,000 to a normal replacement, so a 1,600 sq ft ranch near MTSU that would be $11,000 to re-roof becomes $13,000–$16,000. Our repair versus replacement post walks through the decision.

Historic district considerations

Houses in the East Main Street district and the other locally designated areas may need approval for visible changes to the roof — material, color, replacing standing seam with shingles. Check with the city's planning office before you commit to a change. A like-for-like repair usually needs nothing.

Trees

The reason the older streets are worth living on is also the reason the roofs need attention: the big sugar maples, hackberries and oaks that have been growing since the houses went up. They shade the north slopes into algae and moss, they fill valleys with leaves every October, and every ice storm brings a limb down. A fall gutter and valley cleaning is not optional on these streets. Our fall prep post has the walk-around.

A homeowner's check of an older roof

You can learn most of what a contractor will find before anyone climbs up. Take a flashlight and a phone camera.

1. Count the layers. At the roof edge, look at the drip edge from a ladder or a second-floor window. Two or three stacked shingle edges mean two or three layers.
2. Look at the deck from the attic. Separate boards with daylight between them mean plank or skip sheathing. Dark rings or soft spots on the boards mark old leaks.
3. Check the chimney from the ground. Gray or black smears of roof cement where the brick meets the shingles mean the flashing was patched, not rebuilt.
4. Find the low-slope sections. Porch roofs, enclosed carports and rear additions are the usual suspects. Stains on the ceiling right under them tell the story.
5. Look at the valleys. Shingles worn smooth or curled at the corners of a hip roof are near the end.
6. Note the trees. Branches over the roof and gutters packed with leaves add to every other problem on this list.

Write down what you find and send the photos with your estimate request. It makes the first visit far more useful.

Common mistakes on older roofs

• Adding another layer. Shingling over two old layers on plank decking hides rot and leaves nothing solid to nail into.
• More caulk on the chimney. Each new bead of cement buys one summer. The fix is flashing cut into the mortar joint.
• Shingles on a flat porch. Re-shingling a 2/12 porch roof repeats the leak. It needs a product made for that pitch.
• Replacing standing seam without asking. An old metal roof with sound seams is often worth keeping and repainting.
• Skipping the attic. A quote on an older house that never looked at the decking is a guess.

Questions to ask before historic roof repair starts

• How many layers did you find, and does the quote include removing them?
• What is the per-sheet price for plywood over the boards, and how many sheets do you expect?
• Will the chimney flashing be cut into the mortar, and does a mason need to look first?
• What product goes on the porch or addition roof, and is it rated for that pitch?
• Does a change of material or color need review from the city before work starts?

Common questions

What is my roof made of?

On most older Murfreesboro houses, asphalt shingles over board decking, often with one or two older layers of shingles underneath. Count the layers at the roof edge by the drip edge, then look at the underside of the deck in the attic: separate boards mean plank decking, large sheets mean plywood or OSB. A few of the oldest houses have painted standing-seam metal, and slate or clay tile is rare here.

What are roofs usually made of?

In Middle Tennessee, mostly asphalt shingles: architectural shingles on better installs and three-tab on many builder-grade roofs. Metal comes next, as standing seam or exposed-fastener panels. Low-slope porches and additions should have a membrane such as modified bitumen or TPO rather than shingles.

Can an older home keep its original roof decking?

Often, yes. Sound plank decking can stay, but modern shingles need a solid surface, so wide gaps or skip sheathing usually get a layer of plywood over the boards. Soft or rotted boards near old leaks get replaced. On these houses the extra tear-off and re-decking typically adds $2,000–$5,000 to a replacement.

What to expect from a contractor on an older house

Most residential roofing in Murfreesboro happens on the newer subdivisions, so ask how a contractor handles older houses before you hire. A good one walks the roof, goes in the attic, and counts layers before quoting. On plank decking, the quote should include the plywood. On chimneys, they should tell you if a mason needs to see it first. If the roof is on its last layer and it shows, expect the replacement priced alongside the repair so you can compare. For larger roofing renovations in Murfreesboro, TN — a tear-off over plank decking, a porch re-roof, a chimney rebuild — get the full scope in writing, and favor local roof repair in Murfreesboro, TN from someone who has worked these streets before. These roofs have been patched by a lot of people over the years; the goal is to hire the last one for a while.