Centennial's older neighborhoods are full of split levels and tri levels, and they surprise people at bid time. A 1,900 square foot split can cost more to roof than a 2,400 square foot two story, and the reason has nothing to do with the size of the house. It is the shape of the roof on top of it.
Why Split Levels Are Everywhere Here
Much of Centennial was built as unincorporated Arapahoe County subdivisions from the 1960s through the 1990s, and the split level and tri level were signature plans of that era. They are concentrated in the older western and central neighborhoods, where the housing stock predates the city's 2001 incorporation by decades and most homes are now on their second or third roof.
What defines the plan is offset floors, and offset floors mean offset roofs. Instead of one continuous plane over a rectangle, you get two or three roof sections at different heights, joined by walls, with the geometry that creates.
What the Roofline Actually Costs You
- More planes, more waste. Every plane has its own edges, and every edge means cut shingles. A cut up roof runs a materially higher waste factor than a simple gable, and a bid that applies a simple roof's waste percentage to a split level will come up short.
- More ridge and hip cap. Cap is a separate line item and split levels generate a lot of linear footage of it.
- Wall to roof tie ins. Where a lower roof section meets the wall of the upper level, the detail requires step flashing, counterflashing and often a kick out at the bottom. These are labor intensive and they are where split levels leak.
- Access and staging. Two or three working heights on one house means moving equipment more, and the upper section is often steeper.
- Low slope sections. Porch roofs, entry canopies and connecting sections frequently drop below the minimum slope for asphalt shingles and need a different system.
The Tie In Is the Whole Ballgame
If a split level roof leaks, it very probably leaks where a lower roof meets an upper wall. Water running down the wall arrives at that junction with momentum, and the only thing standing between it and your ceiling is flashing that was installed correctly and has not been reused three times.
Two specifics worth asking about by name. Step flashing should be individual pieces woven into each shingle course, not one long strip of metal caulked along the joint. And a kick out flashing at the bottom of the run diverts water into the gutter instead of behind the siding, which is the detail whose absence rots wall sheathing invisibly for years. Our Centennial roof repair page covers the failures we find most.
The Low Slope Section Nobody Prices
Asphalt shingles have a minimum slope below which they are not an approved covering, and split levels routinely have one small area under it: an entry canopy, a porch, a connector between sections. That area needs its own system and its own line on the bid.
What happens when it is missed is predictable. The crew shingles it anyway because it is small, water sits on it, and in two years there is a leak everybody blames on something else. Ask any bidder whether the house has a low slope area and what they propose to put on it. A contractor who has looked will know.
How Split Levels Take Hail
Differently on each section, which is worth knowing before an adjuster arrives. The upper roof, the lower roof and the garage may face different directions and sit at different exposures, so a storm can destroy one and barely touch another. That is not a reason to expect a partial claim; it is a reason to insist that every plane is inspected and documented separately.
It also means a neighbor's outcome tells you very little, even in a subdivision of similar houses, because plan orientation varies lot to lot. Our guide to the test square method explains how adjusters evaluate each slope.
Getting a Bid That Reflects the Real Roof
Three questions get you most of the way. What waste factor is in this number, and why that figure for this roof. What is the plan for the wall tie ins, specifically the step and kick out flashing. And is there any low slope area, and what goes on it.
A bidder who answers all three has been on the roof. One who quotes from square footage and a satellite image has not, and on a split level the gap between those two bids is exactly the part that leaks. Our Centennial roof replacement cost page covers the broader pricing picture.
Split Level Roof Questions Centennial Homeowners Ask
- Why does my split level cost more to roof than a bigger house? Because price follows roof complexity more than house size. Multiple planes at different heights raise cut waste, ridge and hip cap footage, flashing labor and staging time, all on a roof that may have less total area than a simple two story.
- Where do split level roofs usually leak? At the junction where a lower roof section meets an upper level wall. Correct step flashing woven into each course, plus a kick out at the bottom of the run, is what prevents it. Long strips of caulked metal are the common shortcut.
- Can shingles go on my porch roof? Only if it meets the minimum slope for the product. Split levels frequently have one small area below that threshold, and it needs a different system priced as its own line item rather than shingled because it is small.
- Should each roof section be inspected separately after hail? Yes. The sections face different directions at different exposures, so one can be badly damaged while another looks untouched. Ask for a report organized plane by plane.