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One has to agree with Ray on the old practice of layovers, whether it was chosen by the insured or "allowed" by the carrier.  This method of repair led to the more recent complete expensive tear-offs and re-sheathing that we have all seen.  Another post by Ed Fako describes one of these "Dagwood" sandwich roofs, where there 2 or 3 old layers of roofing hidden by newer drip edge flashing.  It hasn't been that long ago that I encountered 9 (yes, NINE) layers of shingles on a dwelling roof.  It was in Council Bluffs, IA, after the 2001 hail storms that hit the Omaha NE/CB IA metro area.  The original cedar shakes were covered with asbestos tiles, then a layer of asphalt shingles.  Then someone had installed new drip edge all around, plus 2 more layers of asphalt or comp shingles....then at some later date a raised molding was installed on the gable ends and another application of drip edge along the rake after installing 3/8" plywood.   Additional layers of asphalt and/or comp shingles were installed as layovers after that.  That loss required 2 reinspections, because the roofer didn't pull off the gable crown molding until after we had discovered the 2nd set of layover.  Unbelievable!! And the top layer was probably at least 10 years old.  I guess that says something about rafter strength on old lumber.

In any event, the carrier paid for tear-off of all layers and resheeted the space board decking to facilitate installing new comp shingles.  The tear-off and dump costs on this large old 2-story house cost 5x the cost to reshingle it.

Including the cost of re-sheathing on my part has always been at the direction of the carrier, regardless of whether I was staff or independent.  And most of these were in NE, IA, KS, MO, SD.  So whether it be law or company practice, I did what the carrier instructed.

During the 2004 hurricanes here in S. Florida, any sheathing that was not plywood or 1 x planks had to be replaced, No OSB board was allowed in the designated Hi Wind areas, all items had to be corrected and brought up to the new 2001 FBC. Use that as a guideline I would think that the Insurer would replace the sheathing and find out why the boards became brittle, I have been building and remodeling residences for over 30 years and never ran into a brittle problem, however since we don't have heating in this area I would have to do some research about why the wood would get brittle, it sounds a little more than just no ventilation. I was reading an article from a lumber and timber manufacture, they blame a constant moisture content of 20% will cause a fungus that we call dry rot, this fungus eventually turns the wood planking brittle and then into powder.

It's age, not ventilation. Age causes things to become brittle.

I know this for a fact.

I am old. I recently fell and broke my arm. I am brittle.

Age = brittle.

I ventilate regularly and I'm still brittle so I don't think that has anything to do with it.

When I was being trained by The Farm way back in the golden age of claim handling (only about fifteen years ago) they used the "nailable surface" rule. The sheathing was replaced if it was required to provide a "nailable surface" for the shingle replacement.  If they have stopped using that rule, I can't imagine how you would provide a roof covering that cannot be installed.  It is a neccessary operation to perform repairs under certain circumstances which, it seems to me, a good claim rep will find a way to cover and with which a good carrier will not have a problem.

I was once told by a wise old man that houses built prior to the 30's were constructed from the best hardwood lumber available, with the "heart" of the trunk used for the main support beams and rafters/trusses.  With the boom of industry, building construction & paper usage began to deplete some of the lumber sources.  New timber was fertilized to hasten the growing time, and other varieties of trees that grow faster became more utilized for construction.  The faster the tree grows, the less hard the"heart wood".   How much truth there is to this, I don't know.

I too have experienced the bent nails you described when re-using lumber taken out of old barns that we tore down on my father's farm.   It was also dang near impossible to pull the old square nails out of this same lumber. 

Many years ago my grandfather was a builder during the off season farming time. Of the 30 or so homes he built, all are still standing, much over 100 years old, still square, still in excellent condition. He used primarily oak in his framing and pine for his sheathing. To my knowledge none of the pine has gotten brittle. His interior walls and ceilings had 1x8 ponderosa pine nailed to the studs and ceiling joists, then wire and plaster. Of the houses I have been fortunate to look at, none of the walls have been changed out to drywall material and the plaster is still in good shape. He built square of rectangular homes, with very few exterior wall elevation changes. He said that wasted too much material and I agree with his concept. All of his roofs were gabled with no valleys and three foot soffits.

Wood is not what it used to be. Pine is grown with spacing about 2 feet apart. They cut the trees before they have completely matured, so the heart of the wood is not fully established. Today it is difficult to buy wood that is straight like it used to be, so you have to cull out the bad pieces. When I built my first home in 1969, I have no problem with culling out bad pieces of wood. I also used the same techinique that my grandfather used, ponderosa pine on all interior stud walls and ceiling joists, but I used drywall, 5/8", instead of plaster. I made sure, as grandad did, that all my corners were perfectly squared and true. Times have changed for construction, certainly not for the better.Wood quality has changed, certainly not for the better.

Growing up in Texas, I remember well wood roofs. While you are correct about great ventilation, they are also one of the greatest fire hazards known. I remember well seeing wood roofs ignite and and within 5 minuets of ignition floating thru the neighborhood landing on other wood roofs. That was the reason so many cities have banned them from new construction and if over 25-50% damaged (depending on locale),code requirements say to replace with other forms of roofing over solid decking. Sometimes life safety and preservation of property takes priority over being green.

As you state,  Texas has adopted the IBC. If the insured has code upgrade coverage the local building inspector can mandate new decking if in their opinion the existing surface is unfit for use. Then a carrier will usually without challange pay for decking.