Check Your Roof in the Fall and the Spring to Diagnose Problems Early!
Don’t wait until you have a leak. Perform a check-up on your roof system in the fall and spring when you are out working in the yard. This will help diagnose potential problems early and it will be cheaper in the long run.
Our recommendation is you hire a professional roofing contractor to assist you with checking your roof. However, we realize many homeowners prefer to perform an initial inspection themselves. If you go that route, here are some important tips to get you started.
When cleaning your gutters or inspecting your roof system, remember important ladder safety tips:
- Make sure the ladder is on solid, level ground.
- Secure the ladder at the top to prevent it from slipping.
- Inspect the ladder, rungs and rails for damage.
- Extend the ladder at least 3 feet beyond the gutter, and angle it 1 foot back from the house for every 4 feet in eave height.
- Always use both hands when climbing the ladder.
Once on the ladder, you should look for:
- Shingles that are buckling, curling or blistering; this indicates the end of the shingles’ life expectancy.
- Loose material or wear around chimneys, pipes and other penetrations.
- Excessive amounts of shingle granules in your gutters; granules give shingles added weight and protect them from ultraviolet rays.
The National Roofing Contractors Association(NRCA) provides some excellent guides on what to look for when your checking your roof. (source NRCA) Check out their site to get some ideas on what they recommend you look for when inspecting your roof.
You Think You Have a Problem — Now What?
You’ve done your roof check-up and found what you think might be a potential problem. Or a recent storm swept through your neighborhood and you now have an abundance of door hangers on your porch from roofers offering to come and inspect your roof to determine what kind of damage your roof sustained.
What should you do?
Do Your Homework
Did you know that in most states there are no barriers to opening a roofing company?
Believe it or not, our barbers and hair stylists are required to obtain a license to cut hair, but most states do not require a license to be a ‘roofer.’ One can simply throw a ladder in the back of a truck, buy a yard sign, and call themselves a ‘roofer’!! UNBELIEVABLE!
Before you let a ‘roofer’ begins major construction to your home – which often requires tearing off 60-70% of the exterior of your home, make sure you do your homework.
The North Texas Roofing Contractors Association (NTRCA) has a great list of questions they recommend consumers ask prior to hiring a roofing contractor. Check out this list of questions.
Learn a a Little About Roofing So You Are Familiar with the Lingo
There are lot of words in the roofing industry you may or may not know. Here are a few things that will help you understand a bit more about roofing and what you might need to consider.
SHINGLES: There are all kinds of shingles. For the last ten or more years single-tab laminated asphalt shingles, (sometimes called “architectural”) shingles have grown in popularity. These single tab-laminated shingles are much more resistant to being blown off the roof than the old style “3-tab asphalt” shingles. If you live in an area where wind gusts often exceed 60 mph, it would be prudent to specify a shingle that is more resistant to high winds. At least one company manufactures a shingle that carries a 100 mph wind warranty. You can check out different kinds of shingles by checking with CertainTeed, Owens Corning or GAF to see the different kinds of shingles they manufacture.
COLOR: Color is important, especially in hot, arid climates. Generally speaking, the lighter the color, the longer the life of the shingle. Because the darker colors are less reflective, the sun literally bakes the life out of dark shingles. The life span of a dark or black shingle can be as much as five years shorter than an off-white or light gray shingle. Plus, as the industry grows “green” shingles are becoming more popular.
ROOFING FELT: If roofing felt is too thin it sometimes buckles or puckers because of dampness during installation, resulting in the shingles not lying smooth and flat. Ask about what kind of weight your roofer is using — 15 lb. ASTM felt or a 30 lb. felt is recommended most often.
NAILS: Most building codes require nails to be long enough to penetrate the full thickness of the plywood or other material used for the roof deck. Ask the contractor to demonstrate that the nails he specifies in the contract will meet code requirements. Most asphalt shingles are now one meter in length (39.37 inches) instead of 3 ft. It’s important that the contractor follow the manufacturer’s specification for the number of nails to be used per shingle. Generally, there should be no fewer than 6 nails per shingle, evenly spaced. The air pressure on the nail gun(s) should be adjusted so that the nails seat firmly, but do not blast halfway through the shingle.
A frequent cause of shingles being blown off in a high wind is that the nails were driven with too much pressure and cut into the shingle. The nails were still in place, but the shingle had been jerked off from around the nail head.
STAPLES: Check your local building codes, but nails are recommended over staples.
CEDAR SHAKES OR SHINGLES: There are some areas of the country where, because of fire danger, wooden shingles are no longer allowed. In wet climates they tend to last a long time, but in dry climates where it gets really hot in the summer they have a shortened life. Generally, good quality asphalt shingles are a better value measured by the dollars spent divided by the expected life of the roof. However, visual preference is often an overriding factor in the choice of shingles used.
CLIMATE: The ideal climate for roofing or re-roofing is 80-90 degrees F, and dry. Next to proper fastening, the most important factor in a good roofing job is the sealing down of the shingles after they are nailed down. A good quality shingle has an asphalt strip which, when nailed correctly is contacted by the overlapping shingle. When the outside temperature is warm enough to thoroughly melt that strip, it creates a strong bond with the shingle above it. A good nail job and a good seal-down produces a roof that will stand a lot of weather. If you don’t have an emergency which dictates when you have the job done, its best to schedule it when it’s warm and sunny. It’s also best to not install shingles when it’s extremely hot, because they get too warm, and tend to be marred by the roofer moving around on them.
Now That You Know More — Choose Your Contractor
Given that your roof covers 60-70% of the exterior of your home and all the belongings inside you home, not to mention your family, spend some time choosing your contractor.
There are many new on-line sites that will help you find a roofing contractor in your area. We recommend RoofingTree.com as the best site for this kind of thing. RoofingTree.com only promotes the best roofing contractors in the industry. They have a stringent Code of Ethics and allow contractors to purchase zip codes in the cities in which they work — but only promote two contractors per zip code. The cool thing about them is that all they focus on is roofing contractors unlike some sites that market everyone in the construction industry. Check out RoofingTree.com
VERIFY THE LICENSE, INSURANCE AND PERMIT: Check to make sure the prospective roofer is licensed, insured and bonded. Ask for references from customers. Check on memberships in local trade associations and ask your local Better Business Bureau if there are any outstanding or unresolved complaints against the prospective contractor.
Some states, like Texas, don’t require general liability insurance. That means you, the consumer, are ultimately responsible if someone gets hurt while working on your property. Ask them to show you their insurance certificate. You may even want to make a copy of this to keep on file during the job.
Most homeowners live where roofing permits are required. This is for your protection, so make sure the permit is purchased and posted on your house where it can be easily seen. You should request the building inspector to notify you so that you can be present when the inspection is made. The reason for this is that some building inspectors approve a job without getting out of their vehicle to really inspect it.
If you live where a permit is not required, it would be prudent to hire a qualified professional such as a professional home inspector to inspect your job. Have the contractor include this language in the contract, so that he understands that the job must pass inspection before he is paid. This may seem too bothersome or too embarrassing, but if a professional inspection is not done, and it turns out the contractor did a bad job, and you’ve already paid him, it’s many times harder to get satisfaction.
Ready to Write the Contract and Get Started — Here are Few More Tips
Now that you’ve chosen your contractor, here are a few more things to consider as you get ready to seal the deal.
CONTRACT DETAILS: Ask your contractor to specify in detail, in writing, what he plans to do and how much it will cost. Details should include what prep work will be done and how it will be done, the brand(s) of roofing material that will be used, their specifications and warranty. Check on the warranty for the labor. If composition shingles are to be used, the number of nails per shingle and the nail lengths should be specified. If the old roof is to be removed, details should include how it is to be disposed of, that the deck will be free of nails and debris before installing the new roof, and how the shrubs, flowers and lawn will be protected.
The details are needed to protect you, the homeowner, but it also protects the contractor against extra, unspecified work that may be demanded by the homeowner before payment is made.
WARRANTIES: Before signing a contract make sure that it includes the contractor’s warranty that will cover errors in installation for at least two years. A good, responsible contractor will stand behind his work no matter how much time passes before an installation defect is discovered. The contractor’s warranty should also include a clause which protects you from any liens brought against you in case he fails to pay the supplier for the materials that he put on your roof.
DO NOT PAY ANYTHING IN ADVANCE: Wait until the job is finished and inspected by the local authority that has jurisdiction. If the contractor is so under-capitalized that he has to ask for partial advance payment, he may be on the brink of bankruptcy, without the ability to pay the supplier for the roofing materials he puts on your house. A safer way to go, if you trust him, and if perhaps he is just getting started in business, is to purchase the materials yourself and deduct the cost from the contract price, with the understanding that you own any leftover materials.
The other side of this coin is that if the contractor purchases the materials for the job (which most do), any leftover materials following completion belong to him. Most responsible contractors will give the homeowner one or two extra bundles of roofing shingles to keep on hand for possibly needed repair.
Before signing the contract tell the contractor politely but firmly that he will not be paid until the job is complete, including clean-up, and it has been approved by the roofing inspector. (Some contractors are breathing down your neck two minutes after the last nail is nailed, demanding payment. Don’t be intimidated. It’s ten times harder if not impossible to get him back on the job once you’ve paid him and a defect is discovered.)
Send us a picture of your new roof and tell us about your experience. We’ll post your comments for others to use when getting ready to choose their contractor.
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