• Getting Your Roof Winter-Ready
• Outside Roof Inspection
• Inside Roof Inspection
• Review your roof estimate
• Important Roof Considerations
• Helpful Roofing Tips

Getting Your Roof Winter-Ready

1. Check all gutters and make sure they're clean. You may want to consider a gutter guard or leaf covers. This will help keep ice from building up inside the gutter. The extra weight can tear them down.
2. Make sure your gutters are securely fastened.
3. If you have a flat roof with roof drains, make sure the drains are functioning.
4. Check the mortar and brick on your chimneys and call a mason to make any repairs.
5. Check all flashings. Flashings are the metal pieces used to waterproof interruptions in the roof plane such as pipes, chimneys, skylights, etc. If you suspect a deficiency and are unsure about how to fix it, call a roofing contractor. Snow leaks can wreak havoc on a house's interior during the winter - spending a nickel now and save a dime later, as the adage says.
6. Check all areas of caulking. Touch up any suspected deficiencies.
7. Don't use a snow-blower on your roof. Snow blowers are dangerous and can also tear up the roof.
8. If you get up on the roof to remove snow with a shovel or similar tool, go slowly, and be careful that to avoid damaging the roofing materials.
9. NEVER use an ice pick to remove ice build up.
10. Yes, heat tape works but be careful and buy a high quality product. Heat tapes have been known to catch fire and burn down houses. Also be careful about how you install it. You don't want to poke a bunch of holes in your roof.

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Outside Roof Inspection

Do you need a new roof?

It can sometimes be tough to determine just why you need a new roof, or why your inspector says a new roof is necessary. However, there are a few simple signs to look for.

We do not recommend that you inspect your roof by walking across it.

Instead, start by taking a pair of binoculars into the yard, find a spot without anything blocking your view, and look for any of the following signs:

1. Blistered, curled or split shingles.
2. Loose or missing shingles or tiles.
3. Broken or loose shingles at the ridge lines and hip lines.
4. Loose nails. A loose nail means an open hole, which can cause leaks and subsequent water damage to your roof.
5. Exposed nails. These also can lead to leaks in your roof as the water seeps around the head of the exposed nails.
6. Dark patches on asphalt shingles and/or large amounts of granules in the rain gutters. This could mean that the granular coating of your roof is wearing away and needs to be replaced.
7. On a slate roof, dark patches could indicate mold, but are often just discolored places from trees dripping repeatedly on the slates. If you see dark patches, be sure to check the interior for dark or discolored drywall or other evidence of a leak before calling an inspector or contractor.
8. Sagging either on the ridges or in the slope of the roof.
9. Rusty or corroded metal (flashing) and loose shingles in the valleys; also plumbing vents or areas near chimneys. You may need to remove leaves and other debris before a proper inspection can be done. Remember that a lot of leaf debris in the valleys, by plumbing vents, or near the chimney can cause problems with your roof if not dealt with promptly at the end of each season.
10. Rusty metal or loose shingles in locations where a vertical side of the house meets the roof
11. Overflowing gutters or excess water pooling near the foundation of the house.
12. On a flat roof, look for blisters in the coating. If you want to fix them yourself, pop the blisters with a knife and coat them with roofing cement to prevent further damage.

Depressions near a vent pipe on a flat roof is another sign to look for. Keep your eyes open for separations in the flashing, or clogged drains, as these are also signs of trouble

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Inside Roof Inspection

Continue the inspection from inside your home. There are a whole new set of problems to look for inside a house. The obvious leak is not hard to miss, but there are warning signs to look for that may help stop a problem before it reaches the critical stage. These include:

• Sagging decking between the rafters .
• Outside light that can be seen from the attic . If you have a shake roof, this may not be a problem as shakes will swell and seal during the wet months. On any other type of roof however, seeing the sky through your roof is not a good sign.
• Signs of leaking in the attic . This could include dark spots in the wood, especially around vents, chimneys, and other hole to the roof, or stained drywall/ceiling tiles if your attic is finished.
• If you find a dark spot on your wood , test it to determine if it is old or a new problem. If the spot is still wet, or if it is soft when you press a screwdriver to it, the spot is a current problem. If it is dry and hard, the problem has already been taken care of and you do not need to worry about it.
• Signs of water damage or leaking (usually in the form of water stains, or sagging ceilings)--this could be from either an active leak in the roof or to collected condensation caused by poor ventilation.

If any of the above signs are present in your roof, inside or out, you need either repairs or a new roof. It will be up to you to decide what is going to be best for you and your home, depending on the degree of damage. Sometimes it is less expensive to pay for a new roof than to deal with fixing the damage from an old, continuously patched roof. Whatever you decide, the time has come when you must contact contractors, review estimates, and learn what to expect during your roof project for a flat roof.

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Review your roof estimate

Calling contractors and asking for estimates is the easy part. Always ask for a detailed estimate in writing. Now you need to compare the estimates you have received. It is impossible to make an informed decision if you are not given all of the information. Before you begin your review of the written estimates, call the customer references provided by each contractor. Have your notes from the ensuing conversations handy as you review each estimate.

Although the bottom line is important, never compare estimates only by the overall cost. As you review your estimate, here are some of the questions you should be asking yourself:

Materials: Price versus Quality

Look carefully at the type of material quoted and its price. If the estimate does not contain a detailed breakdown of materials and labor, call the contractor and ask for this information. To bring in the lowest bid, your contractor may have priced your project using a lower quality roofing product which could impact the lifespan of your roof. It is always necessary to weigh the benefits of quality versus price when you are reading estimates. It may be worthwhile in the long run to pay extra now and save hassle a few years down the road. In addition, there can be a substantial difference in material quality from one material to another.

Also pay close attention to the type of insulation and sealants that are budgeted for your project. Although the cost differential is not high between a thinner insulation product and one with more layers, the quality of the product will directly affect your costs after the roof is installed. If you use a thicker insulation, the amount of heat or cold reduction to your home can be significantly different. The higher the quality insulation, the less you will be paying for air conditioning or heat.

Although it is not recommended that you climb up on your roof to measure and determine the amount of material needed, look closely at the estimates from the various contractors to make sure the bids have similar material amounts specified. If a contractor has never measured your roof, but offers a decisive amount of materials to be used, ask him to justify his number. Be sure that you are paying for the amount of material you need - no overage, and no surprises about not having enough.

Labor and Incidental costs

If the amount budgeted for labor and "pass-through" costs such as the transportation of materials seems high, dig deeper and determine where the cost comes from. A good contractor will often charge a bit more for labor because he has the extra cost of providing training and salary to quality workmen. However, be careful that higher costs don't equal a higher profit margin for the contractor, and not better quality for you.

Customer References

Weigh the responses you receive from the customer references carefully. These are the people who were so pleased with the contractor they were happy to have their name given as a reference. Have your list of questions handy when you interview a reference, and take notes of their answers.

Conclusion

Take detailed notes as you review each estimate. List your questions and summarize the overall bid and response from the customer references for each contractor. Once you finish a detailed review of each estimate, take your notes and compare the estimates. Only then will you be able to get a true comparison of what is being offered.

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Important Roof Considerations

There are several important considerations to keep in mind both before and after new construction or repairs are completed on your home. Paying attention to these issues can help extend the life of your roof, and minimize the amount of repairs you will need to finance over the years.

Ventilation

Ventilation is an integral part of roof longevity. It occurs naturally when vents are placed at the base of the roof (at the eaves or in the soffits) and near the top of the roof (the ridge). This allows warm air to leave through the top, and cool air can be drawn through the bottom. This process does not need electrical or mechanical fans, in most cases, as nature will do the work on its own. However, when vents are placed you should be aware of the following guidelines:

1. Vents should not be inserted into the middle sections of the roof, since this will often interrupt the natural circulation of the air. Instead, evenly distribute vents along the roof, to ensure even airflow to all portions of the roof.
2. Approximately half of the vents should be placed near the ridge and the other half near the eaves or soffits, to encourage maximum airflow.
3. Approximately 1 square foot of ventilation per 300 square feet of attic floor space should be included in the plans for your new roof (this is an approximate and depends on climate, roof pitch, compass orientation and available attic vent space).

If adequate ventilation is not installed, serious problems such as moisture condensation, wood rot, mold, mildew and rusting metal will occur. These problems can affect the integrity of the roof, as well as the integrity of the house. They can even cause health problems for family members in the home. One of the biggest problems associated with improper ventilation is an "ice dam".

Insulation

Insulating the attic of a house is important for heating and cooling inside the house. However, the ideal temperature of the attic/roof area is as near to the outside temperature as possible to prevent unnecessary condensation. Therefore, insulation should first be applied between the ceiling joists (rafters); this will allow insulation of the living areas of the home, without creating too much heat in the well-ventilated attic area. Additionally, insulation should never block inside or outside vents.

If the roof decking is the ceiling (as is the case with tongue and groove decking, and no attic space), insulation can be added in the form of rigid insulation on top of the decking.

Gutters and Downspouts

Gutters and downspouts perform the simple function of taking water away from the roof to a location far from the foundation. The most common gutters are aluminum, and are installed by contractors. Vinyl gutter systems are also available to the homeowner and do not need specialized tools to install, like aluminum gutters. Other gutter systems available are made of tin, copper and even wood.

If water is still collecting near the foundation, drain extensions (above or below ground) can be added to draw the water away from the the house. Another low budget fix is to raise the soil level near the foundation, so that the land slopes away from the house, and not into the house.

Gutters need to be maintained by : -

1. Cleaning out leaves and debris regularly (or add leaf guards to the gutters)
2. Cleaning downspouts regularly
3. Checking for leaks
4. Maintaining gutter supports

Moss

The first step to moss control is prevention by placing a zinc or copper strip under the edge of the ridge cap. The zinc or copper changes the composition of rain so that moss growth is reduced and/or stopped. Some composition materials come with zinc granules already embedded in the shingles.

If moss is already growing on the roof, cleaning agents can remove the existing moss growth. This, however, is not a quick fix, and may require repeated applications to control the problem. These products can be very toxic, and should be used only according to the manufacturer's instructions.

After the moss has been killed, the dead moss will remain on the roof. Though unsightly, it is no longer a hazard to the roof. The dead moss can be removed with a soft broom, but caution should be used when doing this, since walking on the roof (especially older roofs) can cause significant damage.

Chimney Repair

If the chimney requires any maintenance or repair, the best time to work on it is before a new roof is installed. Coordinate the chimney mason with the roofing contractor and yourself to make sure all chimney flashing and chimney repairs are completed properly before the new roof is installed.

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Helpful Roofing Tips

There is nothing wrong with getting the lowest price for a new roof. However, the lowest price is not always the "lowest price" if it's lacking in value. For example: a "lowest price" roofing bid may appear lower because they are not replacing the pipe flashings and are reusing the roof vents. In many cases, these cost cutting measures mean your roof can quickly develop a leak. Under those conditions, is the roofing job really a lower price, once the new leak repair has been calculated into the original cost of a new roof?

Small roof leaks and cracks can add up to large problems and big repair bills if they are not taken care of early. Don't wait too long to see how the weather has been treating your roof. Inspect it often. If it appears to be worn, it is most likely time to think about replacing the roof.

Before you let any contractor begin work, make sure you have a written contract describing the work to be done and the quality of the materials to be used. Make sure to get everything, especially warranty, in writing. It's good to get this written warranty at the start of the job, rather than at the end. It should tell you whether the entire job or only certain portions, such as materials, are guaranteed. Also, make sure the contractor has adequate liability insurance to protect you, in case a worker is injured on the job.

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