When your roof is damaged or fatigued to the point of leaking, a decision to repair or replace it needs to be made. You may be surprised to learn that many of the roofs we are called upon to replace can, with proper repairs, be restored to provide many years of additional service.

In choosing between repair and replacement we consider how old the roof is and the type of roof that’s in place (some roofing materials last longer than others). Remember, water is persistent and it can travel quite a distance before you see it showing up on your ceiling.  By the time you notice it in the interior, the actual roof could have started leaking weeks or months before that.  It is important to call us as soon as you notice a problem – the earlier we catch the problem and take care of it, the smaller and less expensive the repair will be..

“ Yes, we can fix it.”

Here are a few of the common locations where we find problems on a house:

• Chimney: Your chimney has several locations that may require a roof repair. The likelihood of a problem depends on how well the original roofing installation was done. Your chimney has four sides, and each side has flashing, which is what protects the line where the side of the chimney meets the roof. In addition, each of those four sides could have a different type of flashing, depending on where the chimney is located. Even the tiniest crack that allows water to get in behind the flashing can turn into a serious roof leak. This is why the chimney is one of the first places we check.

• Plumbing Vents: Another possible location for needing repair, a plumbing vent has to actually come out through a hole in the roof. Whenever a hole is made in the roof, it has to be sealed properly. In some cases, such as a plumbing vent, the hole could be sealed fine at the time of installation, but then the rubber boot around the vent pipe can become hardened or cracked over time and become compromised.

• Wind-Blown Rain Leak: This is not actually a problem caused by a faulty roof or a bad installation. Here in Chicagoland area we can have strong winds and rain, and the rain can literally be blowing sideways. This happens most often in the summer. Your roofing material is designed to divert water that comes from above, not from the side. When rain is blowing strongly, it can be driven up and under your shingles. At that point, the only thing between the rain and your house is a layer of tarpaper. This type of roof repair usually just means replacing any shingles that were compromised. If part of your roof normally faces the wind, we would also fasten down the shingles on the edge with some roofing cement. This minimizes the chances of the same thing happening again.

• Missing/Damaged Shingles: We can spot this pretty quickly once we are up on the roof. Every missing or damaged shingle is one less layer of protection between your house and the rain. Every shingle is important, so if one or several are missing it is definitely time for a roof repair.

• Shingles Loose, Cracked or Rotting: This is one of the most common roof leak occurrences, and is most likely to happen if your asphalt shingle roof is more than 15 or 20 years old. That’s getting up in years for asphalt shingles. We can look at the roof and see if it makes sense to repair the location of the leak, or if it would be more cost effective to replace the roof.

• A Nail That Has Backed Out: In a shingle roof, you might find that a shingle nail has somehow backed itself out and cut through the top shingle. You would be surprised at how much water can enter in through that one little nail hole.  Over time this can mean quite a bit of water damage; catching it early is a cheap fix.

• Bad Flashing Installation – Flashing is the metal piece that seals up the area where the roof meets a vertical surface, such as a chimney or a wall.  If this is not installed properly, water will find a way in eventually.  Nails can also work themselves out of flashing.

 Call us today at 847-422-3931 for a FREE, no obligation inspection and estimate.