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July 21, 2021 in Roofing

5 Signs you Need a Roof Replacement…Now!

Roof replacement is one term that fills homeowners with fear. Enough fear, in fact, to keep them far away from the vital roofing services they need. But homeowners, take heart; you’re not alone. It’s estimated that 90% of roofing services involve roof replacement.

There are significantly more existing homes than those being built new, and it’s only natural that an older home’s roof is more likely to need repair and replacement. Your roof is the only thing keeping you safe from the elements, so it’s time to give it a little more attention. Do you need roof repairs or a complete roof replacement? Here are five signs that your roof needs more than just a little TLC; it needs to be replaced.

1. Damaged Flashing

Flashing is placed around the joints of your roof to complete a water-tight seal. Usually made of metal, you’ll find flashing at the base of areas that extend upwards from the roof, including:

• Roof ridges
• Vent pipes
• Roof pitch connections
• Skylights
• Chimneys

When your roof’s flashing is damaged, it allows water to penetrate underneath…and right into your home. Flashing can be damaged due to weather, branches, or age. Common signs of flashing damage are corrosion and rust, bending or separating, leaks around chimneys and vents, and holes of any size. 

2. Bats in the Belfry? Unwanted Critters in Your Home

If you’re finding wildlife in your home and you’re not Snow White, the odds are quite high that you have a breach in your roof. Squirrels, birds, and, depending on the size of the hole, even raccoons, will take advantage of an easy entry into your home and cause hundreds of dollars in damages. Once in the home’s attic or crawl space, they can easily chew holes through ceilings and walls to make unwelcomed appearances in other rooms.

On top of gnawing and nesting, these animals carry diseases and can be quite aggressive. If you’re hearing the pitter-patter of tiny feet above you, it’s a sign that you need a roof replacement.

3. Curling or Missing Shingles

Shingles that are effectively doing their job should lay flat on the roof. If your shingles are curling and separating, they have outlasted their usefulness. Eventually, these shingles will come off the roof entirely, leaving your wood exposed and increasing the odds of a major leak. 

If you’re finding pieces of shingles or the granules that coat them, in your rain spouts or even washed into your yard, don’t waste time. A major breach is right around the corner.

4. Signs of Water Damage on Ceilings or Walls

This one seems obvious, but there’s a little more to it than just finding discoloration on your ceilings or walls. Water is unpredictable;  the damages you’re seeing on one spot of your ceiling may not be coming from an obvious source, such as the roof right above it. Water will find a way to travel along rafters and pipes, often pooling in spots you might not expect. This is why it’s important to replace your roof rather than try to repair it yourself. 

You may find leaks following large weather events that aren’t apparent during lesser ones. Hail, rain, and high winds may all play a part in where signs of a leak show up within the home. Even if you only notice the signs of leaking during heavy downpours, your roof is failing.

5. Your Asphalt Roof is Fifteen Years or Older

They say all good things must come to an end, and your asphalt roof is no exception. Did you know the average asphalt roofing material only has a lifespan of around fifteen years? Many people are turning to synthetic, slate, tile, and metal roofing to increase their roof’s life expectancy.

Not only are these alternative roofing materials durable, but they are also timeless and elegant, adding to your home’s curb appeal.

Do You Really Need a Roof Replacement?

Before committing to a total roof replacement, reach out to us and schedule a roof inspection. Your roof’s life expectancy could be extended with a few repairs. With several financing options available, a huge selection of styles, materials, and colors, and two decades of experience, your roof is in good hands with PJ’s roofing. Contact us today for a quote or to schedule your roof inspection.

May 19, 2021 in Roofing

Roof Inspection Checklist for Summer

Beach chair? Check. Sun tan lotion? Check. Roof summer ready? It will be once you inspect it for the temperature extremes and heavy summer storms that make Maryland’s and Pennsylvania’s weather as unpredictable as it is unique. Regular roof inspections will catch most minor roofing problems before they become costly repair issues. While we will perform a professional roof inspection for any commercial or residential property, there are a few things you can do to help summer-proof your roof. Here is a complete roof inspection checklist for summer.

A Summer Roof Inspection Starts Inside

Many times, roof issues make themselves known long before you climb on the roof to inspect it. Check for signs of leaks inside, including:

• Bulging patches on interior wall surfaces
• Spots on the ceiling or walls
• Peeling or bulging paint
• Musty odors
• Mold or mildew formation on the ceiling
• Obvious wet spots on the ceiling, walls, or floor

It’s important to remember that water can do crazy things and travel in unexpected directions. Just because you see signs of a water leak doesn’t mean the source of the leak is directly above it. In fact, water can travel inside walls and exit somewhere in the basement or first floor. Check all levels of your home for signs of water damage.

If you see signs of a leak, contact a professional immediately. Delaying repairs can cause extensive damage to your home’s structural integrity and be the foundation for mold, mildew, and bacteria.

Inspect the Attic or Crawlspace

It’s time to get up in the attic or crawlspace and check on the condition of your insulation and ventilation systems. Check for signs of water damage, blocked vents, animal droppings or carcasses, and nests. 

Signs of water damage could indicate roofing issues, while signs of animal habitation inevitably means there is access to your home through the eaves, ventilation systems, or the roof.

Check Your Eaves

The eaves are a prime spot for rot and pest infestation. Rodents can find entry to your attic or crawlspace through remarkably small holes, and as anyone who has had an unfortunate encounter with wasps and hornets will tell you, they are also a favorite spot for insects and pests to build nests. If you have less than 12”–15” of insulation, it’s time to add some more.

Check for signs such as gnawed wood, holes, sawdust on the ground, or lingering insects in and around your eaves. This is also the chance to address any chipped, peeling paint you see; a fresh coat of exterior paint will help protect your eaves from water damage.

Trim the Trees

You may spot trees that have limbs hovering over, or even touching, your roof. In windy conditions these branches blow back and forth, damaging your shingles. These branches also shed leaves onto the roof and into your gutters, allow a “bridge” for insects to travel from the tree to your roof, and have the potential to break off and cause even more damage to your roof.

Professionals recommend that tree branches be cut back six to ten feet away from the roof. Stay safe, and hire a professional tree service to handle this for you.

Gutter Inspections

Are your gutters still channeling water away from your home? Any gutter that is cracked or leaking needs to be repaired or replaced. Look for areas where it seems water is pooling (other than your downspout); if you see these areas, chances are your gutters need attention.

Clear all debris, such as nests and leaves, from your gutter channels. If you find yourself on the ladder cleaning the gutters too often, you may want to think about upgrading to a leaf block system.

Inspect Shingles

Starting on the ground, walk around the house and look for signs that your shingles are starting to lose integrity. Some of these signs include:

• Curling shingles
• “Bald” spots on shingles (missing granules)
• Cracked shingles
• Missing shingles

Your ground inspection should focus on the overall roof condition, but pay special attention to shingles at the edges of your roof and eaves.

Repair Flashing

Many roof repairs involve replacing or fixing the flashing (metal around chimneys and vents). Chances are you noticed the effects of faulty flashing already; water stains around the chimney, for instance. 

Carefully inspect the flashing, making sure it’s still structurally sound and not peeling away.

Clean the Roof

You’ve probably noticed discoloration on your shingles. This is usually because of algae and fungus formation. It’s a good idea to clean the roof annually by removing all sticks, leaves, and other debris before rinsing it down with a 50/50 mixture of bleach and water or a commercial grade roof cleaner.

Use caution before deciding to pressure wash your roof. The high-powered jets can cause damage to your shingles.

Check Your Previous Repairs

Oftentimes, an improperly repaired roof will return to haunt the homeowner again within a year or two. If you know you had a roof patch or other repair, check the integrity of it to make sure it’s still holding up.

Don’t Like Ladders? Call a Professional

A professional roofing contractor can provide comprehensive roof inspections that will uncover potential problems, provide you with tips to maintain the health of your roof, and even give you an estimate on your roof’s remaining lifespan. 

Most roofing professionals recommend an inspection every other year, but having an annual inspection improves your odds of uncovering minor issues before they become big repairs.

April 19, 2021 in Roofing

Heavy Rain, Hail & High Winds: Roof Damage from Weather

When it comes to safety and security, few things are more important than the integrity of the roof over your head. Yet last year alone, severe weather—including heavy rain, hail, and high-speed winds—caused close to $15 billion in damages to homes in the United States alone, accounting for nearly 40 percent of all homeowners’ insurance claims.

Unlike some parts of the country, the Mid-Atlantic region doesn’t often have to deal with the most severe types of weather, like hurricanes and tornadoes. That said, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and the surrounding states are not immune to heavy rains, hail, and high winds, which can be extremely damaging to roofs. 

Heavy Rain

An intense downpour or a series of moderate rainstorms can cause severe roof damage. Heavy rain can cause shingles to buckle or curl, especially if they are already showing signs of wear and tear. When shingles are worn down, they begin to deteriorate, making them more likely to break in a rainstorm. And once there is even a small area of your roof exposed, your interior is very likely to incur water damage. Addressing minor issues immediately keeps damage from spreading and ultimately saves you from the cost of more extensive repairs. 

Hail

The type and severity of hail roof damage differs according to the type, age, and slope of your roofing material, the size of the hail stone, and the speed and direction of the wind. It may not be a foolproof method for evaluating the likelihood of storm damage to your roof, but knowing the size of the hailstone involved is a good place to start. 

¾ inch: Property owners often discount possible roof damage after storms with smaller caliber hail because they underestimate its impact. Depending on the wind speed of the storm, hail as small as ¾ of an inch can cause serious damage to your home’s roof, metal fascia, vinyl siding, gutters and downspouts, and window screens. It can also dislodge granules from asphalt shingles.

1 inch: In addition to damage caused by smaller hail, stones that measure 1 inch can also cause significant bruising to shingle underlayment. Again, wind speeds will determine the severity of damage.

1¼ inch: It’s hard to believe, but just a quarter of an inch more in size makes the potential for hail damage much more significant. Even with minimal wind speed, hail of this size is potentially very damaging to your roof. 

1½ inch: Depending on the duration of the storm, the amount of hail, and the speed of the wind, this size hail is almost certain to cause severe damage to your roof.  

1¾ – 2 Inch: Hail of this size can actually penetrate plastic vents, ridge caps and other softer roof components. In combination with high winds, hail in this range can wreak havoc on your roof, causing both cosmetic and less obvious but still serious damage.

2” Inch: If your area suffers a storm that brings hail of this size with it, it’s not a matter of whether you will have damage but rather where the damage is. Because it’s difficult to see all the damage your roof may have sustained with the untrained eye, arrange for a professional roof inspection as soon as possible. 

Some hail damage is immediately noticeable. For example, it’s easy to spot the broken edges on your shingles or shakes. However, be sure to look carefully near your gutters for less obvious signs of high-impact hail damage. Chances are that if hail was heavy enough to dent your gutters or downspouts, it may have caused damage to the surrounding roof. 

When combined with high winds, hail can also cause roofing shakes or shingles to crack, leaving the roof with bare spots. The impact of hail on a roof can shatter the shingle’s surface, causing it to pull away from the underlying mat and exposing the fiberglass. Hail can also fracture the fiberglass mat. Less visible but even more serious, a fractured fiberglass mat seriously compromises the integrity of your roof.

High Winds

High winds can weaken your shingles’ self-seal strip, causing the shingles to blow completely off. Wind damage will often affect the edges of the roof or areas of the roof that have already seen damage/wear. Once it’s ripped off some shingles, it could start a domino effect and pull up other linked shingles.

In addition, high winds, with or without driving rain or hail, often cause more subtle damage to your roof, such as granule loss, punctures, and bruising.

• Granules are the sandpaper-like outer coating of the shingle. High winds can strip the granules from shingles, exposing the asphalt coating to the elements. This degrades the material’s performance, leading to accelerated aging and poor performance. Severe weather can cause shed granules to pile up in your gutters.
• Bruising is the soft, spongy area on or around the spot where shingle granules are missing or displaced. It results when the hail has placed enough pressure on the shingles that the fibers within the mat have loosened and have started to come apart. 

Experts in roof evaluation can usually feel divots or indentations in this area that are not apparent to the untrained eye. Because bruising is not outwardly noticeable, you may be tempted to ignore it. However, because bruised areas on your roof are not protected by a thick layer of granules, they are susceptible to future damage from temperature gradations and more.  

Unlike other areas of your home, you can’t always see the damage that may have happened to your roof. Yet staying on top of repairs is critically important to its longevity. Following a severe storm, have your roof inspected—especially if you can see debris on the ground or other telltale signs that some roof damage may have occurred out of sight. 

Remember that even though there is no tried-and-true way to protect your roof from being damaged by heavy rain, hail, or high winds, a well-maintained roof will hold up better against the element than one that has sustained even minor damage in the past. Don’t ignore even the smallest issues—keeping up with relatively small repairs as they occur is far better than having to replace your entire roof prematurely—or risk damage to the contents of your home.

March 18, 2021 in Roofing

What Can Happen If You Put Off Roof Repair

Being a homeowner is not for the faint of heart. In addition to all the things you’d like to do to enhance your home’s comfort and value, there always seems to be a list of must-do items that require your attention—and resources. That can be frustrating, but when it comes to roof repairs, don’t put those off. Delaying necessary roof repairs can create serious, expensive consequences, endangering your home, health, and financial security if you don’t address them promptly and thoroughly.

Delaying roof repairs can cause:

Health Issues
Even a small leak in your roof can allow mold, mildew and/or bacteria to develop in the wet spots where the water seeps in. As those areas of moisture expand, more will grow exponentially, working its way into the walls, the attic, and below grade. When these nasties grow indoors, they contaminate the air, threatening your health. Many people are very sensitive to mold, mildew and bacteria—to the point they develop severe respiratory illness or ongoing allergies.

Structural Instability
If your roof is leaking, and the leak is left untreated, your home can incur some serious internal damage. The wooden support beams that create the infrastructure will begin to rot and become unstable—in the worse cases, your roof will eventually collapse.

Delaying roof repairs won’t solve the problem.

Walk your roof after big storms or high winds and check for signs of damage. If any shingles are missing, torn, broken, or punctured, get a professional roofer in there to fix the problems pronto.
When your roof starts leaking, it will spread quickly to other parts of the house, weakening both the roof and the rest of the home’s infrastructure. Holes and cracks in your roof allow insects, rodents and other animals to get into your home, contaminating your living area and possibly spreading disease.

Putting off roof repairs is more expensive.

When you notice roof damage, ignoring it will only lead to the damage getting worse over time and more costly to repair. When you don’t act promptly, the damage may even spread from the roof to other parts of your home, including the walls, joists, rafters and more. Should the roof and ceilings collapse, it will be considered as a roof failure and you will need to remove and replace the entire roof. If mold, mildew, and other toxins have taken over your home, you’ll have to call in a professional service to clean it. You will also have to call a pest control company to remove any insects and animals that entered your house. Putting off roof maintenance and minor repairs only opens the door for more serious problems that will be considerably more expensive to repair.

Don’t Count on your insurance to cover certain costs.

While your homeowner’s insurance policy typically covers damage from natural disasters like storms and strong winds, it’s not likely to pay you for repairs that have resulted from neglected minor issues. If the insurance company’s claims examiner sees evidence that you have your roof, it’s possible that your claim will be rejected.

In the worst cases, putting off roof repairs can create issues that are threatening to your health and more expensive to repair. Ignoring the signs of roof damage can morph into problems that are too severe to fix while the house is occupied. Imagine having to move out of your home entirely to fix problems that could have been remedied years ago for far less money and much less disruption.

At PJ’s Roofing, we understand the importance of living in a healthy, structurally sound home that retains its value over time. We offer financing options to make roof repair or replacement affordable for a wide range of budgets.