Roofing inNorth Alabama

North Alabama sits in an active severe-weather corridor. Hail bruising does not always look like damage from the ground. Granule loss (shingles shedding the gritty coating that shields them from the sun) and cracks in the shingle mat show up as faster aging a year or two later. That is why a check after a storm matters, even when the roof looks fine.

Wind damage starts at edges and corners. Most wind losses we see begin at a poorly fastened drip edge, the metal strip along the roof edge, or a starter row of shingles that was never properly sealed down.

Attic heat here is extreme, and it cooks shingles from underneath. A roof without enough intake and exhaust ventilation ages measurably faster than the same roof properly vented. It is the least glamorous part of a new roof, and one of the most important.

Tear-off to the deck

Everything comes off, down to the wood deck, so it can be checked. A layover, new shingles over old, hides the deck and shortens the life of the new roof.

Deck repair and fastening

Soft or delaminated sheathing is replaced, and sound boards are re-nailed where needed.

Underlayment

Synthetic underlayment, the protective layer under the shingles, covers the whole roof, with self-sealing membrane in the valleys and other weak spots.

Edge metal and flashing

Drip edge, valley metal, step flashing where the roof meets a wall, and counter-flashing at brick. Pipe boots, the rubber collars around plumbing vents, are replaced, never reused. A dried-out boot is the most common leak we are called out to.

Shingles and ventilation

Shingles are nailed to spec in the nail zone at the right exposure, with ridge ventilation cut and installed as part of the roof, not as an add-on.

Tear-off starts early, because it is the noisiest part and we want the deck open in daylight. Driveways and landscaping are protected first. Magnetic sweeps for nails run at the end of every day and again at the finish.

The deck is checked as it is exposed, and this is the point where a scope can change. We photograph anything soft before we cover it, and you see those photos before we price the repair, not after.

Most single-family roofs take one to two days, and up to three for larger or steeper roofs. We do not leave a roof open overnight unless weather forces it. If it does, the roof is properly dried in, sealed against rain, rather than tarped.

• Reused pipe boots. A cracked old boot on a brand-new roof is the most common leak we see, and replacing it costs almost nothing during a tear-off.
• Exhaust with no intake. A ridge vent installed over blocked or painted-over soffits. Air cannot flow, the attic cooks, and the shingles age years early.
• Nails outside the nail zone. High nails miss the shingle below, so the shingle is held by its adhesive alone. It looks fine from the ground until the first real wind.
• Layovers. New shingles over old. Cheaper and faster, and it hides the deck you are about to nail a twenty-year roof into.

A large number of roofs in Huntsville and Madison were replaced in a short window after the April 2011 tornado outbreak. Those roofs are now around fifteen years old. In this attic heat, that is when granule loss and shingle wear start to show.

If your neighbors are getting new roofs, that is not a coincidence or a sales tactic. It is a group of roofs coming due at once. A check at that age is worth doing even if the roof looks fine from the ground, because most hail bruising cannot be seen from there.

Free in-home estimate

We look over the roof, the vents and the roof edges, measure, and document what we find with dated photos.

A written scope

A line-item estimate that names the shingles and materials, with a rate per sheet for any decking that needs replacing. There is no pressure to sign.

Installed

Tear-off, deck repair, underlayment, flashing, shingles and vents, usually in one to three days.

Cleaned up

Old roofing hauled away and magnetic sweeps for nails across the yard and driveway.