This past spring I had a customer tell me they needed a roof but I was the only contractor who had told them that a new roof would require new gutters. Sometimes we run into situations where the original roof was cedar shake and past homeowners have added additional layers of asphalt shingles over the…
Read MoreGutters alone won’t solve problems in cold weather climates — gutter apron, sometimes called gutter flashing, is also important to prevent rot of your fascia. Fascia is that piece of wood, just behind the gutter. In most homes, the gutter is flush with the fascia. Gutter apron is a piece “L” shaped material, usually aluminum,…
Read MoreSeveral times a year I get panicked calls from homeowners in communities that have had a lot of two-story housing built over the past few years. All of these problems could have been prevented by vigilant building inspection process that would have exercised a little common sense. Slope does matters and despite all the good…
Read MoreWhen a shingle loses its protective granules, it’s time to get a new roof. Repair is not an issue since the asphalt underneath the granules that are left has dried out and has gotten brittle. In order to replace a shingle you have to be able to lift up the shingle above it enough so…
Read MoreWhat is causing the trim on the bottom of my house to get bent and knocked off? The photos tell the story. If you look closely you’ll see that your builder used a piece of custom bent aluminum which he adhered over a piece of foam on the bottom. That piece of trim is meant to…
Read MoreShingles are made from 3 layers. Each of them plays a role in protecting your home. Matting The matting is the base layer from which all else is built upon. Think of it like the foundation of a house. If the foundation is good, a good builder can build up from there. If not, well,…
Read MoreWhen a homeowner gets a letter from a supply house explaining that they were never paid for the new roof materials that went on from a contractor who gave a great price, homeowners start to panic. Due diligence should have told them that the cheap price was too good to be true. Rather than listen…
Read MoreCedar roofs were once the norm prior to the manufacturing of asphalt shingles. In older parts of the City of Milwaukee we find a lot of cedar hiding under layers of asphalt shingles. There’s really only one way to verify with any degree of certainty whether your roof has cedar shingles. Look in the attic.…
Read MoreTo fix an elusive home improvement problem you have to have a stubborn determination, an open mind, and sometimes a strong stomach. That was the case when I was asked recently what caused a new aluminum gutters to fail after just a year. The answer took long to get to and in my 14 years…
Read MoreConsidering buying a roof? There’s a whole lot more than the upfront price that you ought to be looking at. Homeowners who are doing their due diligence weigh the long term as well as the short term costs of a roof. Consider these facts: Dark colored roofs will not last as long as light colored…
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