Well, another winter has come and gone and with spring upon our doorstep once again, it’s time to inspect the exterior of your home for signs of winters wear and tear and those must do repairs. As always, it’s best to start at the top, beginning with the roof and work our way down. The following are a few things to take note of, and to pay attention to when doing your spring inspection. Like always, safety comes first and we strongly suggest you do not ascend to your roof top, as most roof inspections can be visually done from the ground with a pair of binoculars or a good camera and lens. In the event that you are unable preform your own satisfactory roof inspection, call a professional roofer or roofing contractor for a full roof inspection or give us a ring at Tops Roofing Company in Mississauga, Tops Roofing Oakville, Tops Roofing Burlington, Tops Roofing Milton and Tops Roofing Hamilton and area as we can provide for a roof or whole home exterior inspection. At Tops Roofing company we also offer condominium roof inspections, roof maintenance, roof repair & replacement and spring roof tune-ups for condominium corporations and property management firms
Animal Damage is quite common and most prevalentin late winter when climbing backyard wildlife like raccoons, opossum and squirrels are looking for nesting sites to birth families of their own. Tell tale signs will include broken bits of shingles littered across the roof or roof vents torn out as these critters prefer a warm cozy nest within your roofs attic space.
Roof Flashings are one of the most overlooked areas, an integral part of your roof and key to keeping out the elements. Of all the roof repairs and roof service calls we field at
Tops Roofing Co, seventy per cent are roof flashing and chimney flashing repairs and here’s why. The majority of roofing companies have limited or no experience in roofing. The are adept only at removing and installing shingles and many are not well versed even at this. They have little to no experience in construction, ventilation systems, insulation and no experience or abilities in sheet metal work. They therefore price quote you for a new roof but only change out the shingles, forgoing all the key areas that would provide you a long, worry and maintenance free roof system. Roof flashings are dependent on a caulking adhesive to form a weather tight seal, and these need to be inspected every 5 years to ensure the seal has not been compromised by UV light, weather and expansion contraction in our hot and cold climate. If you’ve had a new roof installed in the past 10 years the chances that your roof flashings were never addressed is about 80 percent. Thats right, only about 2 of every roof replacements is actually done correctly.
Further, on homes built pre 2010 the builders and roofing companies always installed unfinished galvanized flashing that required a coat of paint. As we know, painted surfaces exposed to our weather do not last very long. Any painted surface thus becomes a continuing maintenance issue and when roofers don’t replace the flashing they don’t re-caulk it or fasten it to the roof deck correctly either. Flashings that extend onto the roof deck must be screwed down, not nailed, and you can see why in the photos below At Tops Roofing we only use pre-finished baked enamelled coloured steel for all our roof flashings. Not only does it tidy up up those old ugly flashings adding curb appeal to any home, but also provides decades of maintenance freedom. Personally, I can think of much better ways to spend my Saturday afternoon, than tired painting old roof flashings.
Eavestroughs are another much overlooked area of great concern. When eaves troughs become blocked with organic debris they cannot drain properly and thus overflow. Old eaves troughs often are not sloped properly in order to create sufficient fall that will facilitate water runoff to the drain pipes. The eaves trough function is to collect rain water your roof area sheds and to drain it either into the sewer or away from your home. When eave troughs are not functioning correctly you risk flooding your basement as the foundation weeping tiles will not be able to handle this much additional water. Eavestrough drain pipes come in sections that must be joined together and any turns in the drainpipe incorporate a small accessory elbow.
They are then fastened to the wall using metal straps. If the pipe is blocked, water will spill out at these elbow joints and soak the wall they are fastened too. This will in turn cause possible leakage into the home depending on the wall construction or outer covering. On brick walls ( brick and mortar being porous) the wall will most definitely leak and water will run in behind the brick and back into the home. At Tops Roofing Company we suggest eaves troughs and drain pipes be cleaned twice each year. Once in the spring after the trees are in full leaf and have finished shedding keys or leaf husks, and once in late autumn once all the leaves have dropped. If you would like an assessment on your eaves trough condition, new eaves troughs or just need them unclogged or cleared, call us at Tops Roofing Company today.
Roof Wind Damage can occur in any storm or extreme weather condition, but of course the older the roof the more prone it is to damage from wind. April showers might bring May flowers but often times they bring spring storms and broken shingles lying upon the front lawn.
If you can’t remember or don’t know when the last roof was replaced, it’s a good idea to have a spring roof tune up. At Tops Roofing our service master will inspect and replace loose or missing roof tiles, inspect and re-caulk all metal roof flashings, chimney flashings, refasten and seal all vents and exhaust coverings and inspect and clean eavestroughs and drain pipes. We will also inspect and advise on window and door caulking and its overall condition.
Condensation Damage occurs during the winter months when warm moist air rises from the home into the attic space and is unable to escape due lack of proper roof ventilation, soffit ventilation and often in conjugation with poor attic insulation. It could be minus 30 outside and those dripping noises you hear or water stains on the ceiling is not a roof leak, it’s a condensation leak. Moist air that cannot effectively escape to the outside will condensate on the underneath or attic side of the wood roof deck and rot it from the inside out. Call Tops Roofing Company today for all your roofing and roof ventilation assessments and solutions. The roof pictured below has rotted from the inside out and the waves are rotten plywood sinking between the roof truss supports. Rotten wood will not hold secure any type of nail or fastener either and shingle blow offs will occur frequently. Rotten wood also attracts a whole host of vermin, insects and animals, not even to mention the dangerous black mould that will have completely covered the underside of this plywood roof deck.
