Click here to view the embedded video.

Script:

“Today we’re out in Cornelius looking at a valley on this roof. We thought initially it was the debris that was backing up inside this valley (causing a leak) but it is not. A couple of things are going on here. One the roof has two layers. Two when the homeowner bought the house it already had this roof and they didn’t realize whoever put the roof on completely installed this roof wrong. There’s an area called a nailing zone, you have to hit that nailing zone with your nails or the roof is just not going to function right.

I’m going to show you what we noticed right away. This part of the shingle started pulling out. These are called the dragon teeth. What’s happening is there are no nails holding this part on. There’s a nailing zone right here where this line is. This line is where the nail should be. If there had been a nail here this piece would have never slid out but they are. So now the water is feeding back in behind the shingle running back in behind this piece of metal and finding that second layer of roofing and leaking on the inside. We did find some nails on this roof though, way up at the top of the shingle, completely wrong. Every shingle has about 3 nails, here, there there’s one over there all those nails should have been right along that line, minimum of 4 nails. They didn’t (install them correctly) they put them up here and this entire roof is installed incorrectly so there is absolutely no warranty on this roof and unfortunately this homeowner really needs to replace this roof.”

What does a major roof leak problem look like from inside your home?

If your ceiling looks like this, or you can visibly see a wet spot that is getting larger, then you have a major roof leak problem.

If you’re not able to get someone out to your home to take care of your roof leak what are you going to do, let it ruin your entire home? We recommend having a 10×10 tarp, ice pick, large bucket and hand towel grouped together in case a major roof leak arises.

Here is our DIY roof leak band-aid process we recommend:

1. Locate the visible area on the ceiling where the leak is coming from.
2. Place your 10×10 tarp underneath the leak area.
3. Place your large bucket on top of the tarp, directly underneath the leak area, and place your hand towel in the bucket to prevent splashing.
4. Position your chair or step ladder underneath the leak area.
5. Using your ice pick, gently pierce the ceiling material to allow the collected water to escape without causing further damage.

If this is done in a timely manner, the process of funneling the water into the bucket will keep the water from collecting in your ceiling and causing more damage in your home. This will afford you time to have a professional come inspect and repair the roof leak.

Don’t let a major leak ruin your home. With our step-by-step process you can turn a roof leak from an emergency into a manageable problem.

The import thing to remember is you can’t weather proof your roof, but doing something is always better than doing nothing. We hear from clients all the time, “I just want my roof to make it through winter,” because no one wants to worry about their roof when they should be spreading holiday cheer to their loved ones. Unless you physically get up on your roof and poke your head around it’s nearly impossible for homeowners to tell if your roof has a problem. Even when you get up on the roof do you really know what you’re looking for? Does your wife or husband really want you climbing up on a ladder just to have a look around? The way the weather has been the past couple of weeks we actually recommend you DON’T get up on your roof.

“I just want my roof to make it through winter”

Instead of taking the risk of getting up on your roof why not let one of our certified and training roofing consultants come out and inspect your roof for free? All it takes is a phone call [503-925-0125] or filling out a simple form for us to fire up our vans and ladder up to the tip-top of your home. If you’re not convinced that winter can play havoc with your roof, just take a look at the picture below. As a result of not being prepared, the Metrodome roof collapsed this past weekend in Minnesota. Don’t let this roof become yours, call Roof Life of Oregon today.

In addition, storms like last week, dumping over 4 inches of rain in some parts of Portland, are going to become more and more frequent. The Greater Portland area averages about 40 inches of rain per year, but we get the majority of that over the course of two to three months during the heart of winter.

We’ve received countless calls from concerned homeowners complaining about recent roof leaks which begs the following question:

Will your roof be ready when Winter officially starts on December 20th?

Visit our blog all this week for tips and insight to ensure your roof is ready for whatever mother nature throws at it.

Our team member Ken explains below exactly what a pipe flashing is and how they can cause a roof leak.

Click here to view the embedded video.

SCRIPT

Hi this is Ken, Roof Life of Oregon, today we’re on a roof and we’re going to talk about pipe flashings; some people refer to them as pipe jacks. Basically, wherever there’s any internal plumbing a tub, sink, toilet, those need to ventilate the house. So this is what that pipe is doing is ventilating those internally plumbed items. This is the pipe flashing or the pipe jack. A lot of contractors choose to put on a no-caulk. The no-caulk refers to the neoprene rubber collar that matches the angle of the pipe to the angle of the roof to giving you somewhat of a universal pipe unit. Typically these last ten years depending on the weather and severity. Anytime you have an increased angle or pitch of your roof it definitely shortens the life this because it stresses the upper side. From the street or from the ground side, normally you can’t see any problems, but that crack is usually on that upside of that flashing which could cause a severe leak and cause some internal problems even on a wear as they become bigger issues. So have us out every other year or every three years and we can detect those and get those taken care of for you.

There’s no way to tell you have a bad pipe flashing until it’s too late. Be proactive. All it takes is a phone call [503-925-0125] or filling out our roof estimate form to determine if your roof is home to faulty working pipe flashings.

A roof leak is your roof’s way of saying, “You haven’t been taking care of me.”

Wouldn’t it be nice to know your roof was about to leak before it actually did? We offer free roof estimates to help give you peace of mind that your roof is in working order. If your roof has sprung a leak, and you’re not currently a Roof Life of Oregon client, we charge $190.00 (pre-paid) for our response, diagnosis, and consultation. Any work needed will be estimated before services are performed. If you would like a maintenance estimate in addition to the assessment of your leak, our team member will be happy to perform the inspection at the time of your leak diagnosis.

Please understand that this is a different service than our free maintenance inspections. If you call us because your roof is leaking right now, we drop everything and head to your house, prepared to diagnose and stop the leak. Maintenance inspections are grouped into neighborhoods and performed on our schedule, with no need for the homeowner’s involvement.

The benefits of being a Roof Life of Oregon client mean the services are at no cost if the leak is covered under warranty (see your original paperwork for warranty information). If the leak is not covered under warranty there will be a $190.00 minimum charge assessed for the visit and diagnosis. Any work needed will be billed in addition.

What she needed, and what we often do in sudden leak situations, was for us to put together a ‘band-aid’ solution that would help keep the water off her hard wood floors until we could perform a more permanent solution. In my experience, I have seen roofs with one or a maximum of two shims used per roof. [A shim is a thin piece of metal that is used as a spacer to fill gaps between the roof deck, or house interior, and the great outdoors] On this particular home, you can see this roof has seven shims used in this one area. I’m not a roofing expert, but this is an obvious indication the roof in this area needs to be replaced.

From this view you can see another ten shims being used, which again are only a temporary solution. They are temporary because they will eventually blow off your roof. Additionally, more leaks will pop up, especially with a roof that is as worn as this one. Fortunately, this homeowner has a few months before trouble pop ups again, giving our crews plenty of time to get her on the schedule.

The important thing to remember is, roof leaks are an indication of a severe roof malfunction. Not all leak incidents lead to a roof replacement and not all roof replacements include the entire roof. This homeowner still has a North and East side that are maintainable and will last potentially 10-15 more years. If you had a roof leak this past winter, and didn’t have it inspected, please give us a call or fill out a roof inspection form to have one of our roof consultants come take a look. As a Portland roof replacement company, we take our craft very seriously. We believe that with just one inspection, we can help stop leaks and other long term damage from occurring.

Today, we’ll examine why presumably bullet-proof million dollar homes leak and what can be done to prevent this nightmare from happening.

Intuition would tell you, if a million dollar home equipped with a boat parked in the driveway and meticulously manicured landscape, the fixtures and amenities inside the home would be of equal look and value. Now imagine you went on vacation to someplace sunny, because you simply cannot handle this record rainfall the Oregon weather has recently produced, and when you returned from your two week trip you came home to a completely ruined living room all thanks to serve water damage. No words, photos, or videos can describe the exorbitant amount of inconvenience and monetary problems this type of roof leak would produce. Your million dollar baby, which seemed impenetrable, broke down as a result of improper roof maintenance.

Our photo below is a perfect example of a St. Helens like problem just waiting to be unleashed on your home. The surprising thing is, we see homes like this every single day. Hardworking homeowners that simply don’t take the time to protect their castle. Valleys such as these don’t get buried overnight, this is at least 3-6 months worth of debris that has accumulated from the surrounding trees.

Allowing debris to sit on your roof will cause it to decay faster, grow moss more abundantly, and allow water the opportunity to attack your fasteners ruining the inside of your beautiful home. Homes that are further up the mountainside are exposed to the same environment and weather as everyone else. Typically, these homes have a steeper pitch, making their roof a greater % of the visible portion of their home, but if the northeast side of the home isn’t visible to the homeowner the roof will not get the attention it deserves or needs.

In the words of our CEO Patrick Morin, “Maintenance is always less costly than replacement.”

Owning a million dollar home doesn’t mean the builder put a million dollars worth of materials into your home. Homeowners buy their home primarily because of the neighborhood, location, and school district, not the type of roofing materials they used on the home. To ensure your home works right, lasts longer, and looks great you need a professional you can trust. Since 1983, Roof Life of Oregon has protected homes from the top of the mountain, to the bottom of the mountain and everywhere in between from costly leaks. We are the only Portland roofing company that provides a three or five year no leak warranty with your roof maintenance project. Protect your family and your budget from roof leaks by calling Roof Life of Oregon (503) 925-0125 or requesting our one of our roof inspections.

The roof in this picture is only 6 years old, and the contractor pushed the plywood together with no space.  This is the kind of work done by a roofing contractor that puts on roofs as fast as they can, for as cheap as they can, and who knows as little as they can. Oh yes, it happens, more than what is talked about. Why isn’t it talked about? You now know the down side of cheap!

At Roof Life of Oregon, we take the time to put your roof on correctly.  Sure, it may take us a fraction longer to finish your roof than most contractors, but wouldn’t you want us to take the time to put on your roof correctly the first time?  We think so also. That is why we offer Portland’s only Lifetime Workmanship Warranty; to give you peace of mind that your roof will last and work as it should.

If you want to stream it live at home or at work click on the Listen Live link at the top right of the page – http://www.kpam.com/programming/handy_randy_home_crew.shtml