Archive for the ‘Composite Slate Shingles and Shakes’ Category


Do you want the company working on your roof to be environmentally conscious?

Green is a trendy color these days and Roof Life of Oregon is part of the style. We want to help Oregonians feel like they are giving back when it comes to their roof, just one step in helping the earth stay young and beautiful. Sometimes not thought of, but your roof can be a big energy waster! Especially, if your home is not properly ventilated or insulated, you could be wasting as much as 34% of the energy your home uses.  Every roof that we are asked to inspect, we make suggestions in writing to correct not only the air flow, but debris and moss problems, and help with the UV exposure.

Roof Life of Oregon is Green many ways. We use only environmentally safe products on and around your home. Our proprietary roof treatment will keep the moss off your roof and lower the UV exposure while being 100% safe for your home, family, yard, and pets; our goal is to leave as small of an environmental foot print behind as possible.

We also recycle. When you choose to use any of our services, remember that all of the roofing materials that we remove from your home are recycled. Wood shakes are ground up to be used as ground cover. Asphalt Shingles are ground up and re-used in paving our roads. Any and all metal scraps are separated, recycled, and the proceeds are donated  to the Shriners Children Hospital in Portland, OR.

When we repair or install your roof, we follow a procedure that ensures all components are installed correctly and that your roof and attic are properly ventilated. This procedure is tightly managed and audited. It is all part of our warranty; this ensures your home will perform at its best for the years to come. You will receive a Transferrable Lifetime Workmanship Warranty with your new roof ; we know by history that two-thirds of all roofing problems are traced to improper installation. Many times, improper workmanship happens because of improper or poorly managed procedures. When this happens, manufacturer warranties are voided, leaving the homeowner hung out to dry.

We want to bring you peace of mind that yGreen Home and Sunour home will work right, look good, and last longer. In Portland, a transferrable lifetime workmanship warranty on a roof is worth its weight in gold.

When you choose Roof Life of Oregon to serve you, whether it be maintenance or replacement, we make it a priority to give you the best service and benefit possible.


Yuckies and Nasties?

We recently ran a commercial talking about “those yuckies and nasties that we find up on your roof….”. We have had a lot of questions wondering what we meant by that?

Here you go!

Yuckies and nasties would be moss, black fungus, lichen, bird deposits, cat and raccoon stool, decaying leaves, tree branches, slimy green algae, fir needles, pine cones, nuts of all sorts, frisbees, flying saucers, balls, badminton shuttlecocks, all of these are just a part of life for an Oregon roof. We once even found a whoopie cushion!!

If it’s been a while since someone has been scampering up on your roof, you might be amazed at what Roof Life of Oregon will find!


What is a Ridge Vent?

How air moves in your homeA Ridge Vent is an option to homeowners to ventilate their attic space. A ridge vent is a 2 inch wide strip cut right on the ridge line, giving the most convection type pull of air possible. The ridge of your roof is then roofed over top of the ridge vent, so there is no visible evidence of the ventialtion.

This diagram shows how air enters our home and what hapens in the summer and the winter when air can’t ecscape properly vs. proper ventilation.


Good Roofing Materials – Lousy Installation

Camelot_on_dormer.jpg

Here is another low bid re-roof project where the homeowner got the short end of the stick. Of course, they thought they were getting a smoking hot deal. This 1st picture is of a roof on the weather side dormer on the front of a home valued at over $900,000. It was recently completed in the Alameda District of Portland, Oregon. The weather side of a home in Portland means it faces southwest. All of our serious wet weather comes from that direction. This is not a wall to cut corners on!

We had reroofed a neighbor to this home and also got a chance to make a presentation on this project. We ended up not getting the chance to serve them. They did get a short educational presentation made by the one and only Tony St. Pierre. They chose to use another well-known roofing company in Portland, known for being one of the cheapest Roofing Contractors in town. The contractor decided that it would be too much effort to flash this front dormer sidewall.

Instead, they decided to shove the high-end shingles (Camelot by GAF/ELK…top quality) under the siding trim board without any flashings! (GAF/ELK, the manufacturer, would “pass a brick” if they saw this type and kind of installation.)

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What about Composition Roofs?

We get this question a lot: Do you guys take care of composition roofs too?
And this one: Do you guys put on nice composition roofs?
One more: Do you guys do roofing?

The truth is we do…and we are the best at it. We established our reputation with years of quality cedar roof maintenance service. As a full-service roofing company, we’ve established our service record by gaining the top credentials offered in our industry. So, I’m not just bragging when I tell you that you won’t find better roofers in Portland. And considering the type of climate we have, I believe that we have more challenges in Portland than you’ll find just about anywhere else in the world.

In Portland, no matter what type of roof you have, tree debris, moss, fungus, wind and rain demand that you pay attention to your roof yearly. Allowing heavy tree debris or moss to remain on the roof not only looks really bad but it blocks the water drainage off of the roof and causes the water to travel horizontally which allows water into your home. We even experience a bit of snow and ice each year which also aggravate the condition of your roof.

So, what do our customers really want out of their roofs? Based on their requests, the order of importance to our clients is as follows.

  1. They want their roof to look good (as it represents 30-50% of the frontal appearance of their home).
  2. They want it to work right.
  3. They want it to last longer.

The only time this changes is when they have a leak and then it becomes the most important topic for a short duration. It’s been like this for the entire 25 years I’ve been in this business.

So, our reputation is built on giving our customers what they want; a good-looking roof which is designed to work correctly and last a long time.

Isn’t that what you want?


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