Consequences of Putting Off A Roof Repair

Why You Shouldn't Put off That Roof Repair

The Neglected Roof Scenario

I read today about how my friend Michael Schultz of PA ran across a metal roof in sore need of repair - and why a little roof leak needs to be attended to quickly. You can see his post here.

As a result of reading Mikes post, I realized that during the last season I ran into a lot of roofs that would have been a simple repair if the owners had just taken care of it the day they discovered their roof leaks. 

Here are some photos of what I found on people's roofs as a result of neglected leaks:

This is, if you can believe it, a piece of painted plywood that was screwed to the roof. Why? Because a tree trimmer dropped a branch on it, causing a huge dent. He figured, "Well, I can say the branch was there, and I noticed the hole, so I patched it." 

The problem with his logic was that the owner assumed that the patch would hold for two long years after Super Storm Sandy. As you can see, the shingles underneath rotted, the wood rotted, and we had to replace a large portion of the decking (plywood) under the patch and below it. But wait, there was more:

This spot of cracked shingles was undoubtedly caused by the fellow who put the patch on. He miss-stepped, and cracked a good portion of the edge shingles on the side of the peak.

Her's a spot that was ignored, too. See the decking? The entire lower area of plywood decking under and below it was rotted. 

What does rotted decking look like, and how much of a repair are we talking about? Take a good look at some of these photos that we took while replacing and repairing roofs: 

Here's a dent similar to the one above. See how wet the decking plywood is? We had to cut out 2 more planks of plywood and replace them around this area. If it had been repaired when it happened, we might not have had to do such and extensive repair. 

This area of the roof where there were missing shingles turned into a nightmare for the home owners that let this repair go for a year. They kept saying, "What can a few missing shingles cost to replace?" Unfortunately. they found out that it can mean opening up their roof. I'll explain more below. 

Here is the same roof, with the rotted, dark, water-stained plywood removed, leaving only the good plywood in place. See the insulation under the leak? All of that had to be taken out and replaced. A cleanup team had to be called to spray for black mold in the attic, too. 

To save on roof repairs and to keep from having to fully replace your roof, look for missing shingles. Sometimes it looks like this: 

The reason why you see two different colored shingles here is because this was a two-layer roof. The top layer of shingles blew off because the roofer hadn't used long enough nails. 

You should also look for curled and buckled shingles, that look like this: 

Each and every shingle on the roof above is a hazard for your roof. 

Finally, we'd like to share how clean and tidy a repaired roof can look. See the above photo? That roof took us a whole day to go over it with a fine-toothed comb, check every shingle, replace a rusted prefab chimney, and reboot a vent pipe. In the end, the home owner now has a completely rehabbed roof that will last for years to come. If he chose to sell his house now, it would sell at a substantially higher price due to the refurbishment that we have completed. His curb appeal has risen to the point that his house looks the best out of all of the homes on his street. 

If you're in a quandary about whether or not to fix your roof, please don't hesitate to reach out to me. You can send pictures and ask advice, even if you don't live in NY. I'd be glad to help. 

For those living on Long Island in Suffolk County, New York, I am available to you 24/7 at: 

631-281-9100 or 855-626-9100 (toll free). 

https://www.bestqualityroofingchimney.com