Category: Roofing

The roofing system is one of the most critical parts of your home. It adds to your property’s curb appeal and protects you from Mother Nature. But the roof will go through wear and tear over time and may get damaged by the same elements it shields your home from. 

Investing in roof repairs prolongs your roofing system’s life span and helps you avoid getting a roof replacement prematurely. But how much does it cost to repair a roof, and what factors are included in the price? Let’s take a look at them. 

How Much Does It Cost to Repair a Roof?

As of 2021, homeowners typically spend between $366 to $1,570 for roof repairs. However, your actual cost would still depend on the type of repairs you need. Repairing or replacing a few cracked shingles could cost as low as a few hundred dollars. On the other hand, a full roof tile replacement could be a five-figure repair job. 

What’s Included in the Cost of a Roof Repair Job?

Let’s go over the factors that a professional roofer typically considers when making a roofing repair estimate.

Scope of Work

The type of roof damage and the size of the damaged area affects how much time it will take and the amount of expertise and manpower needed to fix the problem. The more complex and labor-intensive the work, the costlier it is. Changing a broken shingle or flashing would be less complicated and cheaper than patching up a large puncture or repairing the trusses. 

Materials

What type of roofing material does your roof have? In general, a roofing contractor will charge more if they’re repairing or replacing an expensive material. Higher quality shingles such as slate, tiles, or wood shake are often harder to install than more affordable materials like asphalt shingles. 

Warranties

Roofing professionals can also offer warranties for roof repairs to ensure that your roof stays in good condition. At Roof Repair Specialist, we provide repair warranties covering your roof from two to twelve years, depending on the roofing material.

The Cost of Neglecting Roof Maintenance and Repairs

Still on the fence about whether you should go through with the roof repairs or not? Let’s weigh the pros and cons of ignoring your roof’s repair needs. While not spending money on repairs and maintenance may seem like a good way to save some cash, it may prove costly in the long run. 

Disadvantages of Neglecting Repairs

• Existing roof damage can deteriorate to the point where you might have to spend money on a new and more expensive roof installation.

• A damaged roof means that your home could be more vulnerable to the elements. You could have more leaks, and pests might enter through the roof. 

• Roof damage could lead to poorer insulation and make your home less energy efficient. 

• Your property’s value could diminish since the buyer would likely be the one to handle the roof repairs. 

Contact Us for Estimates Today

Knowing how much it costs to repair a roof can help you prepare the right budget for it. Roof repairs can be worth the investment, especially if you’ve got reliable and licensed roofers to do the job safely and correctly. 

Want to know how much your roof repairs might cost? You can call the folks here at Roof Repair Specialist in Los Angeles, CA. Together, we’ll schedule an appointment to evaluate your roof. 

The roof is critical in shielding your home from the sun, rain, and other elements of nature. However, your roof may sustain damage over time owing to a variety of factors such as high winds, falling tree limbs, and even local wildlife. Whatever the cause, the damage could progress to the point where repairs or perhaps a complete roof replacement would be required to remedy the situation.

Here’s a guide on the different kinds of roof damage that need your immediate attention. 

Types of Roof Damage That You Shouldn’t Ignore

Roof Blisters

A blister occurs when trapped pockets of air form between layers of roofing. When the temperature outside rises, the air expands from the heat, raising that section of the roof and forming blisters.

You may be able to ignore small blisters for the time being, but they can rapidly grow as air accumulates. If you discover large bubbles (greater than 2 inches in diameter), it’s best to have them repaired as soon as possible. One large blister can spread to others on the roof, or become even larger and eventually rupture, resulting in leaks. 

Missing Shingles

Shingles can become dislodged by high winds and flying debris, exposing the roof’s underlayment to weather damage. If you ignore the missing shingles, you’ll likely end up with leaks and harsher indoor temperatures. Wildlife such as raccoons and squirrels may seek shelter in the remaining roof structure, causing additional damage. Contact a professional roofing company to replace missing shingles before the problem gets bigger.

Loose or Corroded Roof Flashing

A roof’s flashing pertains to the thin metal sheets—typically aluminum or galvanized steel—that are installed under shingles. The flashing directs water away from the joints of architectural features, such as the chimney, skylights, or dormers.

Heat and moisture will corrode and deteriorate the flashing over time. The flashing could also dislodge when wildlife or debris pull or strike them, and result in water intrusion and costly interior damage to your home.

Roof Punctures

Though California is known for having beautiful weather, the occasional storm can cause wind-carried debris and overhanging tree branches to fall and puncture the roof. Punctures can also occur from the weight of foot traffic from people who visit the roof: possible HVAC contractors, painters, chimney sweeps, and house occupants. 

Why Should a Bad Roof Be Addressed Promptly?

You might be tempted to put off roof repairs to save money. But keep in mind that you could end up having to deal with much costlier emergency repairs later on. Leaving the roof alone means you’re letting the damage worsen. 

And since your roof is your house’s first line of defense against the elements, a damaged roof can’t protect you and the rest of your household. 

What Are the Signs of a Failing Roof?

So how can you tell if your roof’s got problems? Let’s check out some of the common exterior and interior signs of roof damage.

• Water Stains: A leaky roof can let water run down to the ceiling and the walls inside your house, resulting in water stains.

• Pests: If there are pests such as rodents and raccoons in the attic, they might have entered through a loose shingle, a flashing, or even a roof puncture.

• Mold on Exterior Walls:  If the flashing no longer directs water away from joints, the moisture that sticks to the walls can allow mold to grow. 

Even if there are no visible signs of roof damage, roofing systems still have a life span. For example, asphalt shingles typically last between 15 to 30 years and have warranties that are just as long. Have your roof inspected to see what needs to be repaired or replaced.

Need a Roofing Expert for Repairs? 

While it’s tempting to fix the roof damage by yourself, you could risk voiding your warranty and insurance policy as it can lead to even further damage. To ensure that your roof repairs are done safely and properly, consider hiring a professional roofer from Roof Repair Specialist. We’ll conduct thorough evaluations of your roof to determine what repair or replacement solutions best meet your needs.

Contact us to get answers to all of your roofing concerns. 

Flashing is a thin layer of metal that is used to direct water away from certain areas of a roof, such as vertical features like chimneys.

What is flashing on a roof made of? Usually, non-corrosive metals, including aluminum, lead, or steel. Copper is used occasionally for custom roofs. Flashing can alternately be made of plastic, rubber, or roofing felt.

When flashing is installed, it is sealed to prevent water from getting under it and damaging the roof. If you need new residential flashing, ensure that it is installed correctly by finding an experienced, well-reviewed roofing contractor near you. And if you manage a commercial roof, you’ll need to occasionally inspect the flashing and other features on it.

What Is Roofing Flashing’s Purpose?

Roofers install flashing around roof points that could be vulnerable to water damage, such as skylights, chimneys, and vents. Without flashing, water could run off of shingles and into the seams or spaces around those features. But flashing channels the water back onto the shingles and ultimately into the gutters or off the side of the roof. 

Flashing can be crucial to the long-term integrity of your roof. A single point where water persistently enters could eventually lead to rotten roof boards (decking), along with water damage in the home itself. And that could mean tearing up the shingles and replacing many of the materials underneath. 

Poorly installed flashing is a common culprit when your roof springs a leak. It could even lead to the collapse of decking materials, which is one reason flashing is covered in local building codes.

Does Your Roof Need Flashing? 

A professional roofer can tell you how much flashing—if any—your particular roof needs. Certain features of roofs are more likely to create leaks than others. These include roof valleys, the place where the walls of a dormer feature meet the roof, and skylights, among others. 

Does your roof include any feature that will create an unusually high volume of rain runoff? Does it include opposing surfaces (like a roof and chimney)? Vulnerable areas like those may need to be sealed with flashing.

Does Flashing Go Over or Under Shingles?

Flashing is often installed under roofing materials like shingles. In a roof valley, the flashing is placed between the two intersecting roof edges to channel water down the valley. Shingles are placed partly on top of the flashing, causing more water to drop into the valley, where the flashing is often left open to the air. 

Around a chimney, multiple pieces of metal flashing are laid down. They are often shaped like an L, and attached to the chimney with mortar. Shingles are then laid over the horizontal part of the flashing; the flashing and shingles together should direct water away. However, flashing can sit on top of the shingles on the front of the chimney (the part farthest downslope).

Flashing is also placed around pipes and vents. A watertight seal is applied around the pipe itself. The metal flashing is attached to the roof. And shingles can be placed over the flashing on the highest point of roof, but the flashing will often be placed over the shingles at the lowest point, allowing water to run off the flashing and back onto the shingles.

What Are the Types of Flashing on a Roof?

Various shapes of flashing have been invented for different roof features. Examples include: 

• Apron or Continuous: Long sections of metal, which often include expansion joints.

• Valley: Placed where two roof sections meet in a valley.

• Base: The downslope piece of flashing installed on a chimney or similar feature that requires multiple pieces of flashing.

• Counter: Used on the upslope area and sides of features like chimneys and paired with base flashing.

• Skylight: Flashing specialized in protecting skylight seams.

• Step: Bent sections of metal placed at the base of a wall that intersects a roof; often paired with kickout flashing, which channels water from the wall into a gutter.

• Drip Edges: Thin strips of metal at the edges of roofs to ensure rain runs off without touching the wooden surface underneath.

Get Professional Flashing Installation & Maintenance

Working with metal flashing pieces is a difficult and important job. Installed correctly, it prevents major, expensive roof damage, but incorrect installation can put your home or business at risk. That’s why you should contact Roof Repair Specialist for this job or any other roofing needs you have.

If you’re looking for commercial roofing in Los Angeles, there are several roofing options to choose from. TPO roofing is one of them, and it is a relatively new roofing material that offers many benefits. In fact, it is fast becoming a favorite among businesses and commercial property owners. So just what is TPO roofing?

TPO roofing, short for thermoplastic olefin, is a lightweight single-ply roofing membrane. TPO roofing material is commonly used on commercial buildings, particularly large buildings and commercial structures with flat or pitched roofs. Additionally, TPO roofing offers many of the benefits of PVC and EPDM roofing without the added costs and complications of the other materials.

What Are the Benefits of TPO Roofing?

TPO is a relatively new material that was developed in the early 1990s. That means many of the benefits are still being discovered as the material becomes more common and as it ages over time. That being said, TPO roofing offers a number of advantages that are quickly making it very popular among commercial property owners.

Lower Cost

One of the major advantages of TPO roofing in Los Angeles over PVC and EPDM is its cost. It offers many of the benefits of the others at a lower price point.

Ease of Installation

TPO roofing is also easy to install. It can be laid quite quickly as a single layer across virtually any commercial roof. A company whose roofing services include a strong track record of installing TPO roofing can get the job done in a relatively short amount of time.

Versatility

TPO roofing is versatile in that it can fit many types of roofs. TPO roofing can accommodate varying sizes, shapes, and slopes of roofs. The key to effective installation is to find a roofing company that is experienced with TPO roofing.

Energy Efficiency

TPO roofing is highly energy-efficient. Its white surface reflects the sun’s heat in warmer times of the year, which reduces air conditioning needs and energy costs. This helps make TPO roofing even more cost-effective.

Durability

TPO roofing has shown itself to be strong and durable. While the material is relatively new, it has already established a strong track record. In fact, TPO roofing can be expected to last 20-30 years, and perhaps even longer.

To ensure the durability of a new TPO roof, a business or commercial property owner should make sure the roofing company they select has enough experience with TPO roofing. While some companies may have just started working with TPO, there are others with enough installation experience to ensure a great job.

What Are TPO Roofing Disadvantages?

While TPO roofing offers a wide range of compelling advantages, there are a few concerns to take into account when considering TPO as a commercial roofing solution. The main TPO roofing problems come from the fact that it is a relatively new roofing material. This contributes to two disadvantages.

Installation Expertise

As previously mentioned, the fact that TPO roofing hasn’t been around as long as PVC or EPDM means that fewer roofers have a lot of experience with installing it. A roofer new to TPO could make errors during installation that could compromise your roof’s performance and durability. 

The solution to this issue is simple. Finding a roofing company, like Roof Repair Specialist, with a solid history of TPO roof installation will help ensure that you can take advantage of the many benefits of the material.

Shorter Track Record

As the years pass and more TPO roofs stand the test of time, this becomes less of an issue. But the fact remains that TPO roofing is relatively new, so there is less data on the longevity of the material. TPO roofs have shown themselves to be durable and lasting, and future data will bear this out. Until then, TPO roofing doesn’t yet have the years behind it like other roofing materials.

Is TPO Roofing Better Than EPDM or PVC?

TPO roofing is a great solution for commercial properties and businesses looking for the convenience and durability of EPDM or PVC at a lower cost. TPO roofing can be a better roofing option for cost purposes and for the fact that it is relatively low maintenance. A TPO roof can provide roofing protection for 20-30 years or longer.

How to Get TPO Roofing for Your Commercial Property

To learn more about TPO roofing and its potential benefits for your commercial property in the Los Angeles area, contact Roof Repair Specialist. We can answer your questions, repair or add life to your current roofing, or replace your roof with a number of options, including TPO roofing. Call us today for commercial roofing Los Angeles!

The roof over your head is one of the most important things you own. It shelters the people and things that mean the most to you, helping to keep everything safe and sound. When your roof develops leaks, the security of your home is compromised. While the severity of leaks varies, any leak is a bad leak.

If this problem arises, does homeowners insurance cover roof leaks? Like most important questions you might have about owning a home, the answer depends on a few different variables.

Continue reading “Does Homeowners Insurance Cover Roof Leaks?”

Now and again, replacing a couple of shingles is all you have to reestablish excellence and capacity to your rooftop. Black-top shingles are intended to keep going for a considerable length of time, and the present current material plans are built to keep going for whatever length of time that you possess your home.

Before you choose to replace shingles, it’s essential to have an expert assess your rooftop to decide whether any of the underlayment or decking is harmed. There’s a major contrast between a couple of missing shingles lost during overwhelming breezes and a release that stretches out through the different layers of your rooftop. On the off chance that the harm is broad, it’s generally a superior thought — and a superior worth — to re-roofing the whole rooftop.

Additionally, remember that shingles are presented to rain, day off warmth. Regardless of whether you have an extra box of shingles left over from when your rooftop was introduced, you may make some hard memories coordinating the “new” shingles to the ones on your rooftop. Contingent upon the area and the size of the territory needing substitution, it may be hard to mix substitution shingles into the remainder of the rooftop.

In any case, if the territory needing new shingles is situated in a subtle region, or the area is moderately little, you may have the option to pull off nailing down some substitution shingles.

Tip: If your rooftop is feeling the loss of a couple of shingles, don’t stand by to replace them. The shingles are there to shield your rooftop’s decking from dampness and wind. Indeed, even a little uncovered region can enable water to saturate the underlayment and into the deck, where it can cause spoil and in the end spillage.

Fixing Damaged Areas

Naturally, numerous property holders wonder in the event that they can fix a harmed or crumbling segment of rooftop as opposed to re-roofing the whole thing. They may even select to rooftop over the current shingles as opposed to detaching the old rooftop.

Fixing can work, however it represents the entirety of similar issues — to say the very least — as replacing a couple of shingles.

Similarly as you would when choosing if it’s alright to just supplant shingles, it’s essential to counsel with a home material expert in case you’re thinking about fixing your rooftop. A home material expert will play out an exhaustive examination to decide whether a fix will broaden your rooftop’s life expectancy without prompting future harm.

A home material master will inspect both the outside of your rooftop, just as the sheets in your upper room, which will by and large show if dampness has cleared its path through the decking and into your home.

Outwardly, indications of a progressively difficult issue incorporate shingles that are twisting at the edges or beginning to clasp. Another awful sign is the nearness of granules — the little, rock like pieces that coat the outside of the shingle — in your drains or on the ground.

Besides, a hanging rooftop is a certain indication of a progressively significant issue. In the event that you notice any hanging, don’t hold on to call a material contractual worker. You should re-roof the whole rooftop as fast as could be allowed.

Regardless of whether it’s conceivable to fix your rooftop, the result probably won’t be tastefully satisfying. On account of a fix, the harmed region is normally a lot bigger than a spot needing a couple of shingles, which by and large makes it increasingly hard to mix the fixed segment in with the current rooftop.