Roof RepairBased in Fort Worth, TX

The Difference

Worth knowing before the inspection.

We repair asphalt shingle roofs, metal, tile and slate, flat roofs and wood shake, and each one fails in its own way. Shingles lose granules and the adhesive strips that hold each course down. Metal roofs tend to leak at the screws, because the rubber washers under each head dry out and shrink in Texas heat, and at seams where long panels expand and contract every day. Tile itself lasts a very long time, but it cracks under foot traffic and hail, and the underlayment beneath it usually wears out decades before the tile does. Flat roofs hold standing water after a storm and open up at the seams. Wood shake splits and cups as it weathers, and loose pieces let water straight through to the deck.

Hail is the reason for a large share of repair calls in North Texas, and the damage is easy to miss. A hailstone rarely punches a hole in a shingle. It bruises it, knocking granules loose and cracking the fiberglass mat underneath, and from the driveway the roof looks fine. The clues sit lower down: dents in gutters and downspouts, dings in the fins of the air conditioning unit, and granules collecting where the downspouts empty. If you find those after a storm, have the roof looked at soon. Many homeowner policies set a deadline for filing a claim measured from the storm date, and an inspection soon after the storm is what identifies the damage while that window is still open.

Wind does a different kind of damage. Straight-line winds across Tarrant County regularly gust past fifty miles an hour during spring storms, and they go after the edges first: the rakes, the ridge and any course of shingles whose seal strip has let go. A shingle that has come unsealed can flap for months before it tears off, and every lift pulls at the nails. On an older roof, a single replacement shingle will seldom match exactly, because the originals have faded and many product lines have been discontinued since the house was built. On most roofs that is a cosmetic difference, and it is still worth knowing before the repair so the patch does not come as a surprise.

Flashing causes more leaks than the shingles do on a lot of Fort Worth homes. Step flashing runs where a roof meets a brick or siding wall, counterflashing covers it, and chimneys and skylights each have their own sets. Expansive clay soil adds a local twist. It swells when it is wet and shrinks through a dry summer, and the slight movement that follows in the house can open gaps where the roof meets masonry. A crack along a chimney that was tight five years ago is common here. The usual fix is to reset or replace the flashing, since a bead of caulk over the gap tends to dry out and split again within a season or two of sun.

Repair makes sense while the roof as a whole still has life in it. A roof under about fifteen years old, with damage confined to one area and decking that is sound, is usually a good repair candidate. For a sense of cost, small repairs such as a new pipe boot or a few replaced shingles commonly run a few hundred dollars in North Texas, and larger flashing work or repairs that involve new decking can reach $1,000 or more. Those are typical market ranges you can check against any local quote, and your own depends on the roof. When leaks keep appearing in new places, or the granules are gone across every slope, the money spent on repairs starts to add up faster than a new roof would.

Once the repair is done, a few habits keep the roof going longer. Keep gutters clear so water does not back up under the eave edge, and trim oak and elm branches that rub on the shingles or drop debris into the valleys. After every hail or windstorm, walk around the house and look up from the ground. Keep off the roof yourself, especially a steep or wet one. If you have a stain on a ceiling, a drip in the attic or storm damage you want checked, call (817) 988-9509 or send the form and we will set up a free inspection.