Madison Precision Roofing repairs, inspects, replaces and installs roofs on houses and commercial buildings in Madison and the towns around it. The median home here was built in 1979. That means many of the roofs we climb onto have been redone at least once, and some carry a newer layer of shingles laid straight over the old one. We look at what is actually up there before we say anything about what it needs.
Every job starts on the roof, not over the phone. We walk the whole surface, check the flashing at chimneys, walls and vents, and get into the attic when we can to see the decking from underneath. Flat commercial roofs get the same look at seams and drains. Then you hear plainly what we found and what we would do about it. Small repairs stay small. When replacement is the honest answer, we say so and show you why, on your own roof.
Most damage starts small: a lifted shingle, a cracked boot around a vent pipe, flashing pulled loose from brick. This area sees about 32 inches of rain and 36 inches of snow in a year, and water works into those gaps long before a stain shows on a ceiling. Getting it right costs less the earlier it is caught, and far less than rebuilding rotted decking later. Call for a free estimate.
A warranty is only worth what is written down. Before any installation or replacement starts, ask to see in writing what covers the work and what covers the materials, then read both. They are different things. One is about how the roof was put on, by the crew standing on it. The other comes from whoever made the shingles or metal panels, and it often carries conditions about ventilation, underlayment and how the materials were fastened. That fine print matters.
The best protection is a roof that never needs a claim. We flash every wall, chimney and valley by hand, check the decking for rot and soft spots before anything goes over it, and fasten to the manufacturer's instructions rather than to the clock. On many houses here, there is an earlier layer worth looking under. We would rather find that damage mid-job than have water find it for you a few winters later.
Things still go wrong. A storm lifts shingles, a limb comes down, a rubber boot around a vent pipe cracks and lets water in. Call and tell us what you see. Some of it is straightforward repair, some belongs with your homeowner's insurance, and some traces back to how the roof was installed in the first place. Sorting out which is which is part of the job, and when the fault is in the workmanship, we say so plainly.
The size of the roof matters less than most people expect. What moves the number is how steep it is, how often it changes direction, and what sits under the shingles. Every valley, chimney, skylight and wall joint needs flashing cut and fitted by hand, and that labor adds up faster than square footage does. Tear-off counts too. Plenty of roofs here have been redone before, and a second layer means more to strip, haul and dispose of.
Some of the cost stays hidden until the old roofing comes off. Where water has been getting in for a while, the decking underneath goes soft, and those boards have to be replaced before anything new goes down. Flat and low-slope sections take different materials and different details than a pitched roof, so a house with both is really two jobs. Repairs follow the same logic. A leak traced to one cracked pipe boot is quick. One that has run along a rafter before showing up on a ceiling takes longer to find and longer to fix.
Two bids can look far apart and still describe different work. Lay them side by side and check that each one answers the same questions:
The lower number often leaves one of these out.
We start on the roof and in the attic. Outside, we check shingles for granule loss, lifted tabs and broken seals, then look at every piece of flashing around chimneys, vents and walls, since that is where most leaks begin. Inside, we look for stained sheathing, damp insulation and daylight at the ridge. We photograph what we find, soft decking included, so you see the same damage we do before anything gets decided.
Everything we saw goes on paper. The estimate names the shingle or metal panel we propose, the underlayment, the flashing we will replace rather than reuse, any ventilation changes and how we handle rotten decking found once the old roof is off. Each line says what it is and why it is there. Read it at home, compare it with other bids and ask about anything unclear. Work starts only after you sign.
Tear-off goes down to the bare deck. We strip every layer of shingles, old felt, drip edge and rusted step flashing, because new materials laid over old ones hide problems and shorten a roof's life. An older house may be on its second or third roof, and stacked layers add weight the framing was never sized for. Tarps cover the landscaping. The dump trailer parks close to the eaves.
With the roof open, the sheathing tells its own story. We walk every sheet, probe soft spots and replace delaminated plywood or swollen OSB with new 7/16" or 1/2" panels to match the existing thickness. Gaps get filled so shingles sit on a flat, solid base. Where rot traces back to a failed vent or a bad valley, we fix the cause as well. Nails only perform as well as the wood they grip.
Underlayment is the second line of protection when wind drives water under a shingle. At the eaves, in valleys and around every penetration, we lay self-adhered ice and water membrane, which seals tight around each nail. Because snow sits on roofs here through the winter, we carry that membrane up past the heated wall line, where meltwater from a warm attic can refreeze at a cold eave. Synthetic underlayment covers the rest, lapped and fastened to the maker's pattern.
Drip edge goes on first, then a starter strip, then the field. Each nail lands in the manufacturer's nail line, driven flush and never overdriven, with the extra fasteners that high-wind patterns call for. New step flashing is woven in course by course along walls, and chimneys get counterflashing cut into the mortar joints. Metal roofing goes down on concealed clips with sealed seams instead. Ridge vent and cap shingles finish the top.
Before anyone calls it done, we walk the whole roof again. Every shingle should lie sealed and flat, flashing tight, pipe boots snug, ridge vents clear, and caulk used only where caulk belongs. From the attic we look for daylight or stray nails where they should not be. You get photos of the finished work and a few notes on simple maintenance, like keeping gutters clear so water leaves the roof edge freely.
Roofing scatters nails everywhere unless someone goes after them. We run magnetic sweepers across the lawn, driveway and garden beds, pick shingle scraps out of the shrubs and flush granules and tear-off debris from the gutters. On a sloped lot, debris rolls farther than you expect, so we sweep well past the drip line and down the grade. The trailer leaves with the old roof in it, and the property looks the way we found it.
Most leaks start at the flashing, not the shingles. We trace the water back from the stain on your ceiling to where it actually gets in: a lifted step flashing along a sidewall, a cracked rubber boot around a vent pipe, or nails backing out under a shingle tab. Then we repair that spot with matching materials and reseal what needs it. A patch that ignores the cause only moves the leak a few feet over.
An inspection means walking the roof, not squinting at it from the driveway. We check for granule loss, soft decking underfoot, and the condition of every boot, valley and counterflashing. In the attic we look at the underside of the sheathing for dark staining, rusted nail tips and signs that moisture is trapped instead of venting out. You get photos of each problem and a plain account of what can wait and what shouldn't.
Replacement is a tear-off to the deck. We strip the old shingles and underlayment, replace rotted sheathing, and run ice and water shield along the eaves and through the valleys before synthetic underlayment covers the rest. New drip edge, flashing and vent boots go on with it, because reused metal is where a new roof starts leaking early. If an earlier crew laid shingles over shingles, both layers come off.
New construction and additions get a roof built properly from the deck up. We confirm the sheathing is fastened and gapped, then lay underlayment, starter strip and shingles to the manufacturer's nailing pattern, since that pattern is what the materials are rated against. Intake and ridge vents are sized together so the attic moves air. Where an addition meets an existing roof, we weave new flashing under the old courses rather than caulking a seam and hoping.
Standing seam metal suits owners who want a roof they rarely think about. Panels run eave to ridge on concealed clips, so no fasteners pierce the weather surface and the metal can expand and contract freely. Underneath goes a high-temperature underlayment, and the finish is a baked PVDF (Kynar) coating that holds its color. We bend trim on site to fit the building. Snow guards go above doors and walkways, so sliding snow doesn't land where people walk.
Houses make up most of our work: architectural asphalt shingles, metal, and the low-slope sections over porches and additions. Our services include protecting the rest of the property while we're there. Tarps go over plantings, plywood leans against siding, and a magnetic sweep runs across the lawn and driveway before we leave. Dane County is hilly in places, so on a sloped lot we plan ladder footing and debris chutes around the grade before the first shingle comes off.
A roof fails at its details long before the field of shingles wears out. Maintenance catches those details early. We clear valleys and gutters, reseal exposed nail heads, replace cracked vent boots, and reset lifted shingles before wind gets under them. Chimney counterflashing gets a close look, since its sealant tends to dry and pull away first. Rain has to leave the roof somewhere, and clogged valleys send it under the shingles.
When a limb comes through or wind strips a section, the first job is keeping water out of the house. We tarp and batten the opening, secure anything loose, and check whether the damage reached the rafters or decking. Structural problems get shored before anything else. We photograph everything for your insurance claim. The permanent repair comes once matching materials are in hand and the weather allows it to be done right. Call and describe what you're seeing.
Low-slope roofs leak at seams, at penetrations, and anywhere water sits. On commercial buildings and residential flat sections alike, we check for wet insulation before cutting in, because a small blister can hide a wide area of soaked board. Repairs match the membrane: heat-welded patches on TPO, bonded splices on EPDM, and new plies on modified bitumen. Where ponding keeps returning, we rework drains and add tapered insulation, since standing water is what shortens a membrane's performance.
Yes. Most leaks start where a roof changes direction or something passes through it, so that is where we spend our time: flashing at chimneys and walls, pipe boots, valleys, skylight curbs, and the eaves. We go into the attic too. Stained sheathing and damp insulation often show a problem before any ceiling does. An older roof also tends to carry old repairs that deserve a close look.
Give the roof more sun and less standing moisture. Trim branches that shade it, and keep leaves and needles off, since that debris holds water against the shingles long after the rain stops. Clean the gutters so water drains away instead of backing up at the edge. Zinc or copper strips near the ridge slow regrowth. Skip the pressure washer and the stiff broom. Both strip granules and shorten the life of the shingle.
Storm work is handled like any other repair. Before we start, you get the scope in writing: the damage we found, what we are replacing, and which materials go on. Any terms that apply to the work sit in that same written estimate, so you read them before agreeing to anything. If an insurer is involved, we document the damage with photos and notes you can pass along to the adjuster.
Mostly flat and low-slope roofing: EPDM rubber, TPO, modified bitumen, and older built-up tar and gravel systems. We also work on metal roofs, from panel and fastener repairs to full installation. Commercial roofs tend to lose performance at the details, so much of our commercial repair work happens at drains, seams, parapet walls and rooftop units rather than across the open field. We handle maintenance, repair and replacement on all of them.
We can't give you a figure, and anyone who does without seeing your house is guessing. Savings depend on the attic, the insulation, ventilation, which way the roof faces, and how much shade it gets. Average daily highs here sit around 58°F across the year, which is worth weighing before paying extra for a roof sold mainly on cooling. Reflective roofing earns its keep on some buildings, especially large flat roofs, and not on others.
Yes. A repair is a good time to fix the details that let wind get under a roof. We can add sealed starter strips at the eaves and rakes, switch to ring-shank nails, use more fasteners per shingle, and set hip and ridge caps in adhesive. Loose decking gets refastened before new material goes down. Exposure changes from block to block, so we look at how your roof sits before recommending anything.
Fixed units for light alone, venting units that open by hand or with an electric or solar motor, and tubular skylights for hallways and bathrooms where a full unit won't fit. The installation matters more than the model. Most skylight leaks come from the curb and flashing, not the glass, so we flash every unit into the roof and the underlayment instead of relying on sealant. During a replacement, we set new skylights while the roof is open.
For most open attics, blown-in cellulose or fiberglass is the practical choice: it fills around joists and wiring without tearing anything apart. Closed-cell spray foam suits tight spaces and cathedral ceilings. The type matters less than two other things, sealing air leaks from the rooms below and keeping the attic ventilated. Warm air that reaches the roof deck melts snow from underneath, and that meltwater needs somewhere to go.