Roof Inspection in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin

Most roof leaks start at the flashing, not the field of the roof. Step flashing behind siding pulls loose, pipe boots crack around the collar, and sealant at a chimney dries out and lets water run behind the counterflashing. We find the entry point first, which is often a few feet uphill of the stain on your ceiling. Then we replace the failed piece with new metal and matching shingles, not a bead of caulk.

We walk the roof, not just look at it from the driveway. That means checking shingles for granule loss, lifted tabs and cracked mats, lifting a few at the eaves to see whether ice and water shield went down, and pressing on the deck for soft spots around vents. Inside the attic we look for daylight, damp sheathing, stained rafters and blocked soffit vents. You get photos of what we found, good and bad.

Tear-off goes to the deck. We don't lay new shingles over old ones, because a second layer hides rot and adds weight. With the old roof off, we cut out any soft or delaminated sheathing and replace it at matching thickness. Then comes ice and water shield at the eaves and valleys, synthetic underlayment over the field, new drip edge and new flashing. Around 36 inches of snow falls in a typical year, so the eave work matters as much as the shingle.

New construction and additions start with the deck and the details, not the shingle color. We install architectural asphalt shingles, low-slope membranes such as EPDM and TPO for flat sections and porches, and standing seam metal. On every job we cut in proper step and counterflashing where the roof meets a wall, set pipe boots and vents square, and balance intake at the soffit with exhaust at the ridge. Ventilation mistakes show up later as curled shingles and attic frost.

Standing seam panels are only as good as what holds them down. We use concealed clips that let the metal expand and contract without working the fasteners loose, over a high-temperature underlayment instead of standard felt. Panels come in heavier-gauge steel with a Kynar (PVDF) finish that holds its color. Valleys, penetrations and wall transitions get hand-hemmed trim, and snow guards go above doors and walkways, since snow leaves metal all at once.

We start on the roof, not in the driveway. We walk every slope that is safe to walk and check the flashing at chimneys, walls and plumbing vents, the condition of the shingles, and any soft spots underfoot. Then we go into the attic with a light and look at the underside of the deck for staining, daylight and mold. Most leaks show up there long before they reach a ceiling in the house.

Everything we found goes on paper. The estimate names the materials, the number of layers coming off, the underlayment, the flashing we plan to replace and any ventilation work, so you can compare it line by line with anyone else's. Deck repair is written as its own item, because nobody can see every bad board from the attic. If the roof needs repairs rather than a replacement, the estimate says so plainly.

Tear-off goes down to the bare deck. We strip shingles, old felt, rusted drip edge and any nails left standing, and we do not lay new shingles over old ones. A second layer hides rot and adds weight the framing was never sized for. Tarps go over the landscaping and against the siding before the first shingle comes off, and we only open as much roof as we can dry in that day.

With the deck exposed, the real condition of the roof is plain to see. Delaminated plywood, OSB swollen at the edges, and boards gone soft around a vent or valley all get cut out. We replace them with new sheathing cut to the same thickness as the existing deck, so the new roof lies flat instead of showing a ridge at every seam. Before any wood goes back, we find the water that rotted it.

Underlayment is the layer that keeps water out when the shingles do not. Along the eaves and in every valley we lay self-adhered ice and water membrane, which seals around each nail driven through it. The area sees about 36 inches of snow a year, and melt that refreezes at the gutter line is what pushes water back under shingles. The rest of the deck gets synthetic underlayment, lapped properly, with new drip edge at eaves and rakes.

A starter strip along the eave comes first, then each course laid to the manufacturer's exposure, every nail driven flush through the nailing strip. High or overdriven nails are what let shingles lift and blow off years later. We bend new step flashing at every sidewall, set counterflashing into the chimney mortar, and replace the rubber boots on plumbing vents. Ridge vent goes on last, balanced against the soffit intake so the attic can breathe.

Before the crew packs up, someone who did not lay the shingles walks the roof. They check that every course runs straight, that no nail heads are exposed, that flashing is sealed at walls and chimneys, and that vents are open. Anything wrong gets fixed while the ladders are still up. We handle the permit, so when the job calls for an inspection, we schedule it and meet the inspector on site.

Cleanup runs through the whole job, not only at the end. Old shingles go straight from the roof into the dumpster, not onto your lawn. Each evening we pick up loose debris, and when the roof is finished we run a magnetic sweeper over the driveway, walks, yard and garden beds to pull up stray nails. Gutters get flushed of shingle grit. Then we walk the property with you.