Roof Replacement in Marshall, Wisconsin

Most leaks start at the flashing, not in the open field of the roof. We check step flashing along sidewalls, counterflashing on chimneys, and the rubber boots around plumbing vents, which crack with age and let water run straight down the pipe. After that come blown-off shingles, lifted tabs and nail pops. We match the existing materials where we can. We also tell you plainly whether the roof has more years in it.

We start in the attic, because stained decking, rusted nail tips and damp insulation show problems the shingles hide. Up top we walk the whole roof, feeling for soft spots in the sheathing and looking for granule loss, cracked or curling shingles and exposed nail heads. Then the valleys, flashing, vents and gutters. You get photos of everything we found, good and bad, so you can see the roof the way we saw it.

A replacement means a full tear-off down to the deck. We pull the old shingles and underlayment, cut out any rotted sheathing and replace it, then put on new drip edge. Ice and water shield goes along the eaves and up the valleys, with synthetic underlayment over the rest. New flashing, new pipe boots, then shingles nailed to the manufacturer's pattern. With 36 inches of snow in an average year, the eaves are where that membrane earns its place.

New construction and additions get a roof built from bare sheathing: drip edge, ice and water shield, synthetic underlayment, then architectural asphalt shingles. Where the pitch is too low for shingles, we put down a flat roofing membrane (EPDM or TPO) instead. On an addition, the hard part is the tie-in. We weave the new roof into the old one and flash the wall where they meet, since that seam is where water finds its way in years later.

Standing seam is what we recommend most: 24 or 26 gauge steel panels with a PVDF painted finish that holds its color. The panels attach with hidden clips, so they can expand and contract without tearing at the fasteners. Exposed-fastener panels are the other option, with screws sealed by neoprene washers that need checking as they age. Snow slides off metal quickly, so we add snow guards over doors, walkways and lower roofs.

We start on the roof itself, not from the driveway. We walk every slope that is safe to walk, check the flashing at chimneys, sidewalls and vents, look for split rubber on pipe boots, and press on the deck around valleys to feel for soft spots. In the attic we look for daylight at the nail lines, damp sheathing, stained rafters and how well the vents move air. You get the photos, so you see what we saw.

Everything we found ends up on paper, line by line. The estimate names the shingle line and color, the underlayment, where ice and water shield goes, the drip edge, and whether each piece of flashing is reused or replaced. Rotten decking gets its own line, so you know how it is handled before the old roof comes off. We handle the permit, and that is written in too. Read it, ask questions, and compare it with anyone else's.

Tear-off goes down to the bare deck, every layer. We don't shingle over an old roof: it hides rot and adds weight the framing never needed to carry. Tarps go over shrubs, siding and the edge of the lawn, and the dumpster or trailer sits as close to the eaves as the driveway allows. Old nails get pulled, not hammered flat. We only strip what we can dry in before the end of the day.

Once the deck is bare, it tells the truth. We look for delaminated plywood, OSB swollen at the edges, and boards that sag between rafters. Most of that damage comes from slow leaks at flashing, or from warm, damp attic air condensing on the underside of the sheathing. Anything soft gets cut back to solid framing and replaced with sheathing of matching thickness, nailed off to the rafters. A cracked or rotted rafter, we show you before we sister it.

With about 36 inches of snow a year, the eaves get ice and water shield first: a self-adhering rubberized membrane that seals around every nail driven through it. It also goes in the valleys and around chimneys and skylights. The rest of the deck gets synthetic underlayment, lapped so water runs over each seam instead of into it. Drip edge goes under the membrane at the eaves and over the underlayment at the rakes. Reverse that, and water finds the gap.

Shingles go on in the order water runs off: starter strip at the eaves, then course after course up the slope, each nailed in the strip the manufacturer marks. High nails are the most common reason shingles lift and tear off in wind. New step flashing is woven in at every sidewall, one piece per course, and counterflashing is cut into the chimney mortar. Pipe boots, vents and ridge cap finish the top. Metal and flat roofs follow the same rule.

Before anyone calls the job done, a second set of eyes walks the whole roof. We check that shingles lie flat with no exposed nail heads, that flashing is sealed and tight to the wall, that valleys are clean and the ridge vent is open along its full length. In the attic we look again for light and for air moving from soffit to ridge. Then we walk the property with you, point out what changed, and hand over the photos.

Nails are the part homeowners worry about, and they should. We run a rolling magnet over the lawn, driveway, flower beds and walkways, then run it again in the other direction. Gutters get cleared of granules and shingle scraps, and downspouts get checked for clogs. Tarps come up folded inward so nothing they caught lands in the grass. The dumpster leaves with the last load. If a stray nail turns up in the yard later, call us.