A roof leak does not wait for a convenient day. Madison Precision Roofing handles emergency roof repair across Madison and the towns around it, on residential homes and commercial buildings alike. Storm damage, a torn section of shingles, water coming through a ceiling, flashing pulled loose at a chimney: we come out, stop the water, and put a proper repair in place. The median home in this market was built in 1979, and roofs on houses of that age tend to fail in the same handful of places. We know where to look.
The first visit is about stopping water, not selling a new roof. We tarp or patch whatever is open, trace the leak back to its source rather than guessing at it, and tell you plainly whether a repair will hold or whether the damage runs deeper into the structural deck. Then we write up what we found and what the fix involves, in materials and in labor, before any permanent work starts. Nothing gets replaced that can be repaired. Nothing gets patched that will only open up again after the next hard rain.
Most emergency calls trace back to small things left alone. Flashing that lifted a year ago. A flat commercial roof holding water because a drain clogged. Shingles a wind storm loosened over a house in Sun Prairie that nobody noticed until the drywall stained. The costly damage is rarely the roof itself; it is the insulation, framing and finished rooms underneath that soak up water while the roof waits. Getting it right means matching materials, tying the repair into the existing roofing system, and sending someone who actually climbs up and looks. Call us for a free estimate.
Licensed, Bonded, and Insured ยท A combined 15 years of experience
Most calls start with a stain on a ceiling. We trace it back to the actual entry point, which is rarely where the water lands: a cracked pipe boot, lifted shingles at the ridge, a nail that backed out, or step flashing pulled loose along a wall. We fix the source, replace what is torn, and seal it properly. Small repairs stay small when the damage is caught before water reaches the decking.
We walk the roof and check every place water gets in: valleys, chimney flashing, skylight curbs, vents, and the drip edge. Soft decking, curled shingles, granule loss and exposed nail heads all get noted. Then we go into the attic looking for stains, damp insulation and daylight through the sheathing. The median Madison home was built in 1979, so a roof may already carry more than one layer. You get a plain list of what needs repair now and what can wait.
Replacement is the right call when repairs stop holding: brittle shingles, soft spots underfoot, or leaks that keep moving. We strip to the deck, replace rotten sheathing, and rebuild the system from the bottom up. Ice and water membrane goes along the eaves and in the valleys, synthetic underlayment over the field, new drip edge and flashing, then architectural shingles or standing seam metal. Ridge vents go on last so the attic can breathe.
New installation covers residential and commercial roofs alike, including flat sections over additions and garages. On a flat roof we use fully adhered EPDM or TPO membrane with slope to the drains, because standing water is what shortens those systems. Sloped roofs get asphalt shingle or steel panels. Either way the details decide performance: kick-out flashing, counterflashing set into mortar joints, and correctly sized pipe boots. Materials matter, but flashing is where roofs fail.
Most of our Madison work is on houses built around 1979, the median year for the city, which puts a lot of roofs at the end of a second or third shingle cycle. We handle residential replacement and repair, flat and low-slope commercial roofs, and standing seam metal. Damage calls come in all year. Some are a single lifted shingle over a bedroom. Others are a limb through the decking with water already in the attic insulation.
A repair starts on the roof, not in the driveway. We trace the leak from the stain on the ceiling back up to the flashing, the valley, or the pipe boot that let water in, then fix the source instead of the symptom. Replacement runs the same order every time: strip to the deck, replace any soft sheathing, ice-and-water membrane at eaves and valleys, underlayment, then the roofing system the building calls for. Flat roofs get the same care at seams and drains.
The failures we see most are the same ones on nearly every property: flashing that was caulked instead of replaced, step flashing skipped where a roof meets a wall, and vents nailed through the shingle instead of under it. None of these show on the day the job is finished. They show a year or two later as leaks. Getting it right takes more time on the roof and more material at the details. That is where a roof lasts or fails, so that is where we spend it.
A roof warranty is two separate promises, and it pays to know which one you are reading. Manufacturers cover the materials: shingles, metal panels, underlayment, flashing. That coverage says nothing about how the roof was put on. Workmanship coverage is the installer's own, and it applies to the installation itself: nailing patterns, flashing details, seams on a flat roof, the places where water actually finds a way in. Ask for both in writing. A shingle that fails on its own is rare. A bad flashing job is not.
Before any repair or replacement starts, the estimate spells out in plain terms whatever coverage applies, for how long, and what falls outside it. Storm damage, foot traffic from other trades, or a satellite dish bolted through the deck can void coverage, and you should know that before you sign rather than after. Keep the paperwork with your house records. If you sell the property, some manufacturer coverage transfers to the next owner and some does not, so ask that question too.
Emergency work changes the picture. A tarp or a temporary patch buys time until weather and daylight allow a proper repair, and nobody should promise long-term coverage on a stopgap. On a home built around 1979, the median in Madison, the leak we came for is often the newest problem rather than the only one. A full repair addresses the cause, gets documented, and carries whatever coverage the materials and the work allow. A patch keeps water out tonight. Both have a place, and the estimate tells you which you are getting.
Madison Precision Roofing handles emergency roof repair across Madison. Call whenever the leak starts, day or night, and tell us what you see: water coming through a ceiling, a tree limb through the decking, shingles gone after a storm. The first job is stopping water from getting in. We tarp or patch the opening, then talk through a lasting repair once the roof is dry enough to inspect properly.
Hail leaves bruised shingles, lost granules and dented metal flashing, and a lot of that damage is hard to see from the ground. We walk the whole roof, mark every strike, and photograph it so you have a clear record. Some hail roofs need a handful of shingles swapped. Others need full replacement, and when that is the case, the permit goes through the City of Madison before we start.
Flat roofs fail differently from pitched ones. Water pools instead of running off, so a split seam, a punctured membrane or a clogged drain can put a lot of water into the building in a short time. We repair commercial and residential flat roofs from Madison out to Middleton, patching membranes, clearing drains and resealing flashing at curbs and penetrations. Call as soon as you see a stain spreading.
Skylights leak at the flashing far more often than through the glass. We pull the shingles back around the curb, check the step and counter flashing, and reseal or replace whatever has lifted, cracked or rusted. Sometimes the skylight unit itself is done and swapping it is the honest fix. Either way, the roof deck under it gets checked for soft spots before anything goes back together.
Sealant dries out. Sectional gutters are joined with caulk at every corner, end cap and splice, and years of sun and standing water break that seal down. Ice can pry joints apart. Sagging hangers let water sit at the low spots, which keeps the seams wet and speeds the whole process along. Resealing works for a while. Replacing the run is the longer-term repair.
Seamless aluminum, formed on site to the length of each run, so the only joints are at corners and downspouts. Half the homes in Madison were built before 1979, and plenty of them still carry old sectional gutters with a seam every ten feet. We size the gutters and downspouts to the roof area, set the pitch so water actually moves, and tie the whole system into the fascia with hidden hangers.