Roof Maintenance in Madison, WI

Most leaks start small: a cracked rubber pipe boot, a lifted shingle tab, a nail pop that backs out and opens a pinhole. We find the source before we touch anything, then fix that spot with matching materials. Step flashing gets replaced, not caulked over. A rotted deck board gets cut out and sistered. Missing shingles get new ones nailed to spec. Small repairs done right keep a roof going. Call for a free estimate.

We walk the whole roof, not just the side you can see from the driveway. Granule loss, exposed nail heads, split sealant at the vents, rusted valley metal, soft spots in the decking. Chimney and wall flashing get a close look because that is where water usually gets in. Inside, we check the attic for stains and daylight. You get a plain written list of what we found and what it means.

With a median build year of 1979 in Madison, plenty of homes are on their second or third roof. When repairs stop making sense, we tear off to the deck, replace bad sheathing, and start clean. Ice and water membrane at the eaves and valleys, synthetic underlayment over the field, new drip edge and flashing. Then architectural asphalt shingles or 26-gauge standing seam steel, six nails per shingle, ridge vent for airflow.

New construction, additions and garages in Fitchburg or anywhere across the area get the same system, built in order. Deck inspection first. Then membrane, underlayment, starter strip, field shingles or metal panels, and flashing at every penetration. For flat and low-slope roofs on residential or commercial buildings we install 60-mil EPDM or TPO, fully adhered, with proper terminations at the edges. A roof installed correctly the first time needs less maintenance later.

We start on the roof, not at the kitchen table. Every slope gets walked, and we check shingle wear, cracked pipe boots, rusted flashing, lifted nails and soft spots in the deck. Inside, we look at the attic for daylight, stained sheathing and wet insulation. Photos of every problem go into a report you keep. With a median home built in 1979, many Madison roofs have layers and patches underneath, so we look for those too.

The estimate lists every line: tear-off, deck repair by the sheet, underlayment type, shingle brand and weight, flashing metal, ridge vent length and disposal. Nothing sits in a lump sum. If a section of decking may need replacing but we cannot confirm it until the roof is open, we say so and price it separately so the number does not move on you later. Call for a free estimate.

Old shingles come off down to bare wood. We do not lay new roofing over an existing layer, because the second layer hides rot and traps heat that shortens shingle life. Crews pull every nail or drive it flush, strip old felt and remove the old drip edge. Tarps protect the siding, landscaping and any flat porch roof below. Everything goes straight into the dumpster staged in the driveway.

Bare decking tells the truth. We probe every sheet for softness, delamination and water staining, especially around chimneys, valleys and old skylights. Rotted or broken sheathing gets cut back to solid framing and replaced with 7/16 inch OSB or 1/2 inch CDX plywood to match the existing thickness. Loose boards are refastened. On older homes with plank decking and wide gaps, we may sheet over it so the new shingles have full support.

Ice and water membrane goes on first along the eaves, in every valley and around every penetration. It self-seals around nails and stops water that gets past the shingles. The rest of the deck gets synthetic underlayment, which lays flatter and tears less than 15 pound felt. New metal drip edge goes under the underlayment at the eaves and over it at the rakes so water sheds off the fascia instead of behind it.

Starter strip goes down along the eaves and rakes with the adhesive facing out. Shingles are nailed in the manufacturer's nail zone, four per shingle on most slopes, six where the pitch or exposure calls for it. We install new step flashing at every wall, new pipe boots, and counterflashing cut into chimney mortar. Ridge vent runs the full peak with cap shingles over it. Low-slope and flat sections get membrane, not shingles.

Before the ladder comes down, a lead walks the roof again. Nail heads get checked for overdrive and underdrive, since both cause leaks. Flashing laps are confirmed. Cap shingles, vent seals and valley cuts are checked for straight lines and clean ends. We compare the finished roof against the photos from step one so every original problem has a matching fix. You get a final photo set of the completed roof.

Magnets roll across the lawn, driveway and beds, then again in the opposite direction, to pick up stray nails. Gutters get cleared of granules and shingle scraps. Tarps come up, plants get unpinned, and the dumpster leaves the same day it was filled. We walk the property with you before we go. A roof job in Madison or Sun Prairie should leave no trace on the ground, only on the roof.