Roof Notes
Plain answers about keeping a Palm Beach County roof alive - written by the person who goes up there, not by a marketing department.
TileThe Tile Isn't What Keeps The Water Out
On a Florida tile roof the tile is the wear layer. The underlayment underneath it is the waterproofing - and it is the part with a shorter life.
The Seven Checks To Run On Any Roofer Before You Sign
Seven things you can verify yourself about any Florida roofing contractor - licence, insurance, inspection, product approval, scope, warranty and stability.
Why Pressure Washing Wrecks A Tile Roof
A pressure washer will take the stains off a tile roof and take years off it at the same time. What actually happens, and the safer way.
What Shingle Roofs Look Like When They Start To Go
Granule loss, lifted tabs, a cracked chimney crown, a split pipe boot - the five things that show up first on a Palm Beach County shingle roof, with real photos from a maintenance visit.
What A Roof Inspection Includes - And What You Get Afterwards
Exactly what happens on a Roof Sentry visit, in order, and what the written report, roof map and dated photographs actually contain.
How Often Should A Florida Roof Actually Be Inspected?
Once a year is the floor. Here is when a Palm Beach County roof needs looking at beyond that, and why the timing matters more than the count.
Twelve Questions To Ask A Roofer - And The Answers You Want
Twelve plain questions for any roofing contractor, what a good answer sounds like, and what a bad one sounds like. Ask them of us too.
How To Read Three Roofing Proposals That Don't Match
Three quotes for the same roof will rarely describe the same job. A method for lining them up so the price difference means something.
Those Black Streaks On Your Roof Aren't Dirt
The dark streaking on Florida roofs is a living thing, not grime. What it is, whether it matters, and what to do and not do about it.
Metal Roofs Don't Need Maintenance - And Other Myths
A metal roof outlasts most other systems, but the fasteners, sealants and seams do not. What actually ages on a Florida metal roof and what to watch.
Ponding Water On A Flat Roof: How Long Is Too Long
Water still standing on a flat roof two days after rain is telling you something. What ponding does to a membrane, why it happens, and what to look for.
The Five Things That Fail First On A Palm Beach Roof
Roofs here do not fail randomly. The same five details go first, on almost every system, in roughly the same order.
Why Your Roof's Paperwork Matters As Much As Its Shingles
A dated record of a roof's condition is worth having whether you are keeping the house, selling it, or shopping a policy. What the record is and what it is not.
Roof Maintenance vs. Roof Repair - Where The Line Is
The two words get used interchangeably and they are not the same thing. What is included in a maintenance plan, what is not, and why the line sits where it does.
What A Roof Map Is, And Why You Want One
A roof map is a simple drawing of your roof with every finding pinned to it. It is the document that makes a roof discussable without anyone climbing up.
The Quiet Damage: Problems You Won't See From The Ground
The roof problems that cost the most are the ones with no view from the driveway. Six of them, and where they hide.
What Twelve Months Of Florida Sun Does To A Roof
Heat and ultraviolet are doing more to a Palm Beach roof than rain is. What the sun ages, on each roof system, and which slope goes first.
Soft Wash vs. Pressure Wash - What The Difference Actually Is
Two words that get used as if they mean the same thing. They describe opposite approaches, and only one of them belongs on a roof.
Lichen, Algae And Moss: Which One Is On Your Roof
Three different organisms, three different levels of concern, and one of them is a good deal more stubborn than the others.
What Roof Cleaning Does - And Doesn't - Fix
Cleaning makes a roof look newer. It does not make it newer. What a wash actually changes, and what it cannot touch.
Cleaning A Roof Without Voiding The Warranty
Manufacturer warranties on roofing materials often say something about how the roof may be cleaned. What to check before anyone goes up with a machine.
Cracked Or Slipped Tiles: What To Do And What Not To
A broken tile is not a leak. It is a clock. What a cracked or slipped tile actually exposes, what to do about it, and what the plan allowance covers.
How Long A Concrete Tile Roof Really Lasts In Florida
The tile and the roof are not the same thing. Why the honest answer is two numbers, and which one you should be planning around.
Foam-Set Tile: Why There Are No Battens Under Your Roof
Most tile roofs re-done in Palm Beach County in recent years are set in foam adhesive rather than nailed to battens. What that means, and why it is done.
Walking On A Tile Roof - Why You Shouldn't
Concrete tile is tough against weather and fragile under a foot. How tile breaks when walked on, and how people who have to walk it do it.
Hip And Ridge Mortar: The Part That Goes First
The top lines of a tile roof take the most weather and are held with the least. Why hip and ridge details fail before the field, and what to look for.
Valleys And Crickets: Where Tile Roofs Actually Leak
Two slopes meet, water doubles, debris collects. Why the valley is the most-worked detail on a tile roof, and what a cricket is for.
Attic Ventilation On A Tile Roof, Calculated Not Guessed
A tile roof breathes through purpose-made vents that match the tile profile. Why the number of them is a calculation, and what a hot attic does to a roof.
Why Matching An Old Tile Is Harder Than It Sounds
Replacing a broken tile is easy when the tile is still made. When it is not, the replacement is a small project of its own. What determines which you have.
Granule Loss: The Roof That Fades Is The Roof That Is Failing
Why a paler shingle roof is not a cosmetic issue, where the granules go, and how to read the gutters like a roofer does.
Low-Slope Shingle: Why Your Porch Roof Needs Two Layers
Shingle is made for steep roofs. Below a certain pitch the code requires doubled underlayment. Why, and what to ask about a low-slope section.
Wind-Lifted Shingles: Check Before The Season, Not After
What holds a shingle down in wind, why the bond weakens with age, and why a pre-season check matters more than a post-storm one.
Where Shingle Roofs Leak: It Is Almost Never The Field
Chimney crowns, pipe boots, wall flashing, step flashing. The details that account for most shingle-roof water, and why none of them are visible from the ground.
Metal Roofs: Fasteners, Seams And Sealant Are The Whole Story
A metal roof panel does not wear out. The things holding it together and sealing it do. What to check on a metal roof and how often.
Coastal Salt And Metal Roofs: What Actually Corrodes
Living within a few miles of the ocean changes the maintenance of a metal roof. Where corrosion starts, why it is rarely the panel, and what rinsing does and does not do.
Standing Seam Or Exposed Fastener: Two Very Different Metal Roofs
They are both 'metal roofs' and they are maintained completely differently. How to tell which you have, and what each one asks of you.
Why Metal Roofs Move, And What That Does Over Time
A metal panel grows and shrinks with every day's heat. Over years that movement is what loosens fasteners and opens seams. What it looks like and why it matters.
Flat Roofs Leak At The Edges And The Holes
The field of a low-slope roof is rarely the problem. The perimeter, the penetrations, the walls and the drains are. A tour of where to look.
Silicone Roof Coatings: What They Are Good At And What They Are Not
A silicone coating can add years to a sound low-slope roof. It cannot rescue a wet one. What a coating does, when it is the right call, and what has to happen first.
Modified Bitumen, TPO And Built-Up: Three Flat Roofs, Three Maintenance Lists
The three low-slope systems most common on Palm Beach County homes, how to tell them apart, and what each one asks of you.
Drains And Scuppers: The Small Detail That Decides A Flat Roof
A flat roof holds water until the drain takes it. When the drain cannot, the roof becomes a pool. How drains and scuppers work, how they fail, and the one check that matters.
Coating Or Cover-Up? How To Tell Which One You Are Being Sold
A roof coating over a sound, dry roof is a good product. The same coating over a wet one is a way of hiding a problem for two years. The questions that separate them.
Gutters Are Part Of The Roof, Whether Or Not You Think Of Them That Way
A gutter that does not carry water away is a gutter that puts it somewhere else - usually the fascia, the soffit or the foundation. Why gutters belong in the roof conversation.
Gutter Guards In Florida: Help Or Hindrance
Gutter guards promise no more cleaning. In a climate with palm fronds, seed pods and pine needles, the reality is more mixed. What they do well, where they fail, and what to ask.
Gutter Overflow And What It Does To The Fascia And Soffit
The stained soffit and the soft fascia board are usually not a roof leak. They are the gutter putting water where it should not. How to tell, and what happens if you do not.
How To Look Up A Florida Roofing Licence In Two Minutes
Every roofing contractor in Florida holds a state licence you can check for free. Where to look, what the letters mean, and what a clean record does and does not tell you.
What A Notice Of Commencement Is And Why You Might Have To Sign One
Before a permitted re-roof starts, Florida law may require a Notice of Commencement to be recorded. What it is, what it does, and why it protects you as much as anyone.
Why The Cheapest Roofing Quote Is Usually Missing Something
Three proposals for the same roof rarely describe the same roof. The places where a low number is usually made, and how to find them before you sign.
Roof Permits And Inspections: What Actually Happens And Why You Want It
A permitted re-roof is inspected by the building department at specific stages. What those stages are, what the inspector is checking, and why an unpermitted roof is a liability you keep.
Roof Warranty Language, Translated
Material warranty, workmanship warranty, prorated, transferable, exclusions. What the words in a roofing warranty actually mean, and the three questions that matter more than the number of years.
Two Tile Re-Roof Proposals, Same House: Where The Money Actually Went
A line-by-line comparison of two written proposals for the same concrete tile re-roof. Twenty-five categories, fifteen differences, and the two that decide how the roof performs.
Direct-To-Deck Peel-And-Stick Under Tile: What The Manufacturers Actually Say
Self-adhered underlayment glued straight to the plywood is common, approved and sometimes the right call. It also has a list of consequences that rarely make it into the proposal. Here they are, with the manufacturers' own words.