Roofing in the Villages of Urbana 21704

Roofing in the Villages of Urbana: 

Frederick Roof Repair has been doing roof repairs and roof replacements in the Villages of Urbana for many years now. 

The need to repair a roof can happen at any time in the life of a roof, whether due to poor installation or weather related damage, neither of which is exclusively a VOU phenomenon. It happens pretty much everywhere. 

Roof replacement is something that should not have to happen prematurely, as long as the best possible materials are used, and the roofers seek to do their best work, and know what it is they are doing. 

Unfortunately, there are some roofs in every community that don't last as long as they should, and the Villages of Urbana is no exception.   

The most common roof repairs that I perform in the VOU are: 

* The replacement of ridge vent that has blown off in the wind. We can either repair what is missing, or in some instances, we replace all the metal ridge vent with a hand nail only cap over ridge vent variety that never blows off and does a better job of making the ridge vent area water tight and resistant to roof leaking. The choice is always the homeowners, although on occasion there is a secondary reason why the vent blew off. If the opening in the roof is cut too wide, the narrow profile of aluminum ridge vent forces the roofer to stretch the vent over the opening. This tension makes the possibility of ridge vent blowing off more likely.

* Pipe collar repair: All pipe collars installed with the original roof are rated to last somewhere between 10-15 years before the rubber seal dry rots and causes a leak. Most of the homes in the Villages of Urbana are now old enough to have pipe collars that are now cracked.

* "B" vent storm collar sealing. The metal pipe(s) that stick out of the roof have a two part collar system that relies on sealant to prevent leaking. The sealant most often supplied by the builder to a roofer is cheap tar that gets very brittle and eventually cracks and falls off. We use only high quality sealants meant for the purpose that dry to a rubber like consistency and have great expansion/contraction capabilities to resist cracking.

* Nail pops are common in any roof but more so in the original roof because any settling of the house can cause nails to pop in the roof.

* Pump jack pole hole repair: Pump jacks poles are poles that siding mechanics use to ride planks up the high wall when installing siding. They are attached to the roof surface with a bracket and the siders come after the roofers so they put holes in the brand new roof. The standard approach is to just put caulking over the hole, and or forget to do so. These leaks don't often show up until the house is 10-15 years old and always happen in the corner of a house fairly close to a gutter and along an outside wall. I have fixed many roof leaks caused by pump jack pole holes in the VOU.

* Brick flashings are often sealed with the same cheap tar which cracks and falls off and needs to be replaced before it is time to do a roof.

When it comes to replacing your roof in the VOU, you want to contact the HOA and inform them of your intent to do so. As long as you submit their form and show intent to use one of the already approved shingle colors from a specific manufacturer, the process can be expedited. Any deviation from what has already been approved will require you to appeal to the HOA at the monthly meeting. I have attended three HOA meetings, and found them to be very reasonable to the reasonable. They have accepted shingle colors that were similar yet different to what was already existing, and they have allowed the use of shingles from manufacturers not originally used in the Villages. They have even allowed me to remove a widows walk flat roof from one of the single family homes and to finish the framing so that the roof was no longer flat but continued up to a peak as on most of the other homes.

It is a mistake to not communicate your intent to replace your roof to the HOA. Not all colors are approved, but enough are that you should be able to pick from among them and get expedited approval. 

Should you choose to contact me for a roof replacement estimate, I can inform you of what has been approved and which manufacturer is making the best shingles. Only one major shingle manufacturer has made it a point to listen to roofers input about what would improve an asphalt shingle, and gone ahead and actually made those changes. In every other case, manufacturers have chosen to either lower the standards for installation, or re-invented the wheel instead of improving upon what was already a good design.

In conclusion, whether you are looking to replace your roof or just get a roof repair, Frederick Roof Repair can meet your needs in the Villages of Urbana. 

Thanks for reading,

Stefan Mach