Why does heat wear a shingle roof faster inland?
Heat softens the asphalt on the sunny slopes and the cool of the night makes it contract. The repeated movement loosens the granules, dries the oils in the asphalt and cracks the tabs along the nail line.
The face of a roof that gets the afternoon sun can run much hotter than the shaded face, so the two slopes age at different rates. A technician often finds the worst granule loss on the west or south slope and a sound shingle on the north. That difference is why a replacement may be slope by slope in some houses.
Heat also changes how a shingle takes a nail. On a hot afternoon the mat is soft enough that a nail driven too hard tears through the tab, and on a cold morning the same nail can split a shingle that has gone stiff. Crews set nails in the morning when the roof is cool, keep the nail line straight on each course and check a sample of fixings with a light pull before the slope is finished. A shingle that holds at the nail line is what keeps the tab down in a wind, and that is the detail a homeowner cannot see from the street.
How is the deck checked before the new shingles go on?
The deck is the structural board under the shingle, and it is checked from the attic and, after stripping, from above. A new shingle fixed to a soft or delaminated deck will lift in the first wind.
Staining along the rafters, darkened sheathing and boards that flex under foot are the usual signs. Each soft section is marked, cut out and replaced with a board of the same thickness so the new deck is flush and firm.
Nails that have pulled up are reset or replaced with new ones of the correct length. A nail that is too short holds poorly and a nail that is too long can come through the underside of the deck into the attic space.
What ventilation belongs with a new shingle roof?
Ventilation keeps the attic cooler, which in turn slows the heat that reaches the shingle from below. A ridge vent with soffit intake is the common pairing on a pitched roof.
Heat in the attic can exceed the outside air on a sunny afternoon, and that heat softens the underside of the shingles from beneath. Adding vents during a re-roof is a practical step that costs little while the roof is already open.
The technician checks that the soffit intake is not blocked by insulation before the new ridge vent is set. A vent that cannot draw air does nothing, however good it looks from the street.
How are the shingle type and the warranty explained?
The shingle type should be written in the scope, with the manufacturer, the product line and the wind rating if one applies. A warranty is the manufacturer's document and a contractor's workmanship promise, and the two are different things.
The scope names the shingle that is fitted, so the owner knows what is on the roof and what the manufacturer covers. A workmanship promise, where the company gives one, is described in its own terms and is not confused with the product warranty.
No warranty is stated on this page. The owner is asked to read the terms from the manufacturer and from the company before signing.
When is a shingle roof repaired instead of replaced?
A repair suits a roof that is sound apart from a few damaged shingles or a single leak. A replacement suits a roof that is brittle, granule-stripped across its slopes or has a failed deck.
The technician counts the damaged shingles and checks how many courses are affected. Where the damage is limited, a repair with matching shingles is quicker and cheaper for the owner. Where the damage runs across the roof, a patch will only move the failure to the next storm.
The decision is written down with the reasons, so the owner can compare the two options with the same facts in front of them.
Choosing between the two is partly a question of how the roof will be used afterward. A household that expects to sell within a few years may prefer the speed and lower disruption of a repair, while a household planning to stay may gain more from a full replacement that resets the deck, the flashing and the ventilation together. The technician sets out both options on the same sheet, with the same facts, so the choice is made with the whole picture in view.
