I'm putting together a storm-response kit — the stuff you want ready before the hail hits, not after. Before I build the wrong thing, I want to hear it from the people who have more storm experience.

1. What materials do you stock ahead of storm season? Tarps, plastic sheeting, cap nails, sealant? Plywood…? Store any JIC and how much of it? What do you run out of first?

2. Distributor services: what actually matters to you — rooftop loading, ground drop, conveyor delivery, emergency runs after a storm? And what do distributors promise that they never deliver on? What do you want to see from them most?

3. Adjusters: what do you immediately prepare for them and what initial steps do you take with homeowners? Documentation, photos, measurements, etc.

4. If a storm-ready kit existed with the checklists, the claim photo playbook, and a local distributor guide — what would it need in it before you'd pay a cent for it?
   Brutal honesty welcome. I'd rather hear it's a stupid idea now than build it and find out later.
   

What Owens Corning TruDefinition Duration shingle color would look the best on this roof? It would be nice to have a color that could work with a house repainting in the future too. https://www.owenscorning.com/en-us/roofing/shingles/trudefinition-duration#technical-information

Gutter cleaning season. Notice a lot of these are really sagging and quite a few are missing. Where to buy?

Should I take them off bend them back re- install or replace them? I'm also going to vulkem all the corners and down spouts.

Brand new house and we’ve had all sorts of issues with the builder. Supposedly the ice and water shield is wrinkled and they’re going to come fix it.

What all should I be aware of? What should the repair entail? Is this a big deal?

We're getting the roof, soffits, gutters, siding, and fascia done. Originally quoted at $52k. I was pretty okay with that price, because the company was EXTREMELY itemized with their estimate-they even included nails, sealants, gave estimated numbers of decking sheets, listed all the proper barriers, etc.

Apparently, even though I told him during the original free estimate that yes, I wanted aluminum wrapping for doors and windows, he never put it in. I missed this because he did include the aluminum-wrapped fascia, so I just assumed it was there. After we accepted the estimate (haven't signed anything) and he came to have us pick out siding colors, he asked again about the aluminum wrapping for the windows and doors. So now I'm like, "Uh...yes?" because I had already said I wanted that.

So now I get the new updated estimate, and that aluminum wrapping is an extra $3k.

He also has a note that if we dont want to do it all at once because of cost, we could "piece it out" and do it in sections (we have 3 "sections" to our house for the estimate for cost purposes). But when I'm looking shit up, it says that aluminum wrapping basically cant be done after vinyl siding installation because the metal drip cap needs to be integrated into the house wrap, which goes under the siding. It said trying to do it afterward affects the waterproofing and will also cost a shitton more because I'll be paying them 2x.

When I brought this up to him-that the $3k was a new price, despite being a service discussed prior, and that doing the wrap later doesnt really seem possible because it would compromise the integrity of the waterproofing (which we desperately need-the vinyl is going over old wooden siding), and that it would cost us more because we'd have to pay him again, he touched on the waterproofing aspect and mentioned aesthetics, but didnt address whether or not it was actually the correct way to do it.

Roofers:

Would you do aluminum wrapping on doors and windows after vinyl siding installation?

I have 1100 square feet of roof to replace on a 100+ year old house that bakes in the sun all day 8 months of the year, and gets rained on the other 4. Most of the roof is 1.8/12 pitch, with a small section at 1/12.

I'm getting wildly conflicting opinions from both the internet and roofing estimators on the best option for replacement.

• Some say it's just old school v.s. new school
• Some say torch down is the undisputed goat but few people are actually certified to do it properly
• Some say TPO all the way, no question
• Some say TPO hasn't even been around long enough to know how long it'll last
• Some even say to just cover the whole thing in ice & water and do shingles (it's lasted 100 years with shingles, why change it)

Is TPO really worth a ~60% markup over bitumen/asphalt?

Would you consider shingles even though some say the manufacturer won't warranty them on a low-slope roof?

Every old house in this neighborhood has shingles on their low-slope roof, and I have no experience with membrane systems- at this point I'm even more lost than when I started.

Thank you!

My parents are getting their roof replaced (a roofer I found for them) in another state. They are wondering if this is being done properly before the final payment is remitted. Because they do not speak English well, I’ve been doing all the communication with the roofers. Since we know next to zero about roofing, I’m obviously at a disadvantage if I were to confront the roofer about these perceived issues where they’ll probably just brush them off as acceptable.

I wanted to ask the experts here if the finishing on these is done properly. My folks are concerned about whether the hip shingles and step flashing are installed correctly. They feel like the work looked “sloppy” but have no idea if it meets industry and manufacturer standards.

Any insight is greatly appreciated.

https://imgur.com/a/owiWAaS

How did my roofers do?

The previous company I hired improperly installed shingles on a 2/12 roof in Michigan with incorrect underlayment.

The new company just finished my flat roof today.

There are a few bubbles, and I know they tried to get everything out.

Water found at bottom front of fireplace insert. Any ideas on steps to find/ fix it would be appreciated! I fear this water damage has been happening for a while now due to the rust- like color.
Noticed some very loud water drips last night from a huge rain storm, next day notice grout is damp and used a paper towel to find some water.

My roof was actually just replaced 3 days ago- great company/ project manager. Had it replaced due to age (30yrs old) lived here for 6yrs . I have noticed the dripping sound before but very mild and only could ever hear it when it was pouring. Well we had a major downpour last night and the dripping sounded 10x worse and intense like it was actually dripping inside somewhere.

I let my roof guy know, and he checked out around the chimney and wasn’t sure where it could be getting in at, as he said everything looked sealed and good, but suggested I try reapplying sealant to the chimney cap, and flue flashing.

Thoughts?

Thanks in advance for any advice! This is my first time dealing with this stuff.

They can’t afford a new roof right now and I am the best help they have available. I’ve never worked on a roof but I can hopefully manage this. Can someone please tell me what I need to do to get them through the winter? We’re in southeast Alaska. The gap in the second picture extends about half the length of the roof.

This is the house I live in on my family farm and I’m trying to add gutter hangers because I’m tired of the gutters sagging when we get our 10” of rain a year. Here’s a picture of the problem, they have hangers every 6-8’ and I was thinking of putting one every 2x4 or at least every other. The 5” hangers that are in stock at stores near me are way too long. Do they make 3”-4”? I can’t find them anywhere, there’s no fascia board sadly just the end of the 2x4s for the roof to screw into. Can someone help me get the right hangers? I attached the style that I’d like to get but they’re too long

Edit: from what I can tell the little lip on the gutter should be sitting on the roof decking and it’s pulled out from under the shingles due to the sagging. There’s about 300’ of gutter like this with another 100’ that a worker “fixed” by putting self tappers through the back of the gutter into the 2x4s sticking out of the roof. Ideally I don’t want to do the whole gutter system like that and was just hoping they made like a 4” version of that k style bracket since it’s kinda sketchy lifting the roof shingles to nail into the sheathing all the way around

Just got a new roof installed, and noticed that this one section with a flat roof has the corner lifted.

The contractor said it looks like that since the gutter is lower at that point for drainage, but I checked with a level and it is definitely much higher. If I step on that spot, it doesn't move.

Towards the house it is level. I am about to test by hosing some water to see where it goes, but is this a bad install?

So my mother has a leak in her roof (flatish) and doesnt have the money to pay for replacing/repair so thought I'd try roof help out. Here are pictures of the roof and a spot that may be where water is coming in. Am I able to use black roofing cement with a mesh to help seal that or does the roof not seem to be in the best condition overall? Any thoughts or advice would be helpful.

She had the rest of the roof with shingles replaced last year but this part wasn't touched. This section of the house was an extension added on over 30 years ago. No idea when the roof was last touched here.

Had an inspection done on a home I'm currently in escrow for. Is this fine or should this area of the roof have tiles?

I have a zone on my roof that is failing which needs to be repaired. Specifically, this is the vertical surfaces of a dormer that extends out from/ above my roof line. There is some flashing and a few additional features where the dormer and roof line meet that also is failing and needs to be replaced.

I am working with the reputable roofing company, and in exploring different options, we discussed repairing not only the dormer and also replacing the roofing on the northern face of my roof (side of the roof on which the dormer is located).

The entire roof probably needs to be replaced within the next 5 to 7 years, but appears to be reasonably solid currently according to the roofing contractor.

My question is: is it ill advised for me to replace one side of the roof this year and perhaps move forward with the other sides in the next 1 to 2 years?

I’m certain this is not typically the way one tackles a roofing job. That said, I want to at least consider this option given the cost of replacing my entire roof and the fact that doing the dormer and north face now while doing the remaining portions of the roof in a year or so would enable me to better budget for what is going to be a very large expense.

(BTW… the option of completing the entire surrounding north side of the roof while repairing and replacing the areas directly related to the dormer was offered as an option from the perspective that since the roof needs to be replaced soon and roofing materials surrounding the dormer would have to now be pulled to shore up the dormer, that it would be most economical and most efficient use if labor to just replace this entire face of the roof now)

Sorry to be so lengthy in my description. Hoping everything here makes sense and I appreciate in advance folks feedback.

Engineer with LA County denied my roof permit, saying my plans don't constitute a Class A fire rated assembly, but I don't think this guy knows what he's doing....

I've got an uninsulated open rafter ceiling, so the plan was to put two layers of rigid mineral wool above the OSB deck covered in Sharkskin Ultra SA, use metal hat purlins anchored through the insulation into the rafters, and then attach 24 gauge 7.2 (western rib) metal panels on the purlins. Even specified the ember proofing mesh that will seal the panels. Everything I'm adding above the paper is non combustible. Not just fire resistant, but fully fire proof, and rated as such. The Rockwool Comfortboard won't even melt under 2000°F.

He comes back 6 weeks later, after a couple back and forths asking for specs on the materials I'm going to use, and says I can't add insulation, and I should just put the metal straight down on the paper, over the OSB. How the hell is putting the metal straight down onto the paper and wood, more fire resistant than two layers of completely non combustible mineral wool seams sealed with fireproof tape?

Should I just resubmit and hopefully I'll get a different guy?

My home has these gutters and they work fantastically well. They catch all the rain but barely any debris. I’ve never had to clean them in five years. What is this style called, is it still available, and why the heck isn’t it more popular? Home was built in 1960.