Guide
What to do, and when
You cannot maintain your way out of old age, but you can comfortably add five years to a roof that is otherwise sound.
Get it looked at
Three questions, and up to three Norwalk contractors. Free either way.
You are on the list.
No provider in Norwalk is taking requests through this service yet. We are lining them up, and yours is kept until one can.
- Nobody gets your details yet. Your request stays with us and is not passed to any company.
- One email when someone can help. When a provider covering your area can take it on, we email you once and ask whether you want that company, by name, to contact you.
- Deleted after 90 days. If nobody can take it on, or you do not say yes, your contact details are deleted 90 days after your request.
- You decide, or you do not. There is nothing to cancel and nothing to pay us.
Nobody will call you about this request unless you say yes to a company by name.
Twice a year, from the ground
Walk the perimeter with binoculars if you have them. You are looking for missing or lifted material, dark patches, sagging lines, and anything growing where it should not be. Ten minutes, twice a year.
Keep the penetrations honest
Pipe boots crack, sealant shrinks, and satellite mounts get screwed straight through the covering. Every penetration is a hole somebody decided to make watertight, and each is worth a look.
Clear the gutters before the wet season
Blocked gutters back water up under the bottom course of shingles and rot the fascia behind them. This is the highest-value hour of maintenance there is, and here it wants doing before November through March.
Deal with growth properly
Moss and algae hold water against the surface. Treat and brush gently, or fit zinc or copper strip near the ridge. Never pressure wash an asphalt roof — it strips the granules and takes years off it in an afternoon.
Cut back anything touching the roof
Overhanging limbs cause three problems at once: abrasion, permanent shade that keeps a slope damp, and a highway for rodents into the attic.
Look in the attic after heavy weather
The attic shows a leak long before the ceiling does. After any serious storm, take a torch up and look at the underside of the deck around penetrations and valleys.
In short
None of this is difficult and none of it is expensive. It is simply the difference between a roof that reaches its rated life and one that does not.
Related questions
Should I repair or replace?
It depends almost entirely on how much life is left in the material. Ask any contractor who inspects it to give you a number of years and a reason. If two of them independently say the same thing, believe it.
How quickly will someone call?
Usually within the hour during working hours. If you marked the job as an emergency it goes to the front of the queue and is normally picked up faster than that.
What should I do to prepare?
Move the cars out, take pictures off the top-floor walls, cover anything stored in the attic, and put pets somewhere else for the loud days. Expect nails in the driveway however careful the crew is — ask whether they run a magnet at the end.
What is it going to cost?
Free, no obligation, and your details go to no company until you say yes.