My understanding is that the step flashed examples show a more professional quality job. Going around the area I came across examples of both methods. If done without steps is that considered against the best practice, but an acceptable shortcut. Is step flashing just an indication of a more experienced roofer with quality in mind?

Not a roofer, and by stepped flashing I'm assuming when the visual has stepped looking material, that is stepped flashing. Like the second photo. Are both methods considered acceptable by the standards makers? If not then there is a bunch of bad work being done.

Just got my roof done. Looks OK to me, but thankfully I haven’t had to get a new roof before. Anyone see anything that looks off?

The roof is 5 years old. I’m not sure if I’m dealing with major issues here. I’m considering purchasing this home and now I’m not so sure.

I had a leak in this location and had a roofer repair this today. Apparently, it was leaking through the exposed nail (pre-fix, 2nd photo). So, I am concerned the fix is going to have the same problem, but times 3-4 - given there are now 3 or 4 exposed nails.

Should I have them re-do it? Or is this a normal install? For pros, how would you rate this?

Thanks!

Hello,

I’m in Southern CA. I have a tile roof. I had a leak on a small sloped portion of roof above my kitchen nook. I’ve replaced the plywood, underlayment and flashing. I’m ready to lay the tiles down but in spite of my before pictures (to reference when I was ready to lay the tile down again) I’m confused.
I can get the tiles to lay flush. The only thing that’s different than before is I added a metal bird stop (opposed to cement). At first I thought the bird stop wasn’t the right one but the roofing company looked at my tiles and confirmed it’s the correct bird stop.

I can’t tell - are my tiles spaced correctly? And - when I add the second row, I’m noticing the tiles don’t sit flush on the previous row. Where did I go wrong and how do I fix this?

I want to re-iterate - this is my first time trying to nail down tile. I’m trying to teach myself whenever I need to do a repair.

Photo 1-3: these are before photos to reference how the tile looked before. Photo 3 is after most the tiles have been removed except for the first row.

Photo 4-5 is how I have the first row tiles laid down
Photo 6 shows how the second layer would look without it being nailed down - does this look right?
Photo 7 shows a gap between the tiles. Hard to tell from the photo but it’s about a 1/2-3/4 in gap - which I know wasn’t there before. That’s why I’m convinced I’m not doing something right - I just don’t know what.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Our roof is being replaced with a metal roof. It is almost done and looks great. They are coming back tomorrow to finish. I’m concerned about this flashing however, where an addition attaches to the side of the house. Does this look right?

My roofer wants to install a GAF liberty SBS peel and stick roof on top of my existing bitumen roof. His guys already made the mistake of installing asphault shingles so they partially cover the old bitumen roof. He says he wants to cover the old one because it slips under the cedar shingle siding and I guess he thinks he'll have to remove them. I read the GAF Liberty instructions and it calls for a smooth surface (bitumen definitely not smooth) and for the removal of the existing roof. Can't he just tear off the old roof and slip the new sheets under the space under the shingle left by removing the old roof or will that create problems? Is covering over an existing bitumen roof acceptable? How should a roofer be doing this job? Any ideas on how to deal with this would be appreciated. If you're a roofer would you please say so in your reply so when I show this to my guy he'll know it's coming from pros? Thanks!

I recently purchased a home in Melbourne, Australia and have had a persistent leak which enters at the corner of this skylight during significant rainfall.

The first photo shows the original condition of the roof, and then the second, third, and fourth photos are after I have done periodic repairs with a flexible flashing.

After a few further rain events, the issue seemed to improve a bit, but the leak is still occurring. The fifth photo shows the rest of the roof upstream of the skylight, and there’s obviously some joints there in pretty bad shape. Is anyone able to comment on the likelihood of water entering further up at one of those deteriorated joints and travelling down, or any other potential entry point?

I’m at the point where I don’t necessarily mind sealing up the other joints, but then if that doesn’t work I don’t want to have done all that work if there is another more obvious cause.

Thanks

Added a vent hood. Realized I shouldn’t have caulked the bottom of the flashing. Easy fix? Should I replace shingles? Only did the nails under the shingles up top and caulked on top of them along with under the flashing.

I had a roof replaced about 4 weeks ago and I have a few shingles that look like they are a little puckered. There are two in the top third of this photo. What causes this and is it anything to worry about or will it eventually flatten out?

I recently had my roof replaced, which included tearing out the old torch-down material and redoing my built-in (mopboard) gutters with a PVC membrane.

Upon inspection, I noticed there is loose debris—specifically loose nails and wood particles—trapped directly underneath the newly installed PVC liner.

Is it acceptable for a roofing contractor to leave debris under a fresh PVC gutter lining, or should the wood decking have been swept entirely clean before the membrane was fastened? I am concerned that walking on the roof for maintenance or the constant water weight in the gutters could cause these loose nails to puncture the PVC over time.

Has anyone dealt with a similar issue during a built-in gutter installation? Any advice on how to approach the contractor about this would be greatly appreciated!

I got this quote for re-covering my garage around 10sq.

I feel like there’s a lot of missing details/scope. What questions should I be asking? What answers should I be looking for. In our text conversation he said it would be 26g metal. I’d prefer all fasteners be screws.

I'm helping a friend go over her builder's list for the lumber order for a new low-slope patio cover at her house 2' OC 3"x6" rafters, plenty of blocking.

Getting roofed with TPO. Builder has put 3/4" CDX T&G ply on the order for decking.

Is this excessive? I've only ever put 1/2" ply down for roof sheathing, but I'm no TPO expert.

Not sure if it's mechanically fastened or glued. We live in the PNW with no crazy wind considerations.

,

Hello,

We've had our roof for about 10 years now and earlier this week, I noticed a few shingles that had damage on them, most likely from a cat\possum. Is this something I could patch with some type of glue\paste or do the shingles need to be replaced? Thanks in advance!

Location: Orange County, CA

I’m a homeowner in the west Toronto area collecting quotes to redo the flat roof on our 1974 house, and the proposals differ a lot in how they fix the slope. Before I pick one, I want to understand how each option affects the whole assembly, not just the membrane. Photos attached.

Current assembly (inside to outside):

• Ceiling drywall
• Kraft paper vapour retarder on R20 batts
• Ventilated air gap
• Roof deck
• Torch-down mod-bit. A core test showed the deck is dry, with no insulation above it.

Ventilation:

• Intake vents on the sides of the roof.
• I suspect some bays dead-end where the flat section meets a sloped roof section
• Another section runs into a wall at a different elevation, so those bays may not have a clear path out either
• I’m not sure there is any real exhaust, as opposed to intake on one side and nothing on the other.

Problems:

• About 800 sq ft across three flat sections.
• Ponding in several areas
• Scuppers clog constantly with needles, cones and leaves from a big pine next door.
• A bathroom exhaust fan was added last year, and it occasionally condenses or drips [

The three sloping approaches I’ve been quoted:

1. Carpentered slope on top of the existing deck.
2. Strapping under the deck.
3. Insulation-based slope. 2" of polyiso over the existing deck, then tapered polyiso to drain toward the scuppers, then the membrane.

The proposed membranes are a mix of 2-ply SBS mod-bit and TPO

Questions:

1. Option 1, slope on top. This creates a second cavity between the old deck and the new one. Should that space be vented, or is it effectively a sealed air space sitting above my vented cavity? Is there any risk of trapping moisture between two decks?
2. Option 2, strapping under. This keeps the assembly the same type but changes the depth of the vent space. At the low ends, does the air gap get too thin to vent properly? With the deck off, is this the best chance to actually fix the dead-ended bays?
3. Option 3, polyiso. This makes the roof a hybrid: about R12 or more above the deck, a vented cavity, then R20 below. Since the ventilation air runs between the two insulation layers, does the polyiso add much real thermal value, or is it mainly a sloping method that also keeps the deck warmer? Would the right move be to close off the vents and go fully unvented? If so, how much exterior R-value do I need relative to the R20 inside to stay out of condensation trouble in Zone 6? And what do I do about the paper vapour retarder?
4. Height changes. Options 1 and 3 both raise the roof surface. What does that do to the wall flashing heights, the scuppers, and the transition to the sloped roof section?
5. TPO vs mod-bit here. Does a white TPO deck meaningfully increase condensation risk in a vented cold roof? How do you rate TPO vs 2-ply SBS for snow, foot traffic, and constant pine debris?
6. Red flags. What should I insist on in writing for any of these? I’m thinking full tear-off vs overlay, deck replacement allowances, how ventilation will be handled, and flashing details. What would make you walk away?
7. Age and repair vs replace. I’m not sure how old the current single-ply torch-down is Based on the photos, roughly how old does it look? Is it near end of life, or could it reasonably be repaired and fixed for drainage instead of fully replaced?
8. Bathroom fan condensation. The exhaust fan added last year occasionally condenses. Should this be corrected as part of the reroof?

My main worry is trading ponding for a hidden moisture problem by changing how this roof dries. Option 2 seems closest to the original design but is the most invasive; option 3 seems simplest but changes the assembly the most. Any insight is appreciated. Thanks!

Beyond what I can glean from Yelp, Google Reviews, Angie's List (which is a dead heat), and price (nearly dead heat), and materials (identical from what I can see), how to choose? Same industry awards, same certifications, etc.

One guy suggested our roof line wasn't long enough for a full ridge vent, so would need a combo of ridge vent and...box vents? The other guy didn't mention anything about it.

This is a big spend, I don't know how to pick one vs. the other, or if there are other questions or intangibles to investigate. Or if I'm just in analysis paralysis.

I'm in the Atlanta suburbs, and the two companies are Dr Roof and Atlanta Roofing Specialists, if that matters. I have no idea where Dr. Roof went to medical school.

As much as I enjoy saving old box gutters from being cut down and replaced with hanging gutters, sometimes that's just how things work out

One of the rounded caps on the peak of the roof (far right in pic) blew off in the wind. A roofer came and put it back up for me and he said the whole length was cemented down with dobs of cement instead of bedded in the way he has done. He recommended lifting it all and bedding in the way he has done. My brother in law (not a roofer) said its a waste of money and to leave it. You can see in the pic where the guy has pointed several gaps along the length. I'm of a mind to get it done as the consequences of a crap roof are wild, varied and usually expensive.