Beyond the Surface: How We Solved a Tricky Roofing Issue in Peabody

We asked our owner Chris to share his experience on a Peabody, MA roofing project and the following is what he shared.

This particular project was a roofing job, but more than that, it was a serious repair that called for some real problem-solving. The customer had hired another company years ago to do both the roof and the siding on their home. Everything looked good on the surface—clean lines, neat work, no immediate red flags. But then came the winter of 2015, one of the worst we’ve seen around here, and that’s when everything went sideways for this poor family.

They experienced massive ice dam damage. Now, ice dams are pretty common around here, especially during a winter like that one. Usually, when water gets in from an ice dam, it’s two or three feet up from the edge of the roof. But this situation was unusual. The water wasn’t coming in from the typical spots—it was pouring in around the eaves, right where a dormer on the second level met the main roof. That’s not normal.

The homeowner was confused and frustrated, and when I came out to look at it, I was too—at first. Everything looked like it had been installed correctly. The siding job was clean. The roof seemed fine. But after giving it a closer look, I told her, “I think the problem might be the overhang that runs along the front and back of your house—where the second story meets the first.” I couldn’t say for sure without taking some things apart.

To her credit, she trusted us. She had heard good things about our company and was willing to let us dig a little deeper. So I sent a couple of my guys out, and we carefully removed sections of the vinyl siding in the suspect area. Sure enough, what I suspected turned out to be the issue.

The flashing along the wall was completely inadequate. Yes, the previous contractor had installed step flashing, but they missed a critical detail—there was no ice and water shield running up the wall behind the flashing. That’s a major oversight, especially in our climate. What we do in cases like this, where a wall sits on a roof section, is run ice and water shield at least three feet up the wall before the siding goes on. That way, if water ever gets behind the flashing or the siding, it won’t get into the house.

Because of the home’s size, we had to take siding off on two full sides. It was a big job. But we identified the problem, showed the customer exactly what needed to be done, and she gave us the green light. We fixed it—and I never heard from her again, which is exactly what you want in this line of work. No callback means the fix held.

That’s the kind of work we pride ourselves on—going beyond surface-level repairs, using our knowledge and experience to troubleshoot complex issues. We’re not just roofers or siders—we’re full-service home improvement contractors with the house IQ to back it up. And in this case, that expertise made all the difference.