Asphalt Roof Replacement in Salem, MA

Challenge

A client from Salem reached out to us looking to have the roof replaced on their 65 year old Colonial. Our client had some shingles come off of their roof during the stretch of nor’easters we had in March and called us to come assess the damage and give them an estimate on replacing their roof.

Solution

We sent over our Salesman Ed Burge to examine our clients roof and provide an estimate for replacing it. After discussing their options with Ed, our clients decided to replace the entire roof on the main section of the home, excluding their garage. The first thing the crew needed to do was strip off all of the old shingles and examine the roof deck for rot damage. After examining the roof deck’s integrity, and completeing spot repairs where they were needed, the crew began installing the Owens Corning Weather Lock Flex Ice and Water Barrier on the roof deck. The crew installed the barrier 6′ up from the edge of the fascia board, as well as 18″ in from the rake edges, and 36″ around any valleys or roof penetrations, such as the broan vent the crew later installed for our client. A&A uses twice as much barrier as the code calls for in order to protect our clients homes in the event of a bad winter where ice dams form and back water up onto the roof. If A&A only installed the barrier 3′ up from the fascia board, its possible that an ice dam could become large enough to back water up beyond 3 feet and seep under the shingles and onto the roof deck. With 6′ of barrier, it’s virtually impossible.

After the Flex Barrier had been installed, the crew covered the remaining sections of roof deck with Owens Corning Deck Defense High Performance under layment, which like the flex barrier, protects the roof against water damage. This under layment isn’t quite as waterproof as the flex barrier, so the crew uses it in areas that are unlikely to have water backed up onto them.

Once the roof deck has been covered with the flex barrier and under layment, the crew begins installing the shingles onto the roof. They begin with the Owens Corning starter strip shingles at the perimeter of the roof. The starter shingles come complete with additional adhesive that helps the shingles to stay in place during those unpredictable New England nor’easters. They are designed to stay in place during high winds, and also act as an additional layer of water-proofing protection, so water can’t slip underneath the first row of shingles and onto the roof deck.

Once the starter strip shingles were installed, the crew got to work on completing the rest of the shingle installation. They worked their way up the roof, until they got to the C-side of the roof, which needed a new broan vent installed. The crew had created a space to install one earlier, so they easily slid it into place and properly sealed the opening, which had flex barrier installed around it. Additionally, two vents to the left and right of the broan vent needed new aluminum boots installed to help keep them water-tight. The crew capped off the roof with ridge-cap shingles which helps the attic to breathe, allowing heat out through the roof. This can be espeically helpful during the winter months where hot air escaping at the corners of your attic can cause ice dams to form in your gutters and at the edge of your roof line. Allowing the heat to escape out of the top of your roof can be helpful in preventing those ice dams from forming. Our clients ventilation system was based on the gable vents on the left and right sides of the attic, but adding ridge line ventiliation as well is never a bad idea.

The the crew also needed to re-flash and lead our clients chimney. The crew scored out the old flashing from the chimney, fed the new lead into the mortar joints the crew created, and sealed everything with Geocell. Lead is used in the chimney flashing process because of its malleability, which allows it to easily form a water-tight seal in combination with the Geocell sealant.

After the chimney had been re-flashed and sealed to the roof deck, the crew finished up the job by cleaning up the work site. They cleaned the gutters, used a leaf blower on the roof, and a magnetic rake under the roof to pick any stray screws. After the job site was as clean as possible, the crew headed back to the showroom in Salem, another job well done.