Roof repair in Orlando
Sometimes the honest answer is a few hundred dollars and a straight answer. We fix the part that’s failing and tell you how long the rest has.
Is this you?
Jobs that repair well
A few lifted or missing shingles
Wind damage in one place, on shingles that still bend without cracking.
A split pipe boot
The commonest leak on a Florida roof, and the cheapest thing we replace.
Flashing at one wall or chimney
Taken apart and done properly with metal, not caulked over.
The bend test
If the shingle bends, it can be repaired
We lift a shingle near the damage and bend it back. If it flexes, a repair will hold. If it cracks, every shingle we lift to make the repair breaks another, and the repair just moves the leak.
That test, not the roof’s age, is what decides whether we quote a repair or tell you it’s time.
How we do it
How a repair visit goes
Look from underneath
We check the attic first so we know what the repair has to stop.
Lift and bend
We lift the shingles around the damage. If they crack, a repair won’t hold, and we say so.
Price the repair
Written down before we start: what it fixes, and what it doesn’t.
Fix and photograph
Matched profile, new flashing or boot, photos of before and after.
What it costs
What decides the price of a repair
A repair is priced after we’ve seen it, never from the driveway.
What failed
A pipe boot or a few shingles is a small job. A valley or a wall takes longer.
How easy it is to reach
High, steep or cut-up roofs take longer to work on safely.
What’s underneath
If the deck under the damage is soft, those sheets are priced separately.
The details
For the people who want every step
The bend test
Before we quote a repair, we lift a tab. A shingle with life in it will flex enough to get a flat bar under the course above and pull the nails without cracking. A shingle that has gone brittle snaps, and every one you break to get at the one you meant to fix has to be replaced too. On a roof like that a $300 repair quietly turns into a $900 repair that looks worse than what it replaced, and the honest answer is to say so and stop.
That is the conversation we would rather have on the ladder than in an invoice.
What genuinely repairs well
Pipe boots. The commonest repair there is, and the cheapest. The neoprene collar cracks round the pipe long before anything else on the roof is tired. Done properly the boot is replaced — not smeared — which means lifting three courses, pulling the nails, sliding the old flange out, sliding a lead boot in under the shingles above and over the shingles below, re-nailing and sealing the heads.
Blown-off ridge cap. Cap takes the wind first and often goes on its own while the field is fine. New cap, six nails, sealed.
A slipped or missing shingle. Straightforward if the mat still bends, and the only real skill is getting the nails out of the course above without tearing it.
Exposed nails and old repairs. Every roof that has been worked on has a constellation of face nails somebody sealed with roofing cement. That cement is now cracked, and cracked cement holds water against the nail rather than shedding it. Those get pulled, patched properly or re-nailed under cover.
Flashing at a wall. Replaceable without touching the field of the roof if the shingles will lift. This is the repair most often faked with a bead of sealant.
What does not repair well
Widespread granule loss, which is the mat losing its sunscreen — there is nothing to fix, only to replace. Shingles that have cupped or clawed at the edges, which usually means the deck under them has been damp and hot for years and the problem is ventilation, not the shingle. And any roof where the last three repairs were also emergency repairs; at that point you are renting a roof at a poor rate.
Color
We will match the profile. We will not match the color, and neither will anybody else. Shingle color is a blend of granule colors and it changes between production runs, and then the roof fades on top of that. A repair on a rear slope is invisible from anywhere that matters. A repair in the middle of the front elevation will be a slightly different shade for the rest of the roof's life, and you should be told that before we start, not after.
What a repair visit includes
The same written condition report as everything else, because a repair is a good moment to find out what the other eleven penetrations look like. If the roof needs nothing else, the report says that, and the last line is the date we would want to look at it again.
Repairs
First testWill the shingle still bend?BootsReplaced, not sealed. Lead, dressed into the pipeCapReplaced with 6 nails and sealed headsOld face nailsPulled and covered, not smeared with cementFlashingNew metal, not the old piece bent backColorProfile matched, color never promisedReportWritten, same as any other jobWe will say noWhen a repair breaks more than it fixesQuestions
What people ask us about this
Should I repair or replace my roof?
It depends on whether the damage is in one place, whether the deck is sound, and whether the shingles still bend without cracking. If all three are yes, repair it.
Can you match a few shingles?
We can usually match the profile. We can’t promise the color: shingles fade and blends change between runs, so on a front slope a patch can show. We’ll tell you before we start.
Is a repair worth it on an old roof?
If the shingles still flex and the deck is sound, often yes. If the tabs snap when lifted, a repair breaks more than it fixes, and we’ll say so.
It is dripping right now. What should I do?
Put a bucket under the drip and move what’s underneath. If the ceiling is sagging or bulging, leave the room and call. Please don’t go up on the roof or a ladder to look.
Get a straight answer about your roof.
Tell us what it’s doing. We’ll look at the roof and the attic and put it in writing.
Other work