Roof Ventilation

How do I Know if my Attic isn’t Properly Ventilated?

Improper attic ventilation has a variety of symptoms that can be easily spotted with a roof and attic inspection. If you spot any of the following symptoms of improper attic ventilation, don’t wait before it’s too late. Call Roofer911 at

Attic Ventilation

Installing an aluminum ridge vent

Installation of Shingle Vent 2 ridge vent with cap shingles.

Solar attic fan.

Soffit intake vents to allow cool fresh air into the attic space.

Attic insulation baffles to prevent blockage of soffit intake vents

(703) 475-2446 for a no obligation, no cost attic ventilation inspection.

 

• Curling Shingles – Curled shingles can be a sign that shingles are old and need to be replaced. But when they are less than 10 years old, it could be a sign that improper attic ventilation is occurring. As warm and humid air ventilate from the attic space, it has to escape through the cracks and gaps between your roofing substrate, underlayment and shingles. This humid air can curl shingles in between keys and where they butt together.

• Phantom Leaks – Sometimes poor attic ventilation can trap humid air from air conditioning equipment and other condensation ventilation in the attic space. Without good attic ventilation, this condensation can cause phantom roof leaks to appear in interior ceilings and walls.

• Mold – When mold or mildew is in your attic space, it’s a sure sign that a roof leak has occurred. But if your roof leak isn’t a roof leak and it’s due to humid and moist air trapped in the attic, it can be the cause of mold and mildew. When black mold is allowed to form, it can not only cost a fortune in removal and replacement costs, it can also severely affect your health. If you spot any signs of mold or mildew in your attic space, immediately call Roofer911 at (703) 475-2446 or send us an email of your mold problems to Roofer911@gmail.com and we’ll send a team of our qualified roofing ventilation experts to your home or business for a free inspection of your home or businesses attic ventilation needs.

• Ice Dams – Poor attic ventilation can also cause problems in the wintertime. When hot and humid temperatures inside the home leak into the attic due to weak insulation or faulty heating equipment, it can cause the surface of the attic roof to heat up. This will in turn heat up the shingles of the roof. As accumulated snow on the roof heats up and melts, it flows down the roof to the cooler eaves. Here it refreezes into an ice dam, blocking further water from flowing off of the roof. The water must go somewhere and it does-right through roofing materials and into the homes attic.

Attic ventilation Inspection

To truly determine whether you home or businesses attic ventilation is not doing its job, you’ll need to have an experienced roofer inspect your roof, attic and walls for defects in the ventilation and insulation. Roofer911 provides a complete and total attic ventilation assessment to find and cure your structures roofing ventilation problems. We use infrared thermal photography to find your homes insulation and ventilation weak spots, so we’ll be sure to find and fix any roofing ventilation problems permanently. So what are you waiting for? Call Roofer911 at (703) 475-2446 or send us an email at Roofer911@gmail.com and we’ll provide you with a no cost attic ventilation inspection for your North Virginia home or business.

 

We can take care of that system and makes sure your energy bills are low. 

To save money on your heating and electrical bills, it's extremely important to ensure that your home is properly ventilated. Visit http://www.oikos.com to find more information about energy efficiency, attic ventilation and the construction of environmentally responsible homes.

Roof Ventilation first appeared on www.roofer911.com

Roof Repair In Arlington VA

 

Hi, this is Steve from Roofer 911.

I'm at a home in Arlington, Virginia and the customer I'm meeting with lives in this home here. The next door neighbor just had a new roof installed and if you look very carefully, you can see where the two homes join together, they ran cap shingles right up the middle. That's a problem. Not only is going to cause a leak for the new roof, but it's also going to cause a leak for the home on the left side.

The reason why is when they fasten the cap shingles into place, they nailed the singles with roofing nails. The water will get underneath those cap shingles, and water will leak right through the sides of the nail, and the leak can settle anywhere, even inside the exterior wall. This is not the way to go about doing the job. What they should have done is tied the new roof into the next door neighbor's roof, so this way, you don't see that patch going up the middle.

Here, I'll show you exactly what I mean. The next door neighbor here had a new roof installed, and you can see how they tied their roof into the neighbor's, so there's no nails exposed and it will not cause leakage for either one of these homes.

My name, again, is Steve from Roofer 911 and we specialize in roof repair in all areas of Arlington and Dunn Loring in Northern Virginia. I can be reached at 703-475-2446. Thank you.

Roof Repair In Arlington VA first appeared on www.roofer911.com

Why Is My Roof Leaking Burke, VA

 

Hi, this is Steve from Roofer 911.

I'm on a roof in Burke, Virginia. The home owner has a leak where the roof and the wall meet. It's right in this area here. I noticed some of the nails are popping up, because they never fastened the flashing into the rafters underneath and they never sealed underneath the flashing.

 

What we'll do is remove all these nails. We're going to seal underneath with polyurethane. Then we'll fasten the flashing back into place and make sure, like is said, to hit the rafters underneath. After we're done with the repairs, the leak, will still come back, but only this time with a heavy, driving rain. It's right here.

 

You see this open space here where the J-tile meets up against the fascia. If there's a driving rain blowing towards the wall, the water will get inside that gap, and then the water travels behind the siding. It will settle where the roof and the wall meet.

 

This is a simple fix. What we'll do is we're just going to seal that area with polyurethane on both sides of the gable. Once we do that, no matter what the weather type, driving rain, melting snow, this leak will not come back again.

 

My name is Steve from Roofer 911. We specialize in roof repair in all areas of Burke, Great Falls and Northern Virginia. I can be reached at 703-475-2446. Thank you.

Why Is My Roof Leaking Burke, VA first appeared on www.roofer911.com

Vienna VA – Seamless Gutter Repair

 

Hi this is Steve, I'm Roofer 911.

I'm at a home in Vienna, Virginia and the home owner has a problem with their gutters. I don't know if you are going to see this, right over in here the gutters have taken a little bit of a dip.

When there is a really heavy rain the water's overflowing over the front of the gutter. Not only does the water overflow over the front, it's also going over the back. Water can settle right over here inside and sometimes that water can travel back into the house sometimes even 10 feet.

What we need to do is lift the gutter up ever-so-slightly here, so this way the water flows to the drain. We also noticed this problem in the winter time with large icicles built up in that area. Once we have re-pitched this gutter the water will flow to the drain, and this customer will not have any more problems.

My name is Steve from Roofer 911. We specialize in gutter repair and seamless gutter installation in all areas of Vienna and Lorton in Northern Virginia. I can be reached at 703-475-2446. Thank you.

Vienna VA – Seamless Gutter Repair first appeared on www.roofer911.com

How to Find Roof Leaks And Repair Them

 

Hi this is Steve from Roofer 911.

I'm on a roof in McLean, Virginia. This roof has multiple sources that's causing leaks inside the home. Now, the first thing I noticed is all the leaves that are built up in the valley so it's causing a dam, so the water is not flowing down the drain like it should be right in this area here.

The water's backing up and then the water's going underneath the shingles and seeping through the sides of the nails, and the water's just travelling along the valley underneath.

Now, with all these capped shingles holding the ridge in place, you can see how they have all nails exposed which is normal. The problem is when there's a heavy rain or melting snow. The water can get underneath these capped shingles, seep right through the sides of the nails and inside the home, and the water can settle anywhere down below.

Now, also, where the roof and the wall meet, there's aluminum step flashing that's underneath the black counter flashing and underneath the shingles. I noticed some of the nails were exposed in the flashing. There should be no nails exposed in the flashing at all.

Same thing over here along the wall and also along the chimney, so what I really recommend is to strip this entire roof, we're going to seal the wood with the ice and water shield. Then we'll put all the new shingles and the ice and water shield will seal all the nails that are holding these shingles into place.

Also, the valley, we're going to install ice and water shield along the entire length of the valley. Then we'll re-shingle this area. The valley will not be open like this. It will be a single-cut closed type valley.

Also, the leaves over here is causing a dam, too, and it will cause the water to back up there. Now another thing, very important, is here you can see the ridge vent is on the verge of coming off. The nails are popping out, and also a lot of these nails are not even sealed.

We're going to take off this ridge vent, and then we're going to seal the deck underneath here right along the entire length of the ridge on both sides with polyurethane. Then the new ridge vent is going to be pressed into the sealant and then we'll fasten it into the rafters underneath, and then re-seal all the fasteners.

Now, the leaks are over in here, and this top roof is also attributing to the leak. You can see the valley. The shingles are all chewed up. That's another thing that's causing the leaks down below. Also, here, you can see the ridge vent is on the verge of coming off, right there.

We're going to do the same thing with that ridge vent as we did the other. I really recommend to strip this roof, too, because that water's just travelling down inside the exterior wall and settling on the lower roof. With this leak, we got to target it from every possible angle.

Let's check this gutter. Yeah, the gutter here is all clogged and that will cause a leak, too. When the water fills up in the gutter, and it reaches the level of these spikes, the water can seep right through the sides of the spikes. Through the socket and down inside the wall and settle on the lower roof.

Again, like I said, we got to target this leak from every possible angle, because if we don't, we will most certainly be back again. Also, the flashing around a chimney, we got to take care of that as well.

Also, here, we got to put aluminum drip edge here. You can see there's a large gaping space right here. It's about an inch open. We're going to take these shingles up. We're going to install aluminum drip edge right along the eve, that will block any water from getting underneath from a wind driven rain.

Again, my name is Steve, from Roofer 911, and we specialize in roof repair in McLean VA and Lorton VA, and all areas of Northern Virginia, and I can be reached at 703-475-2446. Thank you.

How to Find Roof Leaks And Repair Them first appeared on www.roofer911.com

Why A Skylight Is Leaking – Oakton, VA

 

Hi. This is Steve from Roofer 911.

I'm on a roof in Oakton, Virginia, and the homeowner has a leak inside their home from the skylight and I noticed people had been doing a lot of repairs. It looked like at one time they had a tarp on the roof and you can see all these staples going through the roof, but also, the metal flashing here is all pulled up so the water can very easily get underneath from a heavy downpour and leak right through the nail holes.

Now, also, on the sides and also the backside are the contractor who initially did the installation, he put nails into the step flashing and you can see right there there is a nail exposed. That nail should not be there. This nail should be holding this flashing underneath this one. So this piece of flashing would be overlapping the nail and if they would've done that, they wouldn't be having a leak.

Now, also on the backside, there's nails fastened into the flashing right up against the side, so what we need to do is remove all the roofing material completely around the skylight. Any flashing that's damaged is going to be either repaired or replaced with new. Then, we'll install an ice and water shield completely around the skylight and then we'll re-shingle it.

Also, the perimeter here, the outside perimeter where the glass and the metal frame meet, we're going to seal this with polyurethane because these skylights are known to develop hairline fractures so eventually it would develop a leak.

Now, even after we're done doing the roof repair around the skylight, there's still a very good chance the leak will come back and the reason why is because of the ridge vent up there. So, we need to remove about maybe 4 feet of ridge vent and then we're going to apply ice and water shield to the deck at both sides of the ridge and then we'll reinstall the ridge vent.

Really, this roof needs to be replaced very soon. Also, they had another leak over here right in the corner, right at the bottom of the ridge and in the beginning I thought it was possibly from the gutter overflowing, but it's not. I'll show you exactly what's going on here. Right there. You can see there's a hole right here so the water's seeping right through the hole and inside the home.

Again, my name is Steve from Roofer 911 and we specialize in roof repair in all areas of Oakton, Mt. Vernon and Northern Virginia and I can be reached at 703-475-2446. Thank you.
 

Why A Skylight Is Leaking – Oakton, VA first appeared on www.roofer911.com

Bristow VA – Roof Repair And Roof Inspection

 

Hi, this is Steven from Roofer 911.

I'm on a roof in Bristow, Virginia, and I noticed a few different things that is causing the roof to leak.

One thing is the metal flashing here is all exposed. These shingles here should be overlapping the flashing, so what happens is during a heavy downpour or melting snow, the water can get underneath the flashing and then leak inside the home.

Also, at one time, they probably had a problem with shingles blowing off on the back side because if the air from the fan was getting underneath the shingles and they were causing it to flop, so what somebody did was they put nails through the shingle, and then they sealed over the nail with silicone, and then he also sealed the keys.

Also here, there's a screw going through the shingle and into the flashing.This is definitely leaking, but the home-owner probably doesn't even know it. Even though he sealed it here and he sealed the nail here, during a heavy rain or, again, with the melting snow, the water's going to go up underneath the shingle and then seep right through the screw and the nail and then into the house.

We're going to remove all of the roofing completely around the fan. We'll install ice and water shield for the flashing and then re-shingle it. Now, also, the ridge vent, it's not sealed well at all. In fact, the contractor used cement on all these nail heads. What we'll do is we're just going to seal the nails with polyurethane and then they won't have a problem. In fact, all the ridge vents are exactly the same.

Now, also, the homeowner here is selling the home, and the day that they had a home inspector here, it was raining very heavy and they said that he noticed water that was dripping behind the gutter.

Here, you can see the shingles are not overlapped into the gutter sufficiently, so what happened is the water comes down the roof, and then it curls underneath the shingles and then behind the gutter, but also that water can leak behind the faschia and inside the home, and where they're going to have a leak is on the lower roof where the roof meets up against the wall.

We're just going to extend the shingles further in to the gutter. Now, another thing I noticed is, and this is very strange, they have a nail going through the roof, and there's absolutely no reason for this. It's a ten penny nail right here, so that will definitely cause a leak, and that water can settle anywhere below.

That's it. My name is Steve from Roofer 911, and we specialize in roof repair in all areas of Bristow and Bull Run in Northern Virginia. I can be reached at 703-475-2446. Thank you.
 

Bristow VA – Roof Repair And Roof Inspection first appeared on www.roofer911.com

How To Locate And Repair A Roof Leak – Clifton VA

 

Hi, this is Steve, I'm Roofer 911.

I'm on a roof in Clifton, Virginia, that has a leak found near the bottom of the corner post. The first thing I noticed when I came up on the roof is all the leaves and dirt caked up in the valley. All this debris is causing the water to dam up, so when there's a heavy downpour the water cannot flow down the valley, so it backs up underneath the shingles. Then the water will travel underneath the roof, and settle at the lowest point, and that's right at the corner.

What we'll do is remove all this debris, remove all the roofing material at both sides of the valley. We'll install ice and water shield from the bottom all the way up to the top, and then we'll reshingle the valley, and install a single-cut, closed-type valley, and make sure that we nail at least 10 inches away from the valley center line.

Another thing is this old storm window will also cause this roof to leak, as well, but only during a wind driven rain. The water can get right inside here, and the water will travel right through the sides of the screws that's holding the window in place. The water will go behind the siding, and again, it will settle at the lowest point. This is really simple to fix. We're going to seal the outside perimeter with polyurethane.

Another thing is where the roof and the wall meet, there's nails exposed in the step flashing, so we need to remove all the roofing material where the roof and the wall meet. Repair, replace any flashing, and then reshingle it. Same thing over here. There's nails in the step flashing there.

Another thing is this upper gutter is directly above where the leak is down below. The gutter here is sagging in the middle. When there's a heavy downpour, or a melting snow, that water cannot go uphill quick enough to where the drain is, so the water not only overflows over the front, but it goes over the back. Then it goes behind the wall, and it will settle, again, at the lowest point. This gutter needs to be repitched.

Another thing is this vent, this 750 vent. The contractor who installed it, he put a wire mesh around it. They probably had problems with squirrels or raccoons in the past, so they put this screening. He also nailed it to the roof. We need to remove all the roofing around this vent. We're going to replace it with a new one, and then we'll install an ice and water shield around it, and then reshingle it.

Another thing is right up here. I don't know if you can see it. It's right up there at the top, right there, you see that split shingle, see right there. What'll happen is if there's a heavy downpour the water can get in through that cracked shingle. Water will travel down behind the siding, and then underneath the roof, and then again, it could settle at the lowest point.

With this leak there's so many sources, and we need to fix each and every one, because if we don't we'll be back.

Here's another thing. With the vinyl siding it's not overlapped enough. This one is only overlapping this one by about a quarter of an inch, and there's a few others up above that have the same problem. What we'll do is pull back the vinyl siding, insert polyurethane inside, and then press it right into the sealant.

Again, here's where the leak is, and also here's a damaged shingle here. It's not really that bad, but it needs to be replaced. Also, here there's a nail pop, and then also there's a nail pop there, and that's directly above where they had the leak inside. Any damaged shingles, nail pops, they're going to be removed and replaced.

Another thing, very important, Architectural shingles are very good, but they're only as good as the contractor who installs them. What I mean by that is the roofers used roofing nail guns. With a nail gun, if it's put in the wrong hands it can cause a problem. This nail is popping up, because the air pressure was not set correctly, it was too low.

Another thing is here where the shingles join together. We need to lift all the shingles above this valley to see if there's any nails exposed at the keys, and if there is we're going to seal the nail flasher, and reseal it again.

Here's another thing that can cause the leak. You've got all these exposed nails at the cap. We're going to take off these cap shingles and replace them with new. With this leak, like I said, there's multiple sources, and we need to fix each and every one of them.

Again, my name is Steve, I'm Roofer 911, and we specialize in roof repair in Clifton, Dulles, and all areas of Northern Virginia. I can be reached at 703-475-2446. Thank you.
 

How To Locate And Repair A Roof Leak – Clifton VA first appeared on www.roofer911.com

Woodbridge VA Roof Leak – Water Diveter

 

Hi. This is Steve from Roofer911.

I'm on a roof in Woodbridge, Virginia. The homeowner has a leak just behind the dormer, right next to the water diverter. Now, the first thing I wanted to check was the ridge vent, to make sure everything was fine. It was. There was no problems.

Also, I wanted to check the keys at the architectural roof shingles to make sure that there were no nails exposed here, because if there was the water can seep right through the side the nail, travel underneath the shingle and it would find an opening at this dormer as well.

As you look at the water diverter, you can see this is not good. The water diverter's coming up. The nails are coming up. The water's traveling right through the side of the nail holes and inside the home. They don't have a leak in this area here but they will. In fact, they do.

The reason why they don't know it is because the insulation inside the attic directly below is absorbing the water. Now, once the insulation becomes saturated and it cannot hold any more water then the water will let loose. Then, you'll see the damage on the drywall below.

What we're going to do is take off this water diverter. We're going to replace the damaged shingles. Then, we'll re install a new diverter. This time we're not going to nail it to the face of the shingles.

We're going to seal the flashing with ice and water shield. Then, we're going to re shingle along the diverter and it's going to overlap the flashing. Then, we're going to give the shingles a nice cut fit right along the metal flashing so there will be no nails exposed in the flashing at all.

Again, my name is Steve from Roofer911. We specialize in roof repair in Woodbridge, Haymarket, and all areas in Northern Virginia. I can be reached at 703-475-2446. Thank you.
 

Woodbridge VA Roof Leak – Water Diveter first appeared on www.roofer911.com

Ashburn VA – Missing Roof Shingles (Hail Damage?)

 

Hi this is Steve, from Roofer 911.

I'm on a roof in Ashburn, Virginia that has missing roof shingles. The first thing we need to do when repairing this roof is replace the missing shingles.

Once the shingles are replaced the next thing we need to do is refasten all these surrounding loose ones, because what will happen is after the repairs are done and these loose shingles are not taken care of the next strong wind we have, these loose shingles are going to come off next.

Once all these shingles are refastened, then we're going to reseal them with polyurethane, and this will be a permanent fix.

Also the homeowner had somebody go up on the roof, he was knocking on the door saying that a lot of people in the neighborhood had hail damage, but they have no hail damage whatsoever. This roof is excellent.

You have to be careful of people knocking on doors because many times these contractors are from out of state, and they're storm seekers. If they ended up doing a new roof for you and you have problems, you're going to have a very hard time getting in touch with them, and very likely you will not be able to.

Here's another section here that has missing shingles, so we're going to replace them and refasten all these surrounding shingles as well. Again, my name is Steve, I'm Roofer 911 and we specialize in roof repair in Ashburn, Brambleton, and all areas of Northern Virginia. I can be reached at 703-475-2446. Thank you.
 

Ashburn VA – Missing Roof Shingles (Hail Damage?) first appeared on www.roofer911.com