Category: Field Notes

Maintenance Once that first real cold front comes through, asphalt shingles stiffen up fast, and stiff shingles crack instead of flexing with the wind. If your roof’s already a little worn, this is usually when it starts to show. Walk your yard after a cold, windy morning and check your gutters for small shingle granules…

Maintenance If you’ve got a chimney, the flashing around it is one of the first things I check on every inspection, and it’s something most homeowners never think about. That thin strip of metal where the chimney meets the roof deck isn’t watertight on its own, and in Georgia’s heat-humidity-storm cycle, the sealant and solder…

Maintenance It’s that time of year again — ladders are coming out and lights are going up. Before you climb up there, know this: staples and nails driven through your shingles are the number one way folks create a leak that won’t show up until spring, when it’s already done damage to the decking underneath.…

Roof Maintenance That green moss on your north-facing slope might look harmless, almost charming. It’s not. Moss holds moisture against your shingles around the clock, and in Georgia’s humidity that moisture doesn’t dry out fast. Over months, it works up under shingle tabs and starts lifting them, which is exactly how water finds its way…

Roof Replacement Every fall I get the same question: is now actually a good time to replace a roof, or should I wait until spring? Here in Georgia, fall is honestly the sweet spot. Shingles need temps in that 40 to 85 degree range to seal down properly, and this time of year gives us…

Roof Maintenance This time of year my phone starts ringing about scratching in the attic before it rings about roof damage. Squirrels, rats, and raccoons don’t chew a hole in a good roof — they find one that’s already there. A lifted shingle, a gap where the flashing’s pulled away, a cracked pipe boot, or…

Maintenance First cold morning of the season and there’s a wet spot on the ceiling, or water beaded up on the nails in your attic. Most of the time, that’s not a roof leak — it’s condensation. Warm, moist air from inside the house rises into a cooler attic, hits cold decking or metal, and…

Maintenance Those branches brushing your roofline aren’t just annoying in the wind — they’re sanding your shingles down every time they move. That scraping wears off the granules that protect shingles from UV and weather, and once those granules are gone, that spot ages a lot faster than the rest of the roof. Overhanging limbs…

Roof Maintenance If your roof’s going to leak, it almost always starts in the valley first. That’s where two roof planes meet and funnel rainwater into one narrow path — more volume, more force, more wear on those shingles than anywhere else up top. Georgia code only requires a waterproof ice and water barrier in…