Category: Field Notes

Roof Replacement Right now, late September through November, is honestly one of the best windows all year to get a roof replaced here in Georgia. Asphalt shingles need moderate temps to seal properly. Too hot in July and August and they go soft underfoot, easy to scuff during install. Too cold in January and that…

Maintenance Every fall we get calls about “mystery leaks” that turn out to be pine straw. Metro Atlanta homes sit under a lot of pines and hardwoods, and most folks think leaf buildup is just a gutter problem. It’s not. When straw and leaves pile up in your valleys and low-slope areas, they hold moisture…

Roof Lifespan Homeowners ask me all the time how many years they’ve really got left on their roof. Here’s the thing: a “30-year shingle” doesn’t mean 30 years in Georgia. Our heat, humidity, and summer storms wear roofs down faster than the label promises. Most asphalt roofs around here hold up 18 to 22 years,…

Roof Leaks Most of the leak calls I get this time of year have nothing to do with worn-out shingles — they’re flashing failures. Flashing is the thin metal that seals the tricky spots on your roof: around the chimney, where a skylight sits, along a sidewall, and down in the valleys. Shingles handle wide…

Roof Maintenance Those dark streaks running down your roof aren’t dirt — it’s algae (the scientific name is Gloeocapsa magma), and Georgia’s humidity makes it one of the most common calls we get. It won’t cause your roof to fail overnight, but it means moisture is sitting on those shingles longer than it should, and…

Ventilation Georgia attics get brutal in late summer, and that heat doesn’t just sit up there — it works down into your shingles from underneath. An attic that isn’t venting right bakes your roof from both sides at once, and you’ll see it as shingles aging early, curling, and granules washing off years before they…

Insurance Tips Getting a denial letter from your insurance company after a roof claim feels like the ground drops out from under you — especially if you already know there’s real damage. Here’s the truth: denials happen more often than they should, and a lot of them get overturned once someone pushes back the right…

Storm Prep Peak hurricane season runs through mid-October, and even here in metro Atlanta we feel it — usually not in wind speed, but in days of heavy, sideways rain when a tropical system moves through Georgia. That kind of rain finds every weak spot on a roof: a lifted shingle tab, a gap in…

Maintenance Everybody thinks about gutters once the leaves start falling here in metro Atlanta, but the spot that actually causes trouble first is your roof valleys — the V-shaped seams where two roof planes meet. Leaves settle there before anywhere else, pack down into a wet mat, and hold water against your shingles instead of…