Roof Repairs

If you have read the Cooper Roofing story you now know we have built our business on customer service. There is no other more high profile category than repairs when it comes to customer service.

The word repairs may sound unimportant but it represents a professional grade attention to detail which dictate how long you can go before needing a complete roof replacement. How repairs are diagnosed and carried out also dictate what reroofing will ultimately cost. Roofs maintained with effective repairs not only provide longer terms of useful service, they also cost less to reroof.

Postponing new roofing through an effective, efficient repair program should be everyone's goal. Why spend thousands of dollars, years ahead of time, because of failed repairs? No one wants to engage in that sort of premature expense.

Repairs must be made by those who understand how to get the most out of an existing roof system. This is something that can't be explained, taught or learned through anything less than years of 'on the roof experience. Along those lines 'repairs' is a somewhat abused word in the roofing industry. What one contractor considers 'repairs' may not be found in another's dictionary. This range of definition serves to provide those with less than honorable motives quite a bit of wiggle room when offering 'repairs' to your roof.

How do you as a layman understand these nuances of repair work- such as best value in repairs, or how far to go with repair efforts before 'calling it quits' and engaging re-roofing? The answer is simple, you must depend on the experts who call themselves 'roofing contractors' or 'roofing consultants' to provide you with decision making insight.

Cooper Roofing prides itself in their repair work. Over 70% of our contracted work is 'repair work'. Most of that is through professional building owners and managers who operate properties both locally and out of state. Most of these customers have been our clients for years -- and in some cases decades!

Obviously these busy professionals, who manage properties all over the Delaware valley and beyond, need to have confidence in their roofer's ability to service their needs. That confidence has to reflect performance as well as cost....not to mention rapid emergency response whenever necessary.

Let me just say this which hopefully expresses our dedication to providing the best in roof repair work:

Most roofing contractors are anxious to persuade you into roof replacement for obvious reasons. Putting to work 5-10 men on a month long re-roof job versus 2 men on a 2 day repair job. It simply makes for much more profit. I can't tell you how many times we've met with building owners/managers who have encountered previous contractors declaring roof replacement as their only option and in fact being long overdue for it. Truth is, most of these 'long overdue' re-roofs needed only carefully thought out, 'strategically' implemented repairs.

To best illustrate how this works please allow us to offer a real life example. This is proof that Cooper Roofing Corporation can identify, through systematic water testing, exactly why and where roofs leak. Our ability to do this, and do it well, will absolutely influence your reroofing decision (very much worth the time it takes to read).

Fishing for Reel Answers...

The manager of a very large fishing tackle warehouse in Kulpsville, PA contacted us regarding their roofing problems. He related to us that he had previously contacted other roofing contractors and industry consultants who advised (within a close consensus) for complete roof replacement. The cost being roughly $200,000.00. The 'experts' had spoken and according to them the roof was beyond repair.

There were dozens of reported leaks and they were all very active during any kind of rain. The fear of moisture being constantly introduced to the roof's substrate, which would cause more damage to the roof composition, was high. All were resigned to the fact that the roof had to be replaced, and the sooner the better.

And so we were asked to provide a quote on re-roofing. I assured him we'd do so if that's what he wanted, but first wanted some information on the roof and why it had to be replaced. As the information was exchanged we began to discern the leak locations and possible causes. I asked the manager to have patience as we explored the roof a little closer in looking for justification for re-roofing.

After visiting the building during hard rainstorms, and inspecting the underside of the roof, we discovered that most of the leaks were around the roof drains, pipes, exhaust fans and other roof penetrations (objects which extend through the roof structure like exhaust vents, pipes, electrical conduit etc).

Those pushing for replacement explained this pattern as follows: Since the roof surface in general had failed, the underlying monolithic concrete roof deck (substrate) was holding back much of the moisture. In other words the leaks were restricted to coming through in the building only where the concrete deck was cut out for roof surface drains, pipes, etc. So, the reroofing theory claimed the leaks were being trapped on top of the concrete support deck where it then puddled up and spread out (underneath the roof surface), where it then eventually found an opening or crack in the concrete around the drain bowls or roof penetrations where it then entered the building.

So in a nutshell, the belief was that the entire roof was worn out, water was being trapped under it on the concrete roof deck, and from there it was spreading out causing extensive damage to whatever was left of the roof composition system. If true this meant that the entire roof system would have to be completely removed before re-roofing to eliminate all moisture before constructing any new roof. This was the worst roof news any building manager could get.

Unconvinced, Cooper Roofing suggested an infrared survey be done to determine the exact location and extent of this trapped water. We explained that infrared imaging would clearly show how much water/moisture was trapped below the roof surface This would give us an understanding of how just how serious the situation was. The manager agreed and we did the survey. The results showed minimal evidence of trapped water under the roof. At that point the manager, starting to see he had options, gave Cooper Roofing the go ahead on searching out the actual cause of the leaks.

We decided to closely examine the areas in question through a series of investigative procedures the most important being detailed roof drain water tests. These tests included blocking the drains below each plumbing connection, starting from the bottom and working upwards. Once the test plugs were installed water was added into the drain until the connection level was immersed. After waiting to see if leaks appeared we'd move up the bowl to the next plumbing connection finally ending where the drain connects to the roof.

Lo and behold! We found failed seals in the drain bowl at the roof elevation which were accounting for 75% of the buildings roof leaks. Simply put, many of the flashing seals between the drains and the roofing had failed. This truth was concealed beneath the many layers of unsuccessful repairs attempted by other roofers over the years. Our careful water testing had confirmed it. The remaining leaks were determined (through additional water testing) to be various roof penetration defects normally considered to be typical in causing roof leaks. There was no wholesale roof failure as originally believed.

The happy ending to this case is that the manager spent a tiny fraction to successfully maintain his roof instead of the $200,000.00 which was being presented as necessary. As of this writing (2006) this repair work is 4+ years old and still providing roof integrity.

The point is know who you are sending up to evaluate your roof and be sure they have exhausted every option which would have your best interest at heart. If repairs are suggested, ask for careful explanations as to what they recommend and how those repairs will be executed. Spending on complete roofing should be postponed as long as possible. No matter what your scale of roofing (residential, commercial or industrial), we at Cooper Roofing Corporation are experts at making sure that happens.

To look at the other side of the coin-- a final 'rule of thumb' as to when repairs become of lesser value and should start to be viewed as wasteful. Terry Cooper relates the following "If you're going to spend 1/3 of what a new roof would cost on roof repairs, always give more consideration to the new roof. Value is always the objective and spending a third of what complete new roofing costs on 'repairs' is approaching poor value. The point being you don't want to over spend on what will essentially end up being an 'older repaired roof'".

We believe we are highly qualified to distinguish what can and can't be done to protect your roof value. Please consider Cooper Roofing Corporation to provide you with no nonsense roof repair solutions.