While repairing your roof without professional guidance may cut costs in the short term, it’s not always a long-term fix.

If your roof needs some repairs, do some research to administer a proper fix. If you have any questions or are uncomfortable, seek the guidance of a qualified roofing contractor so you don’t make common roofing mistakes.

Homeowners often make errors, unknowingly, when they make routine repairs to their roof. Recognizing the problems and correcting them can keep your roof in top-shape condition, and safe from the spring elements.

Inadequate fastening

Nails and fasteners that keep the roof deck together and the shingle roofing adhered to the deck can be a sign of sub-par installation, and can pierce the shingles. Remove the loose or mislaid nails and replace with new. Use up to six nails per shingle, laid right under the seal-down strip of the shingle. Replace cracked shingles at this time.

Shingle roof selection problems

Choosing a shingle that has a continuous seal-down strip can contribute to leaks. Select a shingle product that has breaks in the adhesive between each strip; this prohibits water from seeping under the shingle. When repairing roofs with valleys, make sure to add flashing at the angle to prevent water damage.

Flashing problems

Metal flashing is used to stop water from seeping in around chimneys, valleys, windows and skylights. The misplacement of flashing can create leaks. Chimney flashing must be set into mortar to serve its purpose; repairing with caulk is a common mistake. Misalignment of step flashing is also common. Flashing pieces should overlap approximately 2 inches and be fastened with just one nail in the upper corner.

What Can You Learn from Our Work Gallery?

When you visit any roofer's work gallery, you're going to see pictures of roofs. Maybe of buildings, too, but mostly roofs.

As you look at one photo of another of roofs, you may wonder what you're looking for. Can you really tell the quality of a roof by looking at a gallery photo? Can you, if you're not a roofer, tell anything from looking at a photo?

Here are some things that you can learn from a gallery, no matter how much knowledge you have about roofing:

• How many jobs has the roofer done? Our gallery shows just a small percentage of the jobs we've done, and it features lots of beautiful roofs in Kansas and Missouri. Since we've been building roofs in the Kansas City area for more than three decades, it's easy for us to choose a nice representative sampling. If you're considering a roofer who shows only two or three jobs in the gallery, ask why.
• Has the roofer done the kind of work you need done? A roofer whose gallery shows only residential work might not be qualified to do your commercial job, and vice versa. If none of the jobs involve complex roof lines and you have an old house with an interesting roof, that roofer might have problems getting your job completed satisfactorily.

If you're not sure what you're looking at, ask. We're proud of our work, and we'll be glad to talk with you about the jobs we've done. 

TAMKO Roofing Materials

At Bill West Roofing, we believe in using the best materials. We've been around for more than 35 years, so you can see that we take the long view.

One of the suppliers we depend on is TAMKO. TAMKO is a Missouri company just like us. They started out in the late 1940s in Joplin, planning to have a presence in Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, and Oklahoma. That's where the name came from.

By now, TAMKO has a national presence, and is one of the top suppliers of roofing materials. They offer lots of different colors and types of materials. One of the newest items is roofing material designed to keep your home cool. By choosing light colors (TAMKO has tested and certified the specific colors that work best) you can save a bundle on your air conditioning costs this summer.

Call us to ask about cool roofs.

Just what is a roofing "square"?

Question: What is a roofing square?

Answer: By definition a roofing square is a 100 square section of roof (a 10′ x 10′ area). Roofers use a roofing square as a measurement of how much roofing material will be needed in the installation of a new roof.

In other words, just like tiling a kitchen floor is measured in square footage and subsequently number of tiles needed to fill particular dimensions, roofing squares are used to measure the size of a roofing project, which when compared to the size of the roofing shingle, will determine how much material needs to be used.

A number of companies will come in and give a bid for your roof saying it'll be X amount of squares. Then come back after the job is finished and tell you it was more.

Here at Bill West Roofing, however, we bid by the job. This way, your proposal is as accurate as possible. And you won't get any surprises in the end based off of squares of shingles.

Missed Connections: Roofing Edition

The weather this February has been unusually warm and that may have you thinking about spring. We all have to-lists and perhaps you also have some home improvement planned.

Here's something I overheard recently.

This guy was outside in his yard doing, I don't honestly know what. Enjoying the first above freezing day in an eternity? Regardless, he took a look at his roof and noticed that some of his shingles seemed to be broken.

"There are just big gaps in my roof" he said to the guy sitting next to him.
"Have your kids been on the roof?"
"My kids? No. No, my kids don't climb on the roof and break off shingles."

There is a simple answer for this and it doesn't involve children trying to kill themselves on snow covered roofs.

This man probably has asphalt shingles. Asphalt shingles become brittle in cold weather making them more likely to break in gusty, winter winds. Kansas City has gotten some record lows and record winds this winter. Even if his shingles have never broken in this manner before, they certainly could have now.

I didn't interrupt him to tell him that. Consider this, then, the Missed Connection posting. It was a warmish day in February...and you were in a Mizzou bar.

And your asphalt shingles are broken from excessive cold and wind.

Spring can't come fast enough.

Three tips on Roofing Quotes.

Whether you are in need of a roofing repair, or need a completely new roof installation. Having a well prepared roofing quote will give you confidence you have selected the best roofing company for the job. Below are three tips that every homeowner should read before choosing a roofer.

1. Estimates are Free
2. Roof Inspection
3. Prepared Proposal

1. Estimates are Free: Legitimate roofers will offer a free estimate. If you are solicited for payment to have your roof reviewed prior to signing an agreement, then you should view this as a red flag. Preparing a free quote is part of the sales process. If you receive a quote from more than one roof, then you’ll notice that not all roof inspections are equal.

2. Roof Inspection: It is very simple–you can’t provide a roofing quote if you don’t inspect the roof. The more time that is spent inspecting your roof, the better estimate you’ll be provided with. If the person performing the quote doesn’t arrive with a ladder… red flag! A roof inspection should include taking the time to fully inspect the roof. This means climbing up on the roof and checking the attic from the inside. While the inspector is on the roof he should be taking accurate measurements to determine how much roofing surface is present on your home. He also should be assessing for damage. For example he should check skylights, attic vents, chimney caps and pans, flashing, gutters, etc. This all help ensure you are provided with an accurate, comprehensive roofing quote.

3. Prepared Proposal: We’ve found when most homeowners are referencing a roofing quote, they really mean they want a prepared roofing proposal. Your roofing proposal should be specific to your home and should incorporate the observations of the roof inspection. The roofing proposal should provide the details of the job and include estimated costs. When reviewing a proposal make sure it has the product options broken out by brand name and includes an itemized listing of services and prices.

The next time you are looking for roofing quotes, make sure to consider these three tips. Make sure the estimate is free, the inspection is thorough, and the quote / proposal are actionable and the pricing will be honored based on the specific needs of your roof.

Interesting times at Cowboy's stadium.

It would appear that not only our homes have issues with snow and ice on the roofs. Here you can see workers and firefighters trying to clear snow and ice off the roof of Cowboys Stadium.

The reason I wanted to point this out, is that they have specialists getting up on this roof to clear the issues. Falling from this height is deadly, and it can be almost no different then falling from your own personal roof.

We would like to take this time to ask everyone with leaks, snow or other problems with their roofs, to not try to climb on top of them when there's snow or ice. You are just looking for trouble. If you have needs, please call a professional so that they can come out and assess your situation. In emergency cases, we have the ability to utilize safety equipment that allows us to take care of extreme cases.

Have a happy Super Bowl Sunday!!