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Residential

Roofing for your house

Replacement, repair, maintenance and gutters for houses, garages and outbuildings across the Portland metro. If you own the house and aren't sure yet what the roof needs, start here.

Call (971) 280-9253 Request a Free Estimate
Portland craftsman bungalow with a gray shingle roof and eyebrow dormers, a tall conifer behind it under an overcast winter sky
A Portland bungalow in winter: shingle roof, low sky, a big conifer next door. Photo: Ian Poellet, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Four kinds of work on a house

Almost everything a house roof needs falls under one of these. If you can't tell which, that's normal, and it's what the estimate visit is for.

All services, including commercial

  1. Roof replacement

    Tear-off to deck, new underlayment, flashing and ventilation, and a shingle roof built for a wet Oregon winter.

    Usually when The roof is near the end of its life, or leaking in more than one place.

    Read more

  2. Roof repair

    Leaks, lifted or missing shingles, failed flashing and storm damage, found at the source and fixed to match.

    Usually when One leak, a storm, a missing shingle, a cracked pipe boot.

    Read more

  3. Roof maintenance

    Moss treatment, debris clearing and a close inspection, so small problems are caught before they reach the ceiling.

    Usually when The roof is sound and you want it to stay that way: moss, needles, a yearly look.

    Read more

  4. Gutter systems

    Seamless gutters and downspouts sized for Northwest rain, pitched to drain and hung to carry the load.

    Usually when Gutters overflow, pull away from the fascia or dump water beside the foundation.

    Read more

Repair or replace?

Roofs rarely fail all at once. They wear out slope by slope, and the real question is whether a repair buys years or just buys time until the next leak. These are the signs we weigh, and which way each one usually points.

  • One leak, in one place

    Repair

    Usually a pipe boot, a flashing detail or a single damaged shingle.

  • Shingles missing or lifted after a windstorm

    Repair

    Wind broke the seal on a few courses. The rest of the roof may be fine.

  • A ceiling stain

    Repair

    Water getting in somewhere up-slope of it, not necessarily right above.

    Repair: once the source is found.

  • Moss on the roof

    Maintenance

    It holds water against the shingles and lifts their edges as it grows.

    Maintenance: if caught early.

  • Soft or springy decking underfoot

    Depends

    Wet or rotted sheathing under the shingles.

    Depends: one area can be cut out; widespread means replace.

  • Heavy granule loss, dark bare patches

    Replace

    The shingles' weather surface is wearing off. A little grit from a brand-new roof is normal; a lot from an old one isn't.

  • Curling, cupping or brittle shingles

    Replace

    Shingles past their life. South and west faces usually go first.

  • Leaks in several places, or the same leak back

    Replace

    Wear across the whole roof rather than one failure.

  • Past its typical life with no trouble yet

    Depends

    3-tab lasts about 15–20 years, architectural about 25–30. After that it's borrowed time.

    Depends: have it looked at yearly and plan ahead.

Close-up of old asphalt shingles at the eave, their granules worn away, edges curled and tabs broken off
Granules gone, tabs curled and breaking off along the eave. No repair brings this back. Photo: Dale Mahalko, CC BY-SA 3.0.
Our rule of thumb

If the problem is in one place and the rest of the roof has years left, repair it. If the same wear shows up all over, repairs end up chasing it. When it's close, we'll tell you it's close and price both.

Roof repair Roof replacement

What an Oregon roof is up against

West of the Cascades, roofs don't usually fail from heat or hail. They fail slowly, from water that never quite leaves.

Green bungalow with a light gray shingle roof, shaded by big street trees and a neighbor's conifers
Shade is pleasant in August and hard on a roof in February. Trees overhead mean needles in the valleys and a slope that never quite dries. Photo: Ian Poellet, CC BY-SA 4.0.
A long wet season
From October well into spring, a roof here can go weeks without drying out. A small gap that would never matter in a dry climate gets months to soak in.
Moss and lichen
Moss roots into the granules, holds water like a sponge and pries shingle edges up as it grows. Shade and a north slope are all it needs.
Fir needles and debris
Needles and cones pile up in valleys, behind chimneys and in gutters, and hold water exactly where a roof is most likely to leak.
Wind-driven rain
Winter storms push rain sideways and even uphill, under shingle laps and behind flashing. That's what sealed starter strips and ice-and-water shield are for.
Ice storms and east wind
Some winters, cold air pours out of the Gorge. Ice brings limbs down onto roofs and gutters, and east wind lifts shingles that have lost their seal.
North slopes that stay damp
They grow moss first and dry out last, while south and west faces bake in August. One roof often wears out on two schedules.
Roofing materials

Which shingle holds up to all that, and which roofs need membrane instead.

How the free estimate works

One visit to the house. You'll hear what we found and what we'd do before we leave, and the written estimate follows.

  1. Tell us what you're seeing

    Call or send the form: the problem, roughly how old the roof is, and photos if you have them.

  2. We come out and look

    From the ground, on the roof if it's safe to walk, and in the attic if there's a hatch. The attic often tells us more than the shingles.

  3. We show you what we found

    Photos of what you can't see from the yard: the pipe boots, the valleys, the flashing at the chimney, the underside of the deck.

  4. You get it in writing

    An itemized estimate that says what we'd do and with what. If a repair and a replacement are both reasonable, we'll lay out both.

What helps us help you

None of this is required. Each one saves a question.

  • The roof's age, if you know it, and what's on it now.
  • Where and when it has leaked, and any repairs since.
  • A clear path to the attic hatch.
  • HOA rules on roof color or material, if you have an HOA.
  • Whether an insurance claim is already open.
Free estimate

Start with a look at the roof

Tell us what you're seeing, or just how old the roof is. We'll come out, show you what we find and write it down. The estimate is free.

(971) 280-9253 Request an Estimate