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Leaks & Service Repairs

757-399-3066 ext 3 (Leaks & Service Repairs)

Reroof Estimates & Inspections

757-399-3066 ext 1 (Reroof Estimates & Inspections)

Tag: Roofing Contractor

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Category: Andrews Roofing, Commercial Roofing, Residential Roofing, Roof Installation, Roofing Information

What to Expect During a Roof Replacement

You know your home needs a new roof, but you don’t know what your expectations should be around how that project may impact your daily life.

It’s a common and completely reasonable concern, but one that can be worked out and managed with a good roofing contractor. It’s inevitable that your daily routine will be disrupted a bit during the process, but knowing certain details in advance can help you prepare for this disruption so that your life can still move along smoothly and you can ensure your home is in tip-top shape.

While every project is different, there are a few things that you can expect to experience regardless of the size or type of roof being replaced.

Noise:
Roof replacement necessarily involves a lot of hammering, drilling, and other loud noises. There’s simply no way around this. However, having a timeline worked out in advance with your contractor will allow you to plan around the noise. If you work from home, you may want to find an alternative place to set up shop for a few days. If you have small kids who are at home during the day, it’s a great time to plan some outings or play dates. Please understand that you’ll need to be a bit flexible as roofing work can only be done when the weather is appropriate and sometimes crews need to make up for lost time.

Debris:
During the roof replacement process, debris such as old shingles, nails, and other roofing materials may fall onto the ground around the house. While the work is being done, it is important for the homeowner to ensure that their pets and children are kept away from the area until the work is complete. After work is done, your contractor should clean up the work zone as well as they can, but it’s a good idea to sweep the perimeter of your home to double check for any nails or shingle staples or other debris home before letting kids and pets loose. Using a magnetic pick-up tool is extremely helpful for small metal debris that is hard to spot such as shingle staples, and you can find them for under $20 at your local hardware store.

Workers:
You can expect several workers to be on site during the entirety of the project. You may want to introduce yourself to these individuals or at least to the project manager or foreman at the start of the project so you feel comfortable asking them questions or answering theirs. Keep in mind you’ll need to keep driveways and pathways around the house clear for the crew to get trucks and materials in and out. Removing lawn furniture or other outdoor equipment and items from around your house will make their job easier and also help to make sure none of your property is damaged.

Delays:
Even the best laid plans for a roof replacement can be undone by bad weather, material delays or crew shortages. Things happen that are outside of everyone’s control, so expect for a few bumps in the road along the way. Finding the right roofing contractor who communicates with you promptly and clearly is the key to getting through these little inevitable inconveniences without too much frustration.

If you’re ready for a new roof and are looking for a roofing contractor with a great reputation in the Hampton Roads region, give Andrews Roofing a call. We’ve worked with customers in the Tidewater area for decades and have a proven track record of great customer service and high-quality workmanship. Contact us today.

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Category: Andrews Roofing, Residential Roofing, Roof Installation, Roof Warranty, Roofing Information

Does Your New Roof Have a Warranty?

When you invest your hard-earned money into your home, especially a sizable investment for something like a new roof, you want to know that you’re protected.

It’s important to understand, when pricing out a new roof and receiving quotes from roofing contractors, what the elements of a roof warranty include. There are a few different things to consider and questions to ask of anyone you’re considering hiring.

Roofing Material Warranties

Most roofing materials come with their own manufacturer warranty. For asphalt shingles, it’s common for manufacturers to provide a 25–30-year warranty, although some do offer longer or “lifetime” warranties. Many metal roofing materials are covered for up to 50 years or longer. The important thing to remember here is that their warranty only covers the material, not labor and not the cost of disposal. Some companies offer enhanced coverage you can purchase that will pay for a full replacement including workmanship for a certain period of time, but those warranties can be costly and require additional certifications and documentation by the contractor.

When receiving quotes on a new roof, ask questions about the materials and manufacturers each contractor uses, and what the warranties look like for each. A good roofing company will know their chosen manufacturer warranties inside and out and have insights about what will be best for your situation, home and location. Manufacturers will only honor warranties on their materials if they have been installed correctly and by a licensed contractor, so make sure you go with a reputable company.

Roofing Contractor Warranties

The other side of roofing warranties is the coverage that your roofing contractor provides to cover their own workmanship. These can vary widely from company to company. Because of that, it’s a good idea to get all of your quotes in writing along with a printed copy of their warranty coverage details. A workmanship warranty will typically cover damage that is caused by improper installation. Make sure the company also covers any materials that may be needed to fix the damage incurred.

At Andrews Roofing we provide a 10-year workmanship warranty on all of our shingle installs, provided we are the primary contractor to the client. This is longer than the industry norm for workmanship warranties. In addition to covering our work on new roof installations, we also warranty any repair work we do on a roof that we installed. We’ve been working in the Hampton Roads region for years, and our reputation in the community illustrates how we stand behind our work. Make sure that whoever you end up hiring has a good standing and reputation in your own community. Check online reviews and ask around with your neighbors. You can even contact the Better Business Bureau or licensing board of your state to make sure the company is in good standing.

Protecting Your Roof Warranty

It’s critical that you understand the requirements of your warranty to avoid rejected claims. If a leak or other damage is incurred, it should be promptly reported to the warranty department so corrective measures can be made as soon as possible. If you do have damage or issues, go back to your original roofing company. Unless they have proven themselves to be completely untrustworthy, it’s best to have continuity in the warranties and work. And finally, do not forget to register your warranty with the manufacturer after the work is completed if it is required. Some warranties do not require formal registration and some do, so it’s important to review your warranty package carefully when you receive it. For enhanced and upgraded warranties, the contractor may have to submit paperwork on your behalf with additional documentation.

We Stand Behind Our Work

We stand behind the work and the materials we use at Andrews Roofing. We’ve been in the business long enough to know which manufacturers do the same, and that’s who we use and recommend to our clients. Our exceptional workmanship warranty and reputation in the Tidewater Region can help you have confidence in your home investment for many years to come. Contact us today for a quote on your new roof.

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Category: Andrews Roofing, Completed Projects, Residential Roofing, Roof Installation

How to Pick the Right Color for Your Roof

Picking a roof color is an important decision. Your roof is a major investment, and once the materials have been ordered, and especially once they’ve been installed, there’s usually no going back. Unlike a poorly chosen paint color, you can’t just buy another color and cover it up. So, before you make any final decisions when replacing your roof, take some time to consider your options. You will hopefully only need to reroof your house once, maybe twice, depending on how long you live there, so here are our tips for making sure your choice is one you’ll love for decades.

Don’t default to your current color.

There’s no rule (except perhaps in the case of a stringent HOA) that you have to replace your roof with the exact same color or material that’s currently there. This is your chance to spruce up your home’s curb appeal or modernize its look. Metal roofing, composite shake, or architectural shingles are all options you may want to consider, even if they’re not what your home currently has. Since you’ll likely only do this once, let yourself think outside the box for a bit.

Consider the architectural style of your home and neighborhood.

While you should definitely give yourself the opportunity to think outside the box, it is important to keep in mind the style of your home and neighborhood. It’s your home and you can certainly do whatever you’d like, but you will probably be happier with a material that compliments, rather than contrasts or competes with your home’s style. For instance, a brick colonial home likely won’t be done any favors with a modern, shiny metal roof. Conversely a sleek contemporary home probably isn’t going to look great with cedar shake shingles. An architect and even your roofing contractor can help you determine styles and materials to consider that will make your home look its best.

Consider your other exterior material colors.

If you’re not planning on replacing the exterior materials of your home, then you will certainly want to consider a roof color that compliments them. Once you’ve narrowed it down to a few options, ask your roofing company for large format samples. When you get them, take them outside at different times of the day and in different lighting scenarios (a cloudy versus a sunshiny day) and see how they look against the other materials. Look at the samples against your house up close, but also from the curb or across the street.

How something looks in a brochure or on a different house doesn’t necessarily reflect how it will look on your home. You may love the sand-colored shingles on the brick home you saw in a brochure, but against your tan vinyl siding, they may look bland and dated. Also, remember that there are exterior elements that you may be able to change to coordinate better with your preferred roofing material. Painting your home’s trim to coordinate with your roof can help a lot without undergoing a major expense like replacing siding. Replacing or painting doors – including garage doors – can also help incorporate a roofing color that you like.

Use an online design tool.

There are several good online design tools that allow you to play around with the exterior materials and colors on different pictures of homes. We recommend our clients use CertainTeed’s free ColorView™ program, which allows you to change the roof color on a stock image of a home, as well as the siding, trim, doors and other materials. If you’d like to use this tool on a picture of your own home, they offer custom design services for a $15 fee. They’ll prepare a photo of your home within 3-5 business days, then provide you with a link to your photo that you can use in their visualizer. From there, you can play around with different roofing materials and colors that correspond to actual products they manufacture before choosing one. We think this cost is well worth the opportunity to truly visualize your home with a wide variety of options.

Need Help?

We have been installing and repairing roofs for homeowners in Hampton Roads for decades, and our team of dedicated professionals know what looks great on all the different styles of homes you’ll find in the Tidewater Region. Want to see what we’ve done or want to see a specific shingle color or type? We can show you installations done for our happy customers. You can also see completed projects here. If you’re ready to give your home a new look while improving its structure and value, contact Andrews Roofing today. We’d be happy to give you an estimate, provide samples and recommendations on products that will make your house look its best.

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Category: Andrews Roofing, Homes, Residential Roofing, Roof Installation, Roof Warranty

Does a New Roof Increase the Value of Your Home?

A new roof is a major investment, and even if you’re getting ready to sell your home and move on to the next, it may still be worth considering.

That’s because a new roof can actually add quite a bit of market value to your home, increasing its likelihood of getting offers (or multiple offers in some real estate markets). The National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI) noted in their 2019 remodeling impact report that new roofs can provide a 109% return on investment. That same report states that 39% of realtors suggest that their sellers replace their roof before trying to sell their home, and 33% said that a new roof helped close a sale.

Even if a new roof does not give you a one-for-one return on investment, it can help with the marketing and quick sale of your home. New homeowners usually aren’t able to take on a major renovation right after spending money on the down payment and closing costs of their new home. For this reason, lots of new homebuyers are looking for a home that is “turn key” – in other words, one they can walk right into without having to do any work themselves.

When looking at two homes in the same price range, a home buyer is going to be more likely to make a generous offer on the one that has the most recent repairs and updates, because they know it will save them money in the long run. If they are looking at a house that clearly needs a new roof, buyers will mentally tack on thousands of dollars to the listing price.

Of course, if your roof is failing or has incurred damage, you will need to replace the roof before selling, regardless of the return on investment. In many states, it’s a legal requirement to disclose any damage or structural issues in a home to the buyer. Even if it’s not, if the buyer or mortgage lender requires a home inspection prior to closing, the issues will quickly be found and could dead-end a sale, wasting time and delaying your sale.

So how much should you invest in a new roof if you’re preparing your home to sell? This is a great conversation to have with your realtor, as they will know the market value of your home with and without a new roof, and guide you in how to choose materials that make the most sense for your budget. In most cases, installing a typical asphalt shingle roof is enough to make a buyer feel secure and good about the update. But some markets, neighborhoods or price ranges may require the homeowner to invest a bit more in architectural shingles, cedar shake, metal roofing, or a combination of materials for a higher-end look. Again, a realtor can help you make this decision based on comparable sales in your neighborhood and price range.

Even if you aren’t trying to sell your home, NARI’s research shows that 75% of homeowners report feeling “a major sense of accomplishment” after finishing a reroofing project and 49% say they have an increased sense of enjoyment when they’re at home. Your own happiness and comfort is definitely worth the investment.

If you’re preparing your home for the Hampton Roads real estate market and need a new roof, contact Andrews Roofing. We have decades of experience in the Tidewater region, and can help you choose the best materials and look for your budget, home design and style. We also offer a guarantee on our work and use materials with excellent transferable manufacturer warranties, to put your buyers’ minds even more at ease. Contact us today for a free estimate.

 

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Category: Andrews Roofing, Residential Roofing, Roof Installation

When is the Best Time of Year to Reroof Your House?

For many homeowners, the choice of when to replace their roof isn’t up to them.

When a storm sends a tree through your roof, or built-up snow causes a cave in – the roof has to be replaced, regardless of the season. But if your roof is reaching the end of its lifespan and you want to replace it before a leak or damage occurs (which usually causes additional damage to the interior of your home), it helps to know the pros and cons of having your roof replaced during each season, so you can plan ahead.

Spring

Spring is an extremely popular time for roof replacements. As people begin fixing up their home for the spring, and the cold weather makes its way out, home improvement projects have a major uptick. For Hampton Roads homeowners, it’s also safely ahead of hurricane season, so if there is any fear that an older roof may not withstand another major storm, spring is the best time to replace it.

The downside is that spring weather can be finicky in southeast Virginia, so rain, spring storms, even late snow can delay progress of a reroofing project. But when the weather does cooperate, spring days can provide plenty of working daylight for your roofing contractor to get the job done. One other con to this time of year is how busy it generally is. It may be harder to get on a contractor’s schedule in the spring, which is why you should plan ahead and schedule your roofing project during the winter months to get ahead of the rush.

Summer

The summer months stay busy for roofing contractors as well, but in the Tidewater region, it’s a reasonably good time of the year to replace your roof. During the hottest parts of summer, however, roofing crews may need to work shorter days to avoid heat exhaustion or damage to the materials and tools.

Another thing to consider when scheduling a roof replacement during the summer months is how it will affect your outdoor space while the project is underway. Having your home reroofed is a major undertaking and having debris, materials, ladders and workers around your home for several days or weeks are just a part of the process. This means you may not be able to use your pool, patio, backyard, porch or other outdoor spaces while your roof is being replaced. If this puts too much of a cramp on your summer lifestyle, it may be best to schedule for another time of year.

However, if your roof is beginning to leak or fail in any other ways, it’s best to have it replaced prior to the most active part of hurricane season: late summer and early fall. So even if it means skipping the pool for a few days, it may be worthwhile to avoid further damage and costly interior repairs.

Fall

Fall can be a very busy time to try and get on a roofing contractor’s schedule, as people batten down the hatches for winter while also requiring emergency repairs due to storm systems. The weather in Tidewater in the fall can be volatile – hot one day, rainy the next, with hurricanes and tropical storms seemingly always on the radar.

If you’re set on replacing your roof in the fall, schedule it as early as possible. You should also be prepared to be flexible in case weather issues do pop up and cause rescheduling or delays in work. Otherwise, when the weather cooperates, the fall provides easy working weather and reasonably long days for workers to get the job done efficiently.

Winter

For many parts of the country, having a roof replaced in the winter isn’t even an option due to the freezing temperatures. Shingles require a thermal sealing in order to set, which could take days or weeks in temperatures below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Snow and winter storm systems can cause major delays as well.

Fortunately, in Hampton Roads, extreme winter weather is not as much of an issue. While we do encounter the occasional winter nor’easter or snow storm now and then, it’s not a huge concern. And since our winter temperatures can be fairly mild, contractors usually work through the entire season with few issues. This is also a slower time of the year for contractors, so it may be easier to get on a roofer’s schedule. Another pro is that you’re likely spending less time outside and around your house in the winter, so the debris and work going on around it is less likely to impede on your daily activities.

We’re Here All Year

If you live in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk or any of the other surrounding cities of Hampton Roads, Andrews Roofing is available year-round for your roof repairs and replacements. Even if you’re not looking to replace your roof for a few more months, we’d be happy to talk to you about your needs and put together an estimate so you can make an informed home improvement plan. Contact us today.

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Category: Andrews Roofing, Homes, Residential Roofing, Roof Installation, Roof Insulation, Roof Maintenance, Roofing Information, Roofing Repairs

Four Common Roofing Issues for Homeowners in Hampton Roads

If you own a home in Virginia Beach, Chesapeake, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Suffolk or any of the other surrounding cities of Hampton Roads, there are specific roofing issues you can expect to arise, but being prepared for them is the best way to minimize their impact.

Missing Shingles

Thanks to our coastal location, hurricanes, tropical storms, nor’easters and plain old summer thunderstorms are a constant concern for homeowners. Especially during hurricane season, it is important to keep a close eye on the condition of your roof. The most common problem you’ll experience during one of these storms is missing shingles. While a few missing shingles may not seem like such a big deal, they can lead to much bigger and much more expensive problems. Replacing these shingles as soon as possible will reduce the risk of having water damage done to your roof deck or experiencing a leak down the road. It is even a good idea to have some extra shingles in storage, so that if and when one blows off, it can be easily patched.

If multiple shingles are missing, or large patches have been blown away by a storm, then it is time to contact a professional roofing company to make the repair. Roofing repairs may seem like a simple job, but can be very dangerous for the average DIY-er to tackle. Protect yourself and your home by using a professional.

Humidity and Moisture Damage

The Tidewater region has its fair share of humidity and moisture, both of which can affect the longevity of a roof if it has not been installed properly. Moisture issues in roofs often start inside the home’s attic, where if enough ventilation isn’t present, condensation can occur. This issue can often be identified from inside the home before exterior damage is noticeable. If you see water dripping from the inside of the ceiling or beams in your attic, there may not be enough ventilation present, in which case additional attic ventilation may be needed. If the damage has already been done, a new roof system with proper venting installed beneath the roofing layer will help dissipate heat and prevent condensation from forming on the interior of the home.

Aging Homes

Hampton Roads has always been a steadily growing area, but it did experience a real housing boom in the 90’s when many large “track” neighborhoods were constructed. These homes are now rounding the 30 year mark, which is just about as long as a roof with asphalt shingles – the most common roofing material used in these homes – is going to last. So when issues start to arise in homes of this age, it’s often better to go ahead and reroof the home than to make repair after repair.

For owners of these homes who are doing a full reroof, there are many more options now than when their home was built. Asphalt shingles are still the most popular choice, but they now come in a wide variety of colors. There are also architectural shingles that have a little longer lifespan and lots of color options. Metal roofs have also become more popular both because of the farmhouse style look as well as their durability and longevity. An experienced and knowledgeable roofing company can help you decide which material is best for your home, location and budget.

Salt Water Exposure

Salt is highly corrosive, so when a home is exposed to salt spray from the water or in the air, you can expect just about any of the exterior materials to decay quicker than they would in a different environment. Of course homes right on the ocean or bay in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Hampton, the Eastern Shore and the Outer Banks will experience this the worst, but even homes that aren’t directly on the water can be affected by the salinity in the air. If you live near the water and your shingles are deteriorating, it may be because of salt damage, which may warrant a new roofing system.

While asphalt shingles are still common in waterfront areas, there are other options that may hold up to that environment better such as metal, slate or even cedar. There are also new roofing products on the market that mimic the look of cedar shake shingles, but which are made with recycled and sustainable materials that have excellent durability and lifespan. This is an excellent choice for the beach house aesthetic.

Find a Roofing Expert

If you are experiencing any of these common Hampton Roads roofing issues, your next step should be contacting a roofing professional. Andrews Roofing has been providing the Hampton Roads region with excellence in new roof and reroofing services for over 20 years. We’ve seen, repaired and replaced every one of these issues, and we can work with you to come up with a solution that meets your needs and budget. Contact us today.

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