Prepare for bad weather

Shingles and how to look after them

Munich Reinsurance America, a major reinsurance corporation (that is, an insurance company that insures other insurance companies) found in a 2014 survey that 63 percent of Americans had either fortified their homes against severe storms or planened to do so in the future. This is a wise precaution in the Charlotte and Concord, NC area.

You should focus on keeping your roof in good repair, especially if you have a shingle roof. According to Angie’s List, roof maintenance becomes more important when your house is in its second decade of use. This means checking your shingles for blistering, buckling or curling. When you check your roof gutters, look for shingle granules, a sign of wear and tear. Shingles are small and relatively easy to replace, but they are more easily damaged or knocked loose than other forms of roofing, resulting in holes that need to be fixed as soon as possible. Your local residential roofer can give you tips on how to prepare your roof for bad weather.

Shingle repair by Charlotte’s best roofing company

Charlotte and Concord, NC’s best roofing company is Advanced Roofing and Exteriors. They have won the Angie’s List Super Service Award twice. This family-owned company is also an Owens Corning preferred contractor and a member of the Home Builders Association of Charlotte. Their experts can fix your roof and tell you how to keep it in shingle repair. They will bring new shingles and other materials themselves. Call today for a free estimate.

Metal roofing is strong and lasts a long time

Metal roofing is light and strong

Although more expensive than shingles, metal roofing as many advantages. It is surprisingly lightweight. Where tile can be 750 pounds per 100 square feet, metal roofing tends to be from 50 to 150 pounds per 100 square feet. If the roof is a standing seam roof, which is the most popular type of metal roofing, there will not be nearly as many seams as in a shingle roof. Also, these seams will be above the level of the panels, cutting down on potential leaks.

Some metal roofs have a warranty that guarantees that the roof will hold up against a certain amount of wind or a certain size of hailstone. Being more reflective than asphalt, it does not heat up as much as shingles on sunny days. This will lower your air conditioning bills. And unlike wooden shingles, you never need to worry about metal roofing catching fire. According to the Metal Roofing Association, metal roofing can cut homeowners’ insurance premiums by up to 35 percent in some states.

The exact price of the roof depends on the metal, the type of roofing and whether it is coated to look like something else. The least expensive metals for roofing are steel and aluminum. Copper is the most durable, but also (along with zinc) the most expensive. Your roofing contractor will be able to give you a price list.

Get metal roofing from Charlotte’s best contractors

Advanced Roofing and Exteriors are the best roofing contractors in Charlotte or Concord, NC, and they offer a 30 to 50 year warranty on their metal roofs. Call today.

Look for damage a roofing company can fix

How to know if you need a roofing company

Some signs of roof damage in Charlotte or Concord, NC — missing or damaged shingles, for example — are obvious. Others are more subtle. If you think your roof might be damaged, but you can’t see any sign of damage, look for spots in your yard right around your roof that are wetter than they should be. These are signs of clogged gutters. Check the attic for water damage. On a sunny day, look for cracks in the roof. And if you have had a heavy buildup of ice or snow at any point during this winter, you should ask a roofing company for an inspection.

A roofing company should be easy to stay in touch with, and should communicate openly about the cost and when they can begin and end the project. They should do the work with as little damage as possible to your yard or garden. Look for a company that has been in the area for a long time, has a good reputation with many satisfied customers in the area and offers free estimates. A roofing company can inspect your roof and let you know what shape it’s in. They can also clean out any gutters that may have gotten clogged, and point out overhanging tree branches heavy enough to damage your roof.

Best roofing company for Charlotte and Concord, NC

Advanced Roofing and Exteriors are Charlotte’s best roofing company. If you need the services of a roofing contractor in Charlotte or Concord, NC, call today for a free estimate

Looking for a good residential roofer

Finding a good residential roofer

With the winter weather that Charlotte and Concord, NC have been having, a lot of people are going to need a residential roofer. You may need a new roof installed and what’s left of an old one removed, or you may just need some roof repairs. You will want a roofer with a good reputation.

To find out if a residential roofer has a good reputation, you should ask about their business license and liability listing, and their reputation among other contractors. Check their BBB listing too. Ask to see the last few jobs the roofer did, and talk to the customers if you get a chance. Ask other people you know if they’ve had residential roofers work on their houses, and which ones they would recommend. Make sure you find a residential roofer with good workers compensation, general liability, commercial vehicle and professional roofing insurance. Above all, never pay for a roofing job up front.

The best residential roofer in Charlotte and Concord, NC

Advanced Roofing and Exteriors, a family-owned company, is the best residential roofer in Charlotte and Concord, NC. They have been in business since 2010 and have won the Angie’s List Super Service Award twice. They are also also a member of the Home Builders Association of Charlotte and an Owens Corning preferred contractor. They can deal with all aspects of residential roofing. They will plan their work schedule to suit your needs and provide all the materials themselves. Call today for a free estimate.

Winter can tear the roof off

The damage of winter cold

Winter damages your roof in many ways. Even the cold itself can have an effect. All materials normally contract in the cold, but different materials contract by different amounts — and odds are your roof is made of different materials. Caulking is vulnerable to shrinkage. This can loosen other parts of your roof and make them vulnerable to high winds. If you feel the urge to run up on your roof right now and check everything, resist that urge, especially if your roof is covered with ice.

If you find your Charlotte or Concord, NC roof has experienced too much wear and tear this winter and you need a new one this spring, a roof installer can help you with that. Your roof installer should be able to do any level of repair on a roof, including replacing the chimney caps and unblocking the gutters. Look for a roof installer that offers free estimates, has a reputation for quality work and is committed to customer satisfaction.

Charlotte best roof installer

Advanced Roofing and Exteriors are the best roof installer in Charlotte and Concord, NC. They have won the Angies List Super Service Award twice. This family-owned company is also an Owens Corning preferred contractor and a member of the Home Builders Association of Charlotte. They will give you a free estimate, plan their schedule to fit your own, and provide the materials themselves. Whether you need a new roof or need to repair an old one, call today.

A cautionary tale about choosing the wrong contractor

The story of the Johnson roof

(Note: The following is a dramatization.)

The Johnsons were having their roof repaired. They were in a hurry to get the work done before it rained or snowed, so when they saw an ad in the local paper from a roofing contractor, they responded right away. They did not do much research on the company, or compare it with other roofing contractors in the area. The contractors they hired asked for about two-thirds of the payment up front, saying that they needed to hire other contractors to do the work.

Three months later, the work was still not done and the contractor was getting harder to get hold of. Finally, Mr. Johnson asked for his money back. That was the last the Johnsons ever heard from them. The moral of this story is to take the time to find out about a company before you hire them. With the Internet, you can do all the research you need in a matter of minutes.

Charlottes best roofing contractor

Advanced Roofing and Exteriors are the best roofing contractor in Charlotte and Concord, NC, having won the Angies List Super Service Award twice. This family-owned company is also a member of the Home Builders Association of Charlotte and an Owens Corning preferred contractor. They will plan their work schedule to suit your needs, and provide all the roofing materials themselves. Whether you need a completely new roof or just need to fix an old one, call today for a free estimate.

Shingles of many sorts

The most popular kind of roofing

Shingles are the most common kind of roof for homes, and the most common kind of shingle is asphalt. Asphalt shingles last at least 20 years, and can be recycled into road material at the end of their useful life. The most popular asphalt shingle is the 3-tab.

But there are other types of shingle repair as well. Wooden shingles, which are usually made of cypress, pine, redwood or western red cedar, last 30 to 40 years. They resist rot and insects surprisingly well, but can catch fire. Wooden shingles made from splitting rather than sawing wood are called shakes, and last a lot longer than regular wooden shingles. Slate shingles last longer still and are completely water-resistant. Shingles made of composite material are less durable, but cheaper.

There are many kinds of shingle, some of which last longer than others. The good news is that all are small and relatively easy to replace without spending too much money. The bad news is that they are also more easily damaged or knocked loose than other forms of roofing, creating holes that need to be fixed as soon as possible before bad weather gets in.

Shingle repair by Charlottes best roofing company

When your shingles are showing signs of damage, you will want the work done by the best roofing company available. Charlottes best roofing company is Advanced Roofing and Exteriors. They will bring the new shingles and other materials themselves. Call today for a free estimate.

Nor rain nor snow nor wind nor hail nor sun

A metal roof

This is the story of a year in the career of a 5v crimp metal roof somewhere in Charlotte. It is made of galvanized 24-gauge steel. Its panels are crimped firmly together.

The year began with an unexpected hailstorm. The hailstones were the size of gravel, and dislodged asphalt and wood shingles on many of the neighboring houses. The steel roof shrugged them off.

It was a rainy spring. The metal, set flush against the solid wood of the roof, made no noise at all.

Then came summer. If anyone had gone up there and touched the bare metal while it was lying out in the hot sun all day, they would have said it was scorching hot — but it shed heat every time the sun moved behind a cloud, and cooled quickly when the sun moved low in the sky. This lowered the air conditioning bills for the whole house.

During the fall, the edge of a tropical storm passed over the house. 40-mile-per-hour winds swept over the surface of the roof… and did absolutely nothing. It was ready for another winter.

Metal roofing is more expensive than shingles, but lasts much longer. Carefully maintained, a metal roof can last 40 to 60 years. After a few decades, you will have recovered the cost of installation simply from not having had to repair or replace it. According to the Metal Roofing Association, metal roofing can also cut homeowners’ insurance premiums by up to 35 percent in some states.

Charlottes best roofing contractors

Advanced Roofing and Exteriors are Charlottes best roofing contractors, and they offer a 30 to 50 year warranty on their metal roofing. If you are looking for metal roofing for a building in Charlotte or Concord, NC, call today.