“Your roof is about 10 years old and it’s getting a little rough and it needs a tune up.”
“Yeah sure, it needs new spark plugs, plug wires, air filter, oil change and a cap and button, if its real old it will need new points.”
“Ok I’m being serious; it needs a tune up.”
“What are you talking about, have you lost your mind?”
“Let me explain.”
From the day a roof is installed it starts aging. This means the roof is starting to dry out and lose granules, as this happens the shingles become less flexible and do not expand and contract as it did day one. This can cause several things to happen. It can pull away some flashing from say a chimney or siding, if the flashing is installed this shouldn’t happen but it’s rare that I see flashing 100% correctly installed. Some other things that can happen is as the roof decking moves and shingles do not move as easily with the deck as it once did, causing roofing nails to pop up lifting the shingle above and sometimes popping all the way through the layers. And if the decking installer missed the truss as they were nailing that sheathing nail can push up through the shingles as well.
So while a tune up does not include new spark plugs or injector cleaner it does include fixing these “little” issues before they become major issues. I recommend having a roofer walk your roof every year or two looking for and fixing these items as week as others such as tree or hail damage. Someone that knows what they are looking for will spot nail pops, flashing issues, and worn-out vent boots right away.
Now that you understand what and why you need a tune up, let’s discuss who is qualified. Because as sad as this is, not every roofer is qualified to perform a tune up. If your roofer wants to go up with a just a caulk tube of silicone, then you need to send him down the road, let that guy fix your annoying neighbor’s house, and sit back and laugh. But seriously, a caulk tube is only going to give you about a year of no leaks in those nail pops. And I can hear everyone now “well if you recommend he come back every year then he can just recaulk while he is there.” BONK…
The idea is to find an issue and fix it before it’s a problem, not find an issue and repair the same issue every year. Caulk also isn’t what’s needed for the roof, not typical caulk anyways. You need something specifically designed for roofing but also something that can have long term exposure to the weather. Just running a bead of the correct caulk along the top edge of flashing might not be the repair it truly needs. Pushing a nail back down and caulking or taring over it wont last. Caulking is not a magical product, regardless of what marketing says. Remember do your research, you’ll be glad you did!
