Roof Replacement in Edmonton — New Roof and Reroofing

The decision

When replacement beats another repair

A repair is the right answer far more often than a salesperson will tell you. It stops being the right answer at a fairly clear point, and these are the markers:

• The shingles crack instead of bending. If lifting a tab to fix one thing breaks three others, every repair creates the next repair.
• The failures have stopped being local. One leak at a pipe boot is a repair; leaks in three unrelated places in one season is a system at the end of its life.
• Bruising is spread across the field, not concentrated on one slope. Test squares settle this, and so does the adjuster's threshold.
• The product is discontinued. A visible slope patched in a colour that does not match is a compromise you will look at every day - and Alberta insurers routinely approve full-slope replacement when no reasonable match exists.
• The tear-off is happening anyway. If decking has to come up, the labour to open the roof is already spent.

If none of those apply, spend the money on the repair instead. Every kind of repair, and the same test worked through in more detail, is on roof repair in Edmonton; the specific jobs are roof leak repair, shingle repair and replacement and decking repair. Which materials actually survive Alberta hail is covered in roofing materials for Alberta hail, and if you are weighing steel against asphalt, metal roofing in Edmonton sets out the profiles, the snow question and the cosmetic damage clause.

What the work includes

• Tear-off to the deck. Every layer removed, not shingled over. A second layer hides decking problems, voids most manufacturer warranties, and adds load the trusses were not designed for.
• Deck inspection and repair. With the old roof off we can finally see the sheathing. Delaminated, rotted or water-stained sheets are replaced. This is priced per sheet and is the most common legitimate supplement on an Edmonton claim.
• Ice-and-water membrane. Self-adhering membrane at the eaves, in the valleys and around penetrations. In this climate this is the layer that actually stops ice-dam water backing up under the shingles.
• Synthetic underlayment. Over the remaining field. Lighter, stronger and far more tear-resistant than felt, which matters when a build gets caught by prairie wind.
• Starter strip, drip edge and flashing. New drip edge at eaves and rakes, new step flashing at walls, new pipe boots and vent hoods. Reusing old flashing is where most post-replacement leaks come from - see flashing repair.
• A decision on any skylight. An aged skylight under a new roof is the one job everybody regrets postponing, because doing it later means cutting into a new roof. Repair or replace it while the slope is open.
• Shingles and ridge cap. Architectural asphalt as standard, impact-rated where you want it. Ridge cap is a separate product and a separate line item; a roof finished with cut-up field shingles is a corner being cut.
• Ventilation check. Intake at the soffit and exhaust at the ridge, balanced, to the 1:300 guidance set out on attic ventilation. Most Edmonton ice damming is a ventilation problem wearing a roofing costume.
• Clean-up and magnet sweep. Debris hauled, disposal included in the scope, and the yard and driveway swept with a rolling magnet for nails.