Asphalt shingle repair and replacement for Palouse houses, where dry summer sun and winter freeze-thaw set how the covering ages.
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Asphalt shingles are the usual covering on houses in Moscow and Pullman, and the way they age follows the climate. A cold, snowy winter flexes the covering as it freezes and thaws, and a dry, bright summer bakes it with ultraviolet light. A crew checks the shingles, the underlayment and the flashing before it recommends repair or replacement.
Asphalt shingles are the usual covering on houses in Moscow and Pullman, and a metal roof is a common choice where snow shedding matters. Shingles are chosen for how they are laid, what sits beneath them and how the edges are finished, as much as for their look. On the Palouse a shingle roof lives through two kinds of stress.
The shingle itself is only one layer of the roof. Beneath it are the underlayment and the deck, and above all of it are the flashings at valleys, walls, vents and the chimney. A leak on a shingle roof is more often a failure at one of those details than a failure of the shingles across the field.
Moscow's housing includes a long run of older houses, some in historic districts, and a large share of rental houses whose owners are not the people living under the roof. Pullman is a second university town with its own reroof permits and its own building department. A shingle roof in either city is handled the same way physically, but the paperwork and the owner's schedule can differ, and the crew sorts those out before the work begins.
Asphalt covering ages through repeated expansion and contraction, ultraviolet light, granule loss and the freeze-thaw movement at the eaves. The sealant strips, the tabs and the granules show how far along that process a roof has gone.
Heat and cold move a shingle every day. In summer the covering warms in direct sun and expands, and at night it contracts. In winter the same covering takes snow, thaws and refreezes at the eave, and each cycle works the sealant and the nails a little more.
Curling, cupping, cracked or lifted tabs, granule loss and nails that have backed out. The technician also looks hard at the valleys and the flashing, because those are where a shingle roof usually fails first.
Curling and cupping show that the shingle has lost its flat shape, often from heat and age. Cracked or lifted tabs show that the covering can no longer hold against wind or a shovel. Granule loss shows the surface is wearing, and a bare patch can be the first place water finds the asphalt underneath.
In many cases a few shingles can be replaced without touching the rest of the roof. The surrounding shingles have to be unsealed carefully, and the new ones matched to the existing covering as closely as the supply allows.
A repair starts by lifting the shingles above the damaged one without tearing them, then removing the broken piece and fitting the new one in its place. The nails are set properly and the seal is restored. If the shingles around the repair have become brittle, a careful crew may choose to replace a wider area rather than risk cracking the whole row.
Granules in the gutters and at the downspouts are a sign that the surface is wearing. How much comes off, and from which slope, is a clue to how far the covering has gone.
Some granules come off every roof as it ages, and a light scatter after a windy period is common. A steady, heavier flow from one slope, especially the one facing the most sun, tells the technician the surface is wearing faster there. The gutters should be checked and cleared as part of the same visit, because a gutter full of granules can also hold meltwater at the eave.
The number of layers, the pitch, the amount of decking to repair and the access to the house decide most of the price. The estimate is explained and approved before work starts.
A small repair on an accessible roof is a short job, and the price reflects the time and the materials for that area. A full replacement depends on the square footage of roof, the pitch, how many layers are already on, and whether the decking needs repair once the old covering is removed. Each of those factors is written into the estimate, so the homeowner can see what drives the number.
Do not step onto shingles that are frosted, wet or covered in snow, because the surface is slick and the covering can crack under a foot. Do not pry up shingles with a flat bar to check the seal, since that breaks the seal on the next shingle as well. A homeowner can check the roof from the ground with binoculars and look for cracked tabs, missing pieces and granules in the gutters. Stop and call when you see a soft spot, sagging or water coming through a ceiling.
A technician walks the roof where it is safe to do so and looks at every slope, not only the one facing the street. The first pass is for pattern: whether the wear is even across the roof or concentrated on the sun side, at the eaves or around the penetrations. That pattern tells the crew whether the problem is local or part of a general aging process.
Each shingle is checked for curl, cupping, cracked or lifted tabs, granule loss and nails that have backed out. The technician notes how far the sealant strip has bonded, because a shingle that never sealed or has lost its seal will lift in wind. Old asphalt also stiffens in cold weather, so the work is planned around how the covering behaves at the season.
The valleys, the walls, the vent pipes and the chimney are opened up enough to see the flashing and the underlayment beneath. Where a shingle has been damaged, the deck under it is checked for softness and staining. A repair that ignores the deck will fail again at the same spot.
Individual shingles are unsealed carefully, replaced and resealed, and the nails are set properly. Where the damage is spread across the roof, the crew recommends a larger replacement and explains why. Repairs are done in mild weather where possible, because brittle shingles crack more easily when they are lifted in deep cold.
After the work, the crew checks the attic below the repair, looking for fresh staining, damp insulation and daylight around the penetrations. The homeowner is shown what was done and what remains to watch. The check is a short one, but it closes the loop between the outside of the roof and the house it protects.
When a few shingles have cracked, lifted or blown loose after a windstorm, the crew can replace them without touching the rest of the roof. The repair is limited to the area that failed, and the surrounding shingles are checked to be sure they are still sealed. This is the most common asphalt repair on a roof that is otherwise sound, and it applies when the deck under the repair is firm.
Some shingles lift because the sealant strip has lost its bond or because nails have backed out of the deck. Resealing and resetting nails can restore the grip without replacing the shingle. It is a sensible step on a roof where the covering is still flat and the wear is mostly at the tabs. It does not fix a deck that is soft or a valley that is leaking.
When the covering is failing across most of the roof, or the deck has rot in several places, a full tear-off and new underlayment are the honest answer. The old shingles come off to the deck, and the new covering is laid over fresh underlayment and flashing. This is the option that addresses the whole system, and it is the one most often recommended on a house with a long history of small leaks.
Call any hour and explain what is going on. You get a clear price before any work starts.
Moscow's older houses carry roof work that is tied to their history. The Fort Russell and Downtown historic districts are on the National Register of Historic Places, which records historic significance rather than setting a local rule for roof color or material. Whether a particular house sits in a district with design review is a question for the Community Development department, and the crew will not guess at it.
Pullman is a second university town 14.0 kilometers away, in Washington. Its permit process lists reroof as its own category, and its application asks for the general contractor's current state registration number. A shingle job in Pullman therefore follows Washington's registration system, and a job on the Idaho side follows Idaho's, with no crossover between the two.
Potlatch was built as a company town in 1903, with whole streets of houses of the same age and form. Shingle roofs on those streets tend to age together, and a crew working one block may see the same wear on several houses in a row. The Potlatch area page describes how the town's housing stock shapes the work.
Full tear-off and new roof covering for Palouse houses, planned around snow, ice and whatever the decking shows once the old roof is open.
Repairs to shingles, flashing, valleys and eaves, worked out from where the roof actually lets water in.
Finding and sealing the path water takes into your Moscow or Palouse home, from attic stains to flashing at the eave.
Resetting or replacing the metal at valleys, chimneys, sidewalls and vent pipes that keeps water out of a Moscow roof.
Not sure if you're covered? Check your ZIP code.
A new roof in Moscow is priced from the roof itself.
A reroof in Moscow, Idaho and a reroof in Pullman, Washington go through two building departments under two different state systems.
Asphalt shingles are the usual covering on Moscow and Pullman houses, and metal is a common alternative where snow shedding matters. Their performance depends on the underlayment, the flashing and the attic ventilation as much as on the shingle itself. Metal is a common alternative where snow shedding matters, and the crew can explain the trade-offs for your roof.
Look for curled or cracked tabs, bare patches, granules in the gutters, and nails that have backed out. Check the attic for staining or damp sheathing under the valleys, since leaks often show there first. If you see several of these signs, or any sign of water inside, a crew should inspect the roof.
Repairs in deep winter are possible but harder, because cold asphalt is brittle and snow and ice make the roof slick and hard to work on. A crew may choose to tarp the area and complete the repair when the weather allows. A short wait is usually safer than lifting shingles that will crack when they are bent.
Snow that sits at the eave can melt during the day and refreeze at night, and that cycle works the shingles and the sealant at the lowest edge of the roof. Eave ice can also push water up under the covering when it backs up behind a dam. The fix usually involves the underlayment at the eave, the attic ventilation and the gutters, not just the shingles.
Moscow treats a reroof as its own small permit category, and Pullman lists reroof as a permit category. A simple reroof in Moscow does not need the site plan required for larger building work. Permit rules outside those two cities are set by the county or city where the house sits, so ask the building department before the work begins.
The estimate should say what the crew expects to find under the covering and what it will do if the deck is soft. Decking repair is often the largest unknown in a replacement, so the crew explains how it will be priced if it is needed. Nothing is started without the homeowner's approval.