Core work
Metal Roof Repair
Fasteners, seams, flashings and damaged panels on Bellingham metal roofs that are fundamentally sound and failing in one place.
The useful thing about a metal roof is that when something goes wrong it is usually one thing, and that thing is usually replaceable without disturbing the rest of the roof. Individual panels come off and go back. Seams and end laps can be opened and remade. Flashings can be reformed. Failed fasteners can be replaced with oversized ones that bite into fresh material.
That is genuinely different from composition, where a roof at the end of its life is at the end of its life everywhere at once. It is also why a metal roof repair quote and a metal roof replacement quote can be so far apart, and why it is worth being careful about who is telling you which one you need.
Most of what we get called to in Bellingham is repairable. The exceptions are real and we will name them, but they are the exceptions.
The problem
What this solves
Fasteners that have aged out
On an exposed fastener roof the neoprene washers harden, crack and stop sealing, and the holes open up around them. A section of that is a straightforward repair. A whole roof of it is a different conversation and we will say which one you have.
Seams, laps and flashings
End laps that have opened as the panels moved, sidewall and chimney flashings that were never right, valleys that have been packed with fir needles until water backed up under the panel edge. This is where metal roofs actually fail.
Damaged panels
A limb came down, someone walked it badly, or a section corroded through around an old penetration. Panels can be swapped individually, which is the part most people do not realise is available to them.
The first visit
What the first visit covers
We get on the roof and work the details.
The failure is at a fastener, a seam, a flashing, a valley or a penetration. That is a short list and it gets checked in the order things fail here.
We look from underneath where there is attic access.
Staining, daylight, wet insulation and the run of the rafters usually narrow it down faster than the surface does.
We tell you if it is a pattern rather than a fault.
One failed detail is a repair. Fasteners letting go across the whole roof is the start of a replacement conversation, and you deserve to hear the difference plainly.
You get the repair priced in writing.
What is being replaced, what is being remade, and what we are deliberately not touching.
The work
How a repair runs
Call and description.
What you are seeing, where, and how long it has been going on.
On site diagnosis.
Roof surface and attic. We work the details rather than the symptom.
We show you what we found.
Photographs of the actual failure. You should not have to take our word for something you cannot climb up and see.
Written scope and price.
The specific repair, the materials, and the exclusions.
The repair.
Fasteners replaced, seams or laps remade, flashing reformed or replaced, panel sections swapped where a panel is genuinely damaged.
We check it and clean up.
Tested where testing is practical, then the site cleaned and the drive magneted.
Straight answers
Why us for a repair
We do not turn a repair into a reroof
Most of what we see is repairable and we say so, even though the bigger job pays considerably better. When something genuinely is not repairable you will get the reasons and the photographs rather than the pitch.
We know what fails on metal in this city
Needle packed valleys under the fir canopy. Moss working under panel edges on north slopes that never dry. Corroded fasteners on the houses closest to the water at Fairhaven and Edgemoor. Edges lifted by a winter wind event. Those get checked first because that is what Bellingham produces.
What is genuinely wrong with metal roof repair
Matching an existing panel is often impossible. Profiles get discontinued and colours fade, so a replaced panel can be a visible repair rather than an invisible one, and on a prominent slope that bothers people. Repairs on an old exposed fastener roof can also be a holding action rather than a fix, because if the washers are going in one area they are usually going everywhere. We would rather tell you that at the estimate than after the third callback.
The right product, not whatever is on the truck
A lot of what we open up is a previous repair, and it usually failed because of the product rather than the effort. Sealant is a detail on a correctly made joint, not a substitute for one.
Get it looked at properly
Describe what is happening and we will come and find it. If the fix is small, that is good news and you will hear it.
Reviews
What customers say
Nothing yet, and we are not going to write our own.
There are no reviews on this page because there are no reviews yet
This is a new business. It has no review history, no star rating and no customer photographs, and every one of those would be trivial to fabricate and worth nothing to you.
The judgement you can actually make today is about how this company talks about its own product. There is a page on this site about what is wrong with metal roofs and who should not buy one, written by the company that only sells metal roofs. Read that instead of a testimonial, then decide.
What each review will carry when they exist
- Customer name and town
- Job type and date
- What we got right
- Star rating
Questions
Metal roof repair questions
Can a metal roof be repaired?
Yes, and more easily than most people assume. Individual panels can be removed and replaced without disturbing the ones around them. Seams and end laps can be opened and remade. Flashings can be reformed. Failed fasteners can be replaced with oversized ones that grip fresh material. A leak on a metal roof is a repair job unless the deck underneath has been wet long enough to have gone soft.
What is the weakest part of a roof?
Every penetration and every transition, on any roof covering, in any climate. Chimneys, sidewalls, skylights, vents, valleys and the eave. The field of the roof, the big open area, almost never fails. If you want to know how good a roof is, look at what happens where it stops being a flat plane.
Will homeowners insurance cover a roof repair?
Sometimes, and it depends on the cause rather than the cost. Sudden accidental damage such as wind or a fallen limb is usually covered. Wear, corrosion and age generally are not. If a storm caused it, photograph everything before anyone climbs up. We do not file claims and we do not advise on coverage.
What not to say to a roof insurance adjuster?
We are not going to coach you on wording, and you should be wary of any contractor who offers to. Describe what happened accurately, give the dates, and hand over photographs taken before any repair. Evidence is what helps a claim. Careful phrasing is not, and trying to be clever with an adjuster tends to go badly.
What is the typical lifespan of a metal roof?
Longer than the fasteners and the flashings holding it in place, which is the part people miss. The panels routinely outlast the exposed screws and washers by a wide margin. On an exposed fastener roof, plan on revisiting the fasteners well before you think about the metal. That gap is exactly why standing seam costs more and asks less of you later.
How much does it cost to restore a metal roof?
It depends on whether restoration means cleaning and coating a sound roof, or replacing a significant number of fasteners and flashings first. Those are very different jobs. Restoration only makes sense on a roof where the panels are structurally fine, and on a roof that is genuinely corroded through it is money spent on a delay.
Cost figures are not published here yet. We will not put a number on a page that we have not stood behind on a roof, so ask and we will price your roof.
Coverage
Where we repair roofs
Bellingham, and the towns within about half an hour: Ferndale, Lynden, Blaine and Birch Bay. We also get out to Everson, Nooksack, Sumas, Deming and Point Roberts.
Ask about a repair
That is with us
We will get back to you within a working day. If water is coming in right now, call (360) 555-0142 rather than waiting on this.