Durham Region roofs deal with Lake Ontario wind, wet snow and a long run of freeze-thaw days every winter. Whether the house is in Whitby, Oshawa, Ajax, Pickering, Brooklin, Courtice or Bowmanville, the question after a leak is usually the same: fix it yourself or hire a roofer. This guide covers what a homeowner can reasonably check, what should be left to a crew and how to compare the cost of each route.
What to Check on Your Roof
Most inspections can be done without leaving the ground. Walk around the house with binoculars and look for lifted or curled shingles, bare patches, bent flashing at chimneys and vents, and sagging eavestroughs. Granules collecting at the foot of a downspout mean the shingles are wearing out.
Then check the attic with a flashlight. Daylight through the roof deck, damp insulation or dark staining on the underside of the sheathing all point to water getting in. Upstairs ceilings with new stains are usually the last sign of a leak that has been running for some time.
Freeze-thaw cycles are the main local pressure. Water finds a small gap, freezes, expands and widens it, then thaws and repeats. Ice dams add to this when attic heat melts snow that refreezes at the cold eaves and backs up under the shingles.
When DIY Roof Repair Makes Sense
Small jobs on a low, dry roof, such as clearing debris from the valleys or cleaning out the eavestroughs from a properly set ladder, are reasonable for a careful homeowner. Anything that means walking a pitched roof is a different matter. Roofs are slippery, falls are serious, and fall protection and training are what separate a crew from a weekend repair.
The other limit is diagnosis. A stain on a ceiling is often far from the point where water gets in, and a patch over the wrong spot only delays the real repair. Sealant on its own is a stopgap and not a fix for a broken seal strip or failed flashing.
For more on what causes leaks in the region, see this guide to roof leaks in Durham Region.
When to Hire a Roofer
Call a roofer when shingles are missing over a wide area, flashing has pulled away, the deck feels soft, leaks return after a repair or the roof is near the end of its life. Ask what caused the leak, how the flashing will be handled, whether the crew is in-house and what the workmanship warranty covers. Ask for liability insurance and WSIB coverage in writing.
C.D. Roofing & Construction Ltd. is a family-run Durham Region roofer that has worked since 1994. It uses in-house crews, carries $5M in liability insurance and gives a 10-year workmanship warranty. It installs BP shingles, a Canadian-made product with a dual sealant strip designed to resist wind blow-offs, and is a BP Platinum installer. Crews are trained in Working at Heights, and the company serves Whitby, Oshawa, Ajax, Pickering and the rest of the region. Homeowners who want a Durham-based crew that understands the Lake Ontario freeze-thaw roofing experts C.D. Roofing can start with its Durham Region roofing page.
It also helps to read up on hiring local roofers before you ask for quotes.
C.D. Roofing & Construction Ltd.
8 Mildenhall Pl, Whitby, ON L1M 0C9
(905) 430-7911
Monday to Friday, 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM
A Durham Region roof that is checked each spring and fall, kept clear at the eaves and repaired properly at the first sign of trouble costs far less over its life than one that is patched in a hurry after each storm.