PA woodbutcher

When do you guys stop scheduling roofs for the same year in the NE. Right now I have 1 more roof to do that I scheduled for 1st week of October. I also have 2 others that are interested in getting their roof replaced.

I know the weather is unpredictible, but when do I have to worry about them sealing in high wind areas. Also I can see the architects being a pain when doing a valley in the cold.

I've had pretty much a months worth of work in front of me for the past year, finish a job get a job, get a job finish a job type thing.

I guess the question is, when do pack it in and stick with interior and wood exteriors and schedule them for next year?

MJW

Why stop? We work year round here. The winters have been warm lately. You just have to watch the weather and get the jobs done when the sun is out. We don't work every single day in the winter, but most days we do.

Grumpy

Here we shut down the roofing when weather gets below freezing. The only shingle work we do below 40 degrees is new construction and emergency work. Our rate of blow offs will go up, I can almost guarantee next spring/ummer we will have to replace a few shingles on roofs we install below freezing.

This is the great debate among roofers.

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-Grumpy
Chicago Gutters Chicago Roofing

Ed the Roofer

We work year round, but as MJW said, we only install when it is sunny outside.

If you are doing a tear-off in a mature neighborhood, there is less wind tunnel affect as if it were in a new subdivision. You can do a tear-off in anearly any workable temperature.

Also, 95 % of the shingle we install are the heavier architectural style shingles, so there are less corners on individual tabs to be lifted up by the wind.

I would go to a 6 nailing pattern if the location caused me some concern.

Ed

PA woodbutcher

Thanks Grump and you too Ed. I guess it'll come down to how much of the inside work I can come up with. I know I have 1 kitchen and 1 bath to do and a large downstairs rec room to sheetrock. These are the customers that are waiting on me for the winter. Couple more in the works also. WHat I wanted to avoid was the call backs, not only are they a pain in the a$$, but not real good for the reputation. I've laid roofs in the cold.....-19 in Anchorage, Alaska, but that was an emergency...so cold the guns wouldn't work...wow does it smart when your fingers warm up at night.

Starting to get cooler in the mornings already...gotta say I ain't loking forward to it

tinner666

A tip. When working in the cold, lay caps and valley shingles in a sunny area of the roof, individully so they will soften. Sometimes, you can only warm 8-10 at a time. DO something else. Taking the time to get it right the first time will pay off.

__________________
Frank Yes, I DO sell domains and hosting and Websites.
Slate Repairs, Richmond, Va.
$7.49 .Com Domain Names and Websites

dougger222

I've done several roofs in the dead of Winter on days as low 15 below plus windchill of course. In the past 10 years 100-200 roofs have been shingled in cold temps.

Problems I've found,

#1 Nails pop. Never had any staples pop, just nails. Only guess is wet or frozen decking. When the supervisor is bugging you to get the roof on so the wires can be hung you don't always get to work when you "want" to work. Thinking like a rock comming up with the frost the nails do it to. All manufacturers say to never paper or shingle over wet decking or felt, this has to be the problem.

I've got two roofs currently with this issue both done in the same Winter within a month of each other, both were new 28sq 6/12's with XT30's. Techincaly my warranty is out due to the houses being over 2 years old but if they start calling to compain they'll be fixed for free of course. Thinking of doing the repairs when hot so the shingles are plyable. Going to have to lift and replace the damaged tabs due to the nail popping through or damaging the tab and can only thing to drive another nail or two over the head of the popped nail. If anybody has any other ideas I'd like to hear them.

#2 Valley flashing moves and bubbles. Doesn't matter if it's rolled or pre-form valley seen it flex and bubble on many Winter installed roofs. Gotta be temp. change?

#3 Nailing too hard and blasting through the shingles. If hand nailing is an option the Winter would be a good time. Or run your gun with good air pressure and plan to use at least 4 nails per shingle.

#4 Curly laminates. If you've ever laid laminates when cold you know what I mean. Again plan to use at least 4 nails per shingle when dealing with curly shihngles.

#5 Air lines freeze. Runing anti-freeze in the air lines works. Again hand nailing would take care of this issue.

Then there's frost, snow, ice, and the cold...

Looking to have my best Summer and Fall to date so don't plan to do much this Winter besides ice fishing. Honestly if a new roofs comes up I'll more than likely sub it out. Will plan this Winter on having my first ever really busy Spring. Already have half a dozen to a dozen home owners waiting for the Spring.

RooferJim

We roof all winter. always have.

mdshunk

My neighbor operates a shingle roofing company. They don't schedule October 15th through March 15th. They only handle emergency work over those 5 months.

RooferJim

Real roofing companies work all year. We are in Massachusetts and it somtimes slows down a little bit between storms but we keep on going. If you can afford to take half the year off then roofing is a hobby not a profession. The quaulity is the same if you know what you are doing.

RooferJim www.jbennetteroofing.com