Professional Roofing Contractor in Indianapolis, IN

Ask certain questions when interviewing prospective roofers to understand their actual knowledge of roof replacement and warranty coverage. In addition to being a reputable company ask the following:

Consider these top 10 ways you can determine for yourself if you are getting a quality roof.

1: Warranty; Not the one from the manufacturer but, the labor and workmanship warranty from the installer/company. (Typically 2-5 years.)
WTR gives a limited lifetime “transferable” labor and workmanship warranty on all new work at NO EXTRA COST.
Many labor warranties are generally backed by the manufacturer after the first 5 years and will be limited to manufacturing defects and other exclusions such as prorated exclusions.

2: Ice and water shield; Although not code in most Indiana counties, make sure you get it on gutter edges and valleys. WTR will install ice and water barrier to the eaves AND valleys of your home and by installing our “Patent Pending Watertight Method” to the overhangs of your home guarantee you will never have a rotten gutter board or soffit board.

3: Ridge cap: “Cut down 3-tabs” are made with a thinner fiberglass mat than actual “Hip and Ridge accessory shingles” and have a high potential to blow offs because of the thinner fiberglass mat used during manufacturing.
These “Cut down 3-tabs” are typically used by most roofing contractors due to the cost savings as compared to “Hip and Ridge accessory shingles.
WTR will use actual “hip and ridge accessory shingles” that are thicker and also match the color of the laminate shingles better than cut down 3-tabs and have the same wind rating as the laminate shingle that will be installed.

4: Ventilation; Sometimes turtle vents and ridge vents may be the #1 cause of roof leaks.
Unfortunately, your average roofer does NOT know how to properly install these type of vents and we can prove it. Ridge vents MUST be “crowned” and when installing the ridge vent only one side at a time can be fastened as to prevent wrinkling of the ridge vent resulting in potential blow offs due to the extra stress on the ridge vent due to improper fastening. WTR has properly trained crews that install products the same way every time.
This ensures that small leaks due to improper installation will not show up 7-10 years later after your typical labor warranty has expired.

5: Pipe jacks; It’s sad but most roofers still use plastic pipe jacks that have a 100% chance of getting rotten and causing a leak.
WTR will use double sealed pipe jacks that will never leak guaranteed.

6: Shingle brand; Extremely important! The top 4 quality brands we use are Owens Corning, Malarkey, Gaf and Certainteed shingles.
Any other brand is inferior in our opinion.
WTR will be able to show you how these shingles are manufactured and how these differences can affect the water shedding capability of the shingles and its overall lifespan.

7: Low sloped roofs: Do NOT let anyone install shingles on low sloped roofs! No amount of ice and water shield will prevent low sloped shingled roofs from leaking. If someone tells you any different, their labor warranty will prove how much confidence they have when installing shingles on pitched roofs lower than 4/12 pitch.

8: Chimney Flashing; Every protrusion on your roof has a high risk of leaks. When installing chimney flashing it is vital that the flashing used will extend past each side of the back of the chimney and NOT cut back and folded around each end.

9: Plank Decking; Plank decking is NEVER a suitable nailing surface for asphalt shingles.
Proper nail placement is key to a properly fastened shingle roof and when those fastener areas line up where the planks are gapped or over a knot hole, the fastener will not hold due to being nailed into that gap or knot hole and will cause “nail blow through” and will cause a leak.

10: Felt paper; Outdated paper felt paper is actually designed to soak up moisture when your roof condensates moisture or when water gets forced under the shingles due to wind driven rain and ice dams.
Synthetic felt paper is designed to shed and block moisture that condensates under your shingles.
Most roofing companies use the new and improved synthetic felt paper however, you must demand that synthetic felt paper is being used to make sure your roof lasts the whole 30 years of its expected life.

At WaterTight Roofing we can’t do them all but, we can do them best.
“Better. Believe it.”