In this engaging podcast, host John Maher interviews Brett
Rogenski, General Manager of Master Roofers, about emergency roof repairs.
Brett explains how issues like water leaks, storm damage, and winter
complications require prompt professional attention to prevent further property
damage. He shares practical tips for homeowners, emphasizing the importance of
safety and caution when handling roofing emergencies, and why DIY fixes are not
recommended. The conversation also touches on how seasonal weather affects roof
integrity and the benefits of timely interventions for both temporary fixes and
long-term solutions. This concise discussion provides valuable insights to help
homeowners effectively navigate roofing emergencies and protect their
properties.
John Maher: Hi, I'm John Maher and I'm here today with Brett
Rogenski, general manager of Master Roofers, the most trusted roofing company
in New Hampshire for over 80 years. Today our topic is addressing your
emergency roof repair. Welcome, Brett.
Brett Rogenski: Thanks, John. I appreciate you having me.
What Types of Roofing
Emergencies Does Master Roofers Deal With
Maher: Yeah, sure. So Brett, tell me about some of the types of roofing
emergencies that Master Roofers typically gets calls about, and why is it
important to address them quickly?
Rogenski: Sure. Well, there can be a lot of different reasons and
sources for those. The most typical thing that we receive emergency service
calls on is leaks. Suddenly, there's a lot of rain or snow melt or something
along those lines, and people start seeing staining on their ceiling, maybe
water even coming down a wall. Or it can even be as severe as literally my
ceiling's caving in, I have so much water or water up in the attic, something
like that.
So, the most common thing that we receive emergency needs
on are water leaks coming through. Some of the other things that we do also.. And
that's both commercially and residentially. Some of the other things that we
see are maybe a little more storm associated. So for instance, people may have
had a storm come through their area, they have branches that have penetrated
their roof. Branches or as happened to
my in-laws a couple of years ago, a tree came down and hit part of their house
and-
Maher: Right through the roof.
Rogenski: Yeah, exactly. Did damage to their home and stuff. I
would tell you that water leaks are the most common. Some sort of storm damage,
physical damage to the property would probably be next. And I guess probably
third would also be snow and ice type damage. So people having issues with ice
dams or snow accumulation or things that are associated with those. So that's
still precipitation related, just a different type of precipitation.
What Season Has The Most
Emergency Roof Repair Calls?
Maher: Right. Is there a particular season when you typically get the
most emergency roof repair calls? I mean, obviously the ice dams and things
like that, that's going to be during the winter. But what about just general
leaks?
Rogenski: Sure. I would tell you the spring tends to be a busy
time because sometimes damage has occurred throughout the winter, and if
temperatures are cold like the stretch we've been in now where we've stayed
below freezing for quite a while, sometimes those leaks don't become evident
because quite frankly, that water that is starting to seep through and
penetrate stays frozen, either up in the roof itself or in the insulation, et
cetera.
So, spring, once we were above freezing, a lot of those
things become evident as well as the fact that spring, we tend to get more
precipitation. April showers bring May flowers, and so the volume of rain that
we get combined with the warmer temperatures tends to lead to a lot of people
finding out about an issue that may have existed before, but they hadn't been
aware of and also making evident new leaks. So, I would tell you spring is
probably the leader.
Winter is busy, but with a different type because as we
know, when water freezes, it expands. Hence why it cracks rocks and stuff.
Well, same thing is particularly on flat roofs and commercial roofs, water gets
into these seams as a liquid and then it gets cold at night and it expands and
it ends up physically opening those seams more and that sort of thing.
So, we tend to get a lot of winter stuff that's related
around ice and it's really the ice either taking existing damage and expanding
it or causing the damage.
When Is Master Roofers
Available For An Emergency Call?
Maher: Okay. When is Master Roofers available to take calls about
emergencies and how quickly can you respond to them?
Rogenski: Sure. Obviously, it depends on the day. If we've had a
major snow event, rain event, storm event, we can be backed up a little bit,
but we are available during business hours. You can call us and if someone
doesn't answer directly, if you leave a message, you'll get a call back almost
immediately.
And we also have a service, it's an email address, work
orders, W-O-R-K-O-R-D-E-R-S at Master Roofers.com where you can email requests,
and that's monitored by multiple team members. So, we're really available 24
hours a day. Not necessarily by phone at this point, but we will do service
work seven days a week and depending on the need, even do emergency call-outs.
So for instance, we've certainly had situations where
someone's had that storm damage and they have maybe, quite frankly, a tree on
their house and they'll get ahold of us and we will get a crew together to get
out there, at least get that tarped off to make it weather tight until they can
get a service there to do the tree removal and that sort of thing. So, we try
and make ourselves available per the need as often as possible.
But typically, if you were to reach out to us, for
instance, if you were to call me this afternoon, we would probably be there
within 24 hours, depending on any given day. I may be able to make it yet
today, but certainly we would do our very best to be there tomorrow.
About Recent Emergency
Roofing Calls
Maher: Okay. Can you share some examples maybe of some roof repair
emergencies that you've recently handled and how your team's expertise and
quick response really made a difference for the homeowner?
Rogenski: Sure. I can think of a couple examples actually. The
first example that comes to mind was over in the coastal area. It was in
Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and this happened to be a commercial building. But
their prior roofer kind of left them high and dry. They reached out to them
about a leak and this was in a hotel property and left them high and dry and
wouldn't respond to them.
So, they reached out to us, formed a new relationship, we
were able to go out there. We were able to find why there was a failure on
their flat roof and take care of it all within four hours. So that was a
priority response. They had water actually coming into their building and into
a couple of hotel rooms, and we were able to go out there, perform a good
temporary repair while they now evaluate what they... And then advise them on
what they needed to do for a really long-term permanent repair on what was kind
of a poor installation done by others.
Residentially, we actually just yesterday had some folks
who were reaching in to us about some wind damage. So the ridge vent and caps,
which you see a lot of houses which allow your roof and your attic to breathe,
those can sometimes be subject, especially if there are a few years old, or
again, maybe weren't fully properly installed to blow off during storms.
So, during some of the recent winds that we had here in
the last couple of days, we responded yesterday to someone who found suddenly a
bunch of their ridge cap was, well, frankly it was in their backyard and now
leaving an open hole in the top of their roof. And we were able to respond,
again, within a couple hours, go there.
We actually replaced that entire ridge cap again because
it had been maybe not installed per manufacturer's standards. We were able to
reinstall that ridge cap, get matching cap shingles for that and have that
homeowner taken care of the same day that they knew about the problem. So it
had blown off the evening before and we had it all done for them by
mid-afternoon.
Yeah, so those are things that are pretty common.
Certainly, again, water leaks are something that we deal with almost on a daily
basis, either due to loss shingles or a lot of times it's improper flashing.
And when you get wind events like this coupled with rain, it drives water into
some of those crevices that maybe don't always see a lot of water, and then
suddenly, you're having water spotting in your ceiling in the guest bedroom or
something like that. And it's not just coming with regular rain. So we deal
with those sort of things all the time.
Do You Work On Roofs You
Didn't Install?
Maher: You brought up a good point too with just your examples, which
is that you don't necessarily have to have had your roof replaced by Master
Roofers in order to call for an emergency service. You're happy to go out to a
customer who maybe used somebody else to do their roof and now they're seeing
problems with it and you guys can help to fix those issues.
Rogenski: Absolutely. We don't like to meet friends and customers
in a situation like that, but we're happy because we can help. So, we don't
care who put your roof on, whether it was Master Roof or someone else, that's
irrelevant.
Our job in that situation is to help you get to a place
where the emergency's ended and then give you good advice on, hey, maybe it's
just a repair, we've come perform the repair, your roof is good, have a great
day.
Or sometimes it's a stopgap repair. It's a Band-aid and
okay, we took care of the immediate problem, but we end up having to tell you
about maybe what the larger problem is. But the good news is now you know about
it and we will present you with options for a permanent fix so we're not
talking about this again six or seven months from now.
What Can A Homeowner Do
During A Roofing Emergency?
Maher: Right, absolutely. For homeowners who are maybe experiencing a
potential roofing emergency, are there any steps that they should take
themselves even before Master Roofers is able to respond in order to avoid more
damage in the short term?
Rogenski: Yeah, I would tell you largely we don't advise people to
go on the roofs. And typically, if they're having a roof leak, it's because
it's raining, snow, et cetera, which raises the complexity factor pretty
significantly. We don't recommend anyone go on the roof unless they're trained
in any condition, much less if it's wet or icy or snowy. So, we really don't
recommend people go up on the roofs for safety reasons. We don't want someone
to get hurt over a repair like that because they're not trained.
The best thing that you can do, number one, reach out to a
qualified certified roofer. Number two, if it's significant damage, engage your
insurance company as soon as possible. Okay. Your homeowner's insurance may
play a factor in this.
And then three, try to contain the damage as much as you
can. So, for instance, if you have leakage coming in through a ceiling, a wall,
pick a spot, and you have wood floors there, anything but especially wood
floors, anything you can do so that that water does not then penetrate into the
floor. Because now you're dealing with a leaky roof, you're dealing with damage
to your ceiling.
Now your floor may be compromised as well, and you end up
having to have repairs to that. So anything you can do to contain that liquid
and dry that space while you're waiting for the cavalry to come is always a
good thing. And again, if you know it's significant damage, the sooner you
engage your insurance company, the better.
Maher: Right. So even a small thing, just putting a trash can
underneath the leak and having it drip into that or pour into that.
Rogenski: Right.
Should Customers Try To Fix A
Roof?
Maher: And like you said, maybe set up some fans to kind of keep the
floor dry or the walls dry or something like that. That's maybe the most that
you can do because like you said, you don't want to be up on the roof trying to
fix the leak yourself.
Rogenski: No, no. You don't want to add to the damage by having an
injury. That's not going to help anyone's situation. And yeah, again, as fast
as you can reach to a qualified roofer, again, if it's a significant damage.
You also have to remember, and this is part of what we'll look at when we're
there depending on the nature of the leak, is there insulation that's getting
wet? Are there other things that are getting wet?
Because you then
have concerns about if you don't handle that properly, could there be mold or
something along those lines that causes you further issues? So, those are all
things that we can and do help with, but we really don't want people up on
roofs. Let the professionals come and help you. That's what we're here for.
Maher: All right, well that's really great information, Brett. Thanks
again for speaking with me today.
Rogenski: Thanks so much. I appreciate your time.
About Master Roofers
Maher: And for more information about Master Roofers, you can visit the
website at MasterRoofers.com or call 603-623-4973.