Lowry City Roofing Installation
A new roof is a stack of layers, and the shingles you see from the road are only the last one. We start at bare decking and work up: underlayment edge to edge, ice and water shield and metal flashing in the valleys, starter along the eaves, then the field shingles and the ridge. Our crews drive up from Collins, and Lowry City sits on the schedule as often as any town closer to the shop.
Every layer, starting at the wood.
On a re-roof, the old shingles come off first, all of them. Plenty of houses in town are already on their second roof, with an older layer still stacked underneath, and we would much rather pull both than nail a third course over the top. Bare decking is the only way to see the wood itself: where it went soft at an eave, where an old leak stained it dark, where a board has to come out before anything new goes over it.
Bad sheathing gets cut out and replaced. Then synthetic underlayment rolls out edge to edge, eave to ridge, lapped so water running downhill always crosses a seam from above. That sheet is what keeps the house dry if a shingle ever lets go, so we never leave bare strips at the rakes or around the vents.
New builds skip the tear-off, but the order from the deck up stays the same. If you are not sure the whole roof needs replacing, start with a roof inspection and find out. When only one slope is failing, a targeted roof repair may carry the house a while longer, and we will tell you so.
Valleys, starter rows and the ridge.
Valleys carry more water than any other part of a roof, because two slopes drain into one line. That is where we lay ice and water shield first, a self-sealing membrane that closes up around the nails driven through it, with metal valley flashing over the top. The photo at the top of this page shows a valley mid-install: blue synthetic underlayment, the white membrane, a black metal valley, and stone-coated steel panels going down beside it. Shingle roofs get the same valley treatment.
A starter strip runs along every eave and rake so the first course has an adhesive edge under it and the wind has nothing loose to grab. Every shingle after that gets nailed in the zone the manufacturer marks on it. You can’t see the nail pattern from the yard, but it is the first thing a hard gust tests, and nails driven high or crooked are how shingles end up in the grass.
At the peak, ridge cap covers the top course and any ridge vent beneath it. Pipe boots, along with the flashing at chimneys and side walls, go on new instead of being reused. A fresh roof wrapped around a cracked old boot is a leak waiting for its first storm.
Shops, additions and the building out back.
Lowry City is farm country, and lots of properties in and around town carry more than a house: a detached shop, a garage built years after the home, a pole building for equipment. When we quote a new roof on acreage, we look at every structure and give each one its own lines on the written quote. That way you decide what gets done now and what waits for next season.
New construction runs the same way. A house going up, a room added onto the back of a ranch, a shop framed behind the drive: each gets roofed from the deck up with the same layers in the same order. An addition has to tie into the existing roof so the joint between old and new sheds water instead of catching it, and the new shingle has to sit close enough to the old one that the roofline reads as one house.
Some outbuildings are better off in steel than asphalt. Our metal roofing page lays out the systems for shops and barns, and if the shed you already have is steel and leaking at the screws, that is a metal roof repair call. If you are building, phone us before the trusses go up so we can plan the material and the day.
Why a cut-up roof takes longer.
A plain gable ranch with two broad planes goes fast, and most tear-offs on a house like that wrap up in a day. Dormers, several valleys, a hip or two and a steep pitch all stretch the schedule, and the quote will say so up front.
Each dormer adds two valleys and two side walls, and those walls need step flashing woven in course by course. Each valley gets the membrane and metal described above. On a steep roof the crew works off roof jacks and harnesses, stages material more carefully and moves slower. None of that shows on a satellite measurement, which is why we walk the roof in person before anything goes on paper.
You will see that spelled out on the written quote: square count, pitch, how many layers come off, the flashing work and the shingle you picked. If the tear-off turns up something the top of the roof hid, like soft decking under an old patch, we stop, show you, and get your go-ahead before we replace it.
Picking the week, then leaving the yard clean.
Asphalt shingles bond best when the weather is dry and mildly warm. Sun softens the adhesive strip under each course so it grabs the one below, and a roof laid in a calm fall week is stuck tight well before winter ice arrives. The dry stretches of early summer work for the same reason. We install year round when a leak forces the issue, but if you have the choice, those are the windows we point people toward.
Planning early also keeps you out of the spring scramble. After the first hail of the year rolls across St. Clair County, every roofer around gets buried and anyone who waited ends up in a long line. Get quoted in the off-season and you pick the date.
On install day the tear-off goes straight into a trailer, and tarps cover the beds and the bottom of the siding. Once the last ridge cap is down, we run a magnetic sweeper over the lawn, the drive and the gravel so loose nails leave with us. We are an Owens Corning Preferred Installer, and the main roofing installation page covers how we handle new roofs across the rest of our area.
The order a new roof goes on.
Walk it, write it up
We go up, count layers, check pitch and feel the decking from the top, then hand you every line of the job in writing.
Tear off to the deck
Old shingles and old underlayment come off. Soft or stained sheathing gets replaced before anything new covers it.
Underlayment and valleys
Synthetic underlayment edge to edge, then ice and water shield and metal flashing wherever two slopes meet.
Shingles, ridge, sweep
Starter, field courses, new boots and flashing, ridge cap on top, then a magnet pass over the whole yard.
Questions people ask before a new roof goes on.
How long does a new roof take on a house in Lowry City?
A plain ranch with a couple of slopes usually finishes in a day, tear-off included. A steep roof with dormers and several valleys can run into a second day or more. The expected length goes on the written quote, and we tell you right away if weather pushes the date.
Do you tear off the old shingles or roof over them?
We tear off. Plenty of homes in town already carry two layers, and a third one hides the decking and adds weight without fixing anything underneath. Going down to the wood lets us replace soft boards and start the new roof on a flat, clean surface.
Can you roof a new house or an addition?
Yes. New builds and additions are part of the work we do around Lowry City, and the layers go on in the same order as a re-roof. On an addition, we tie the new section into the old roof and match the existing shingle as closely as the current product line allows.
What shingles do you install?
We are an Owens Corning Preferred Installer, so most of our asphalt roofs are Owens Corning shingles laid with their matching underlayment, starter and ridge products. We go over color options on the walk-around and put the product name on the written quote so you know exactly what is going on your house.
When is the best time of year to schedule?
Fall and the dry weeks of early summer, because shingles seal down best in mild, dry warmth. We still install through the rest of the year when a roof can’t wait. Calling before the spring hail season gives you a much better shot at the week you actually want.
Will there be nails left in my yard?
We work hard to leave none. Tarps cover the beds and the siding during tear-off, debris goes straight into the trailer, and we run a magnetic sweeper over the lawn, the drive and the gravel before we leave. Tell us about pets or play areas before we start so we sweep those twice.
Want the new roof on before the spring rush?
Call and we’ll come walk it, usually within 48 hours, and the visit is free, with nothing tacked on for the miles out from Collins. You get a written quote with every layer listed. Finished roofs are in the gallery, the contact page takes your details any time, and our Lowry City roofing page covers the rest of what we do in town and across St. Clair County.