Roofing FAQs

Older roofing shingles and wood shakes, and flat roofs typically have a 15- to 30-year lifespan depending on the materials, the location and tree cover of your home, and how well the roof was installed originally. Direct sunlight, weather/wind, and poor roof deck ventilation are rough on South Texas Roofs.

Though some of the CertainTeed, Owens Corning, GAF, and other shingles we use today have lifetime warranties, they didn’t a decade ago. We tell our customers that 12 years is a good rule of thumb to go by. At that point, check for these warning signs:

• Curling shingles
• Loss of the asphalt granulation (looks like bald spots)
• Evidence of leaking on your ceilings
• Cracked or discolored interior drywall (painted or wallpapered)
• Decaying shingles
• Missing shingles
• Visible cracks
• Wind damage
• Broken or damaged shingles
• Rusted or missing flashing

If a residential roof is over 15 years old, we recommend you call us out for a look. Sometimes damage isn’t visible to the untrained eye and REALLY difficult to see from the ground, and catching it early can avoid expensive interior repairs in the future.

This depends on whether the roofing shingles are past their prime or the original roofing contractor installed part of or the whole roof system improperly. Perfectly good roofing shingles can be repaired if the damage hasn’t affected their integrity. If your roof shingles are old and decaying, it’s economically smarter to replace the entire roof.

Several factors go into determining the cost of your new roof. They include the quality and professionalism of your roofing contractor; the brand, type and grade of roofing shingle or other roof type you select; the size of your roof and the shape and slope of your roofline.

Don’t choose a roofing contractor on cost alone. Price is a factor, but not the only factor you should consider. Quality roofing material and contractor workmanship have value. Hiring the cheapest roofing contractor could cost more in the long run when you consider the cost to repair sub-par roofing and the damage it causes. Get a roofing estimate for an accurate idea. Prime Seamless Gutter & Roofing, LLC estimates are convenient, fair, and free. We only ask for you to be home.

This is a roofing question where aesthetics and finances come into play. Not one roofing shingle manufacturer compensates Prime Seamless Gutters & Roofing, LLC to promote their products. Having been a roofing contractor for many years, we can recommend without hesitation CertainTeed and Owens Corning asphalt shingles. Mcelroy or Berridge Metal For the vast majority of homes on the South Texas Region, these roofing shingles deliver the best value for the money and look for curb appeal.

If your gutters and downspouts are in good shape, NO! Our roofing crews will work around them. To avoid damaging them. We have the option to remove and reinstall them at an additional cost but it is not always necessary. If your gutters are in relatively good shape, but need minor repair, we can provide this service too. Prime Seamless Gutters & Roofing, LLC is a full-service roofing and seamless gutter contractor. If your roof is being replaced due to hail damage, Most Likely your gutters will be part of the claim.

How long will it take a roofing company to install my new roof?

Of course there are variables that affect all roofing projects, like weather, whether or not there is a second layer to remove, and more. But typically, Prime Seamless Gutter & Roofing, LLC crews are completely finished with your new roof—from removing the old roof to clean up in 1-3 days for Shingles and 1-2 weeks for Metal.

Do I need to pay my deductible?

HB2102 - Prohibition Against Waiving of Deductibles -- The waiving of deductibles has been improper in Texas since 1989. Unfortunately, due to a poorly worded statute, many contractors ignored the prohibition and the waiving of deductibles has become common in Texas. Reputable contractors who refused to break the law could not compete with the “deductible eaters”. Homeowners were lured to sign contracts with shady contractors with promises of “A Free Roof!” And homeowners were duped into committing insurance fraud when they failed to advise the insurance company in submitting a request for replacement cost holdback that the deductible portion of the claim had not been incurred. HB2102 fixes all of these problems by making it crystal clear that deductibles must be paid. Plain and simple. A contractor commits a violation of the new law if it pays, waives, absorbs, rebates, credits, or otherwise declines to charge or collect a deductible. Contracts must also contain a disclosure statement that insurance deductibles must be paid. Finally, an insurance company may request “reasonable proof” that the deductible has been paid before making a replacement cost holdback payment. This important legislation will both protect Texas consumers from illegal fraud schemes and ensure that reputable contractors who collect deductibles are on a level playing field in competing for business.

New shingle roofs need time to “rest” after completion, it can take anywhere from as little as a couple days, to over a month. Shingles are a petroleum-based product and need time to heat up and bond together. After some time and letting them heat up and rest the shingles will lay flat and bond together. Another reason a roof is not laying flat is the decking and the framing of the house. We HIGHLY recommend you look closely at your roof before it is replaced to identify any and all Dips or ridges in the roof decking. Without full replacement of decking, Those dips and ridges can be noticed in the new roof. The shingles will take on the shape of the wood that they are laid on and is not a cause for rejection. Imagine putting a phone book under a blanket. It changes the contour of the floor and is visible under the blanket. The blanket will not lay flat and you will see the outline of the phone book underneath. Roof decking and shingles can act in the same manor and is normal to see some depending on the age of the home, and the type of decking used when the home was built.

Unfortunately, again roofing is a very invasive job. There will be THOUSANDS of nails that come off of your roof and fall into your grass and or gutters. Prime Seamless Gutters & Roofing LLC will use magnets to retrieve nails before during and after the roof process. But with how many nails there are, there are bound to be some stragglers that get missed. Its not all that uncommon to find a few handfuls maybe more!! We recommend too mow grass before the roof is installed to ensure that the magnets can retrieve the nails from grass areas. Concrete areas such as driveways and walkwayswill be blown off and swept with the magnet as well. If you find nails or an abundance. Please call our office, we will return as many times as necessary to sweep for nails. It is the most unfortunate part about roofing and we take it seriously and work very hard to sweep for as many nails as possible.

Roof replacement and roofing repair is messy and noisy process. Consider going somewhere else for about two to three hours once roofing contractors start removing the old roofing shingles to avoid all the noise. Keep pets in mind too. There’s no way around it. But we do all we can to minimize hassle and inconvenience during the roofing process.

During Material delivery, please give access to the delivery company the day before to roof load the material or ground drop if roof load is not available

Park your cars in the street during construction. The roof removal trucks and trailers need to back up to the house. You’ll save your tires from nails and your car from dust and falling debris.

Use common sense and protect any item around the perimeter of the home that you would be upset about if it broke. Pots, Plants… yard décor… BBQ… Things of this nature. Prime Seamless Gutters & Roofing will do everything we can to minimize or even eliminate any damage, however Roofing is VERY invasive process and we ask you to work with us to protect your property.. Many contractors tell you to remove pictures from walls, chandeliers from the ceiling, knickknacks from shelves, etc. With nearly 5,000 roofs under our belt, we have never heard a customer say that anything fell off their walls or shelves. Seems like a lot of work for a problem that we have never experienced.

If you have a paver or some other form of decorative driveway, we will cover it with plywood to protect the surface from roofing vehicles and falling shingle debris.

If you have a swimming pool, close the pool cover if you have one, If you don’t have a cover, we’ll tarp it too. Roofing debris can stain plaster finishes.

Regarding roofing shingle installation and roofing contractor workmanship: Prime Seamless Gutters & Roofing LLC workmanship warranty is very clear with as little legal jargon as possible. The integrity of our roofing work is reflected in the warranty, which of course, is transferable to the new owner should you sell your home if a lifetime Shingle is used. And Metal Roofs have a Labor warranty of 25 years.

Our roofing contractors will repair any leak at no cost and pay up to $2500.00 toward the needed repairs of any Sheetrock, painting and insulation resulting from a workmanship issue. It is Homeowners responsibility to have mitigated damages once a leak was discovered and contact Prime Seamless Gutters & Roofing, LLC as soon as possible to correct deficiency. This warranty covers items covered that Prime Seamless Gutters & Roofing, LLC has replaced, It does not cover leaks in Siding, Stucco, masonry or chimneys that were not re-flashed, Counter flashing not replaced, Windows or other components that were not replaced and written in the contract. This is one of the best roofing workmanship warranties in the South Texas and it’s how we’ve earned the trust of nearly 5,000 customers. This warranty is for full installations NOT repair work.

Oil canning is a moderate waiving or buckling of sheet material and any roll formed product, particularly common with flat sheet metal surfaces. It is seen as waviness in the flat areas of the metal roof or bottom of seamless gutter. This phenomenon will seem very apparent at times and seem to disappear at others due to the angle of the sunlight and even time of year with ambient air temperature. OIL CANNING IS INHERENT in all sheet metals and is the result of a combination of factors. There are no industry standards for what is excessive oil canning, however much more information on this topic can be found online. Oil canning can not be completely avoided however it can be reduced by using ribbed or corrugated panels in place of a flat panel with no profiel: Adding ribs to your panels will strengthen them and show significantly less oil canning than flat panels.