Our Bay Area roofing repair experts have long known that the untrained eye is bad at identifying problem roof areas. It takes time and skill to be able to tell – just from a glance – whether a set of shingles needs to be replaced or repaired. It takes years in the field to develop an intuition for how certain types of leaks spread and what to do about them.

By Cam42 (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html) ], via Wikimedia Commons

A cool new technology, called thermal leak detection, is revolutionizing the Bay Area roofing industry. Through infrared detectors (which can “see” heat), these detectors can identify leaks, water damage, moisture problems and other trouble spots that the human eye cannot detect.

For instance, let’s say a piece of electrical equipment or an HVAC unit is running “hot.” The thermal leak detection technology can note such hot and cool anomalies.

Infrared detection massively increases the efficiency of detection and repair. Here’s why:

Imagine you’re looking at a 1,000 square foot roof that’s leaking or decaying “somewhere.”

• An untrained homeowner might be able to spot a dark patch here or there. But he’d struggle to get a sense of the entire leak – much less know how to begin to fix it.
• An experienced roofing professional, on the other hand, could look at that same vantage, and she could see way more than you can.
• Thermal leak detection technology can immediately “suss out” the original leak as well as the deeper structures and temperature differences.

In some ways, it’s the difference between an untrained person firing a gun blindly (homeowner trying to detect a leak); a skilled marksman firing (experienced professional using traditional tools of the craft, informed by years of experience and intuition); and a laser-guided missile (thermal leak detection).

With this increased efficiency:

• You can laser-target the leak and not have to fix the entire roof.
• You can stop problems before they get worse.
• You can speed up the repair process and minimize overages and extra costs.
• It’s also ultimately better for the environment, because the efficiency will lead to less waste production.

Find out more about whether thermal leak detection is right for your job. Call our East Bay roofing company today, or connect with us online for a free estimate.

Before you make the leap, you need to know whether your current roof (or prospective roof) would be a naturally good fit for solar. Here are five tests to do:

1. Search for shadows

Shadows cast by trees, buildings, and overhanging vegetation can influence the solar setup. To do PV installation, for instance, you want to maximize your sun exposure. Your roof should be south-facing here in the Bay Area to extract as much solar energy as possible.

2. Learn the load bearing capacity of the roof

You obviously need to know the amount of infrastructure that the roof can safely hold. A standard solar panel set up weighs about 15 kilograms per square meter.

3. Know how much solar power you need to generate

Not all available rooftop space can be used for your panels. In some cases, you can use up to 90% of the rooftop. But aim for around 70% max to be on the safe side.

4. Pay attention to miscellaneous factors

You may have aesthetic constraints or ambitions, for instance. Some high-end products and panels can look practically indistinguishable from more “natural” types of roofing material, but these materials can add to your budget. What’s more important to you: cheap or beautiful? Prioritize before you start shopping.

5. Appreciate the tailor’s maxim: measure twice, cut once.

Spend time doing research and planning before you invest in a multi-thousand dollar roofing construction project. The better you budget, the more clearly you will understand whether the project will deliver a return on investment.

The team here at Century Roof & Solar would be happy to talk to you in detail about your solar roofing project. Connect with us today for a free estimate.

It’s a simple question with (potentially) a not so simple answer.

Your needs depend on: your budget, the state of roof repair (or disrepair) of your home; your maintenance schedule; and your concerns (or lack thereof) about environmental stewardship.

Here are 5 benefits of these coatings.

1. Lengthen the life of your roof

If the roof is in moderately bad shape–or even if it has leaked a bit–Bay Area roofing experts can help restore it to usable condition. A reflective recoating can also limit the amount of UV induced damage done to the roof by reducing temperature.

2. Limit waste and debris on the site

Ripping off a dilapidated or warped roof membrane or leaky/junky installation not only costs time but also creates tremendous waste. If you strategically apply coating at the right time during the lifecycle of your roof, you will reduce these expensive “scrap and rebuild” projects.

3. Improve the local “climate” of your roof to reduce the likelihood of leaks

You might not think that your roof has its own “mini climate system,” but it does!

Certain areas of any roof will be more prone to ponding and leaking than others. No engineer can 100% predict where those problems areas might be. When you recoat, you reduce the risk of these surprise climate-induced problems and thus avoid damage.

4. Improve energy use

A worn coating or compromised roof can lead to unnecessary heat wastage (or A/C wastage during the summer). By improving the roof, you reduce energy drain.

5. Increase value of the building and improve its insurability

When you fix a roof to make it look sharper, the entire building benefits aesthetically. The people who live, work, or do business in it will enjoy the property more and take better care of it.

Which roof coatings are right for your Bay Area building? To find out, get in touch with the team here at Century Roof & Solar today for a free estimate. We can answer all your questions regarding strategy, timeframe, cost, and materials. Call or email us now to get your free estimate.

Most homeowners know that they need to “take care of” the home’s core structural elements — the roof, the foundation, the windows, the electrical, the HVAC system, etc. But you also must be mindful of your gutters.Even though our climate is not as severe as, say New England’s; the Bay Area gets its fair share of blustery, wet, and wooly weather. You need reliable rain gutters to prevent water from pooling, leaking, and creating the conditions for mold and structural damage.

When gutters break down or overflow due to clogging or mechanical problems, the water can cascade in surprising, yet devastating pathways. For instance, let’s say a clog forms in a gutter above your rec room. Water spillage driven by this constraint, over time, could saturate the wood underneath, giving rise to mold. The decayed, desiccated wood then becomes a target for termites or other pests.

Depending on where this “break down” occurs, you might not even notice the tell-tale signs, such peeling paint, musty odor, missing shingles or wall panels, discoloration, etc., until the structure actually fails or an electrical fire goes off and burns down your house.

That sounds like an extreme scenario, and it’s unlikely. But we want to illustrate vividly why you need to mind your gutter system and to do the installation and maintenance the right way.

Even if you are a hardcore “do it yourselfer,” consult with licensed, experienced experts before installing your gutters. The last thing you want is to spend days of hard labor, only to screw up the installation in some subtle but pivotal way.

For top-caliber assistance with your Bay Area roofing repair needs, get in touch with the team here at Century Roof and Solar for a free estimate. Our reputable professionals are standing by to help make your job simpler.

No one craves to do roof repair.

However, you’ve seen serious warning signs of a need for roof repair, and you need to protect your home and family from a collapse or other problems, such as mold, air quality issues, and unbelievably expensive repairs “after the fact.” In some ways, you feel caught in the middle. You’re afraid to act to fix the roof or get a new roof, but you don’t want to put off the job any longer. Rather than make an emotional decision that could cost you, educate yourself.

Here are clear danger signs that you need a new roof — or at least massive repairs — ASAP.

• Paint is peeling and blistering inside or outside your home;
• Large stains or fungal/mildew growths are creeping up your walls or ceilings;
• You spy leaks, missing shingles, degradation, and other obvious warning signs.

Unfortunately, identifying roof problems is not necessarily a linear proposition!

In other words, your roof might be severely damaged, but you may only notice one or two leaky spots or places where the paint is peeling. Conversely, the internal damage may look “pretty bad,” but the roof itself may be relatively intact.

So should you:

1. Do nothing?
2. Do-it-yourself?
3. Hire a roof repair company?
4. Get the roof replaced entirely?

In general, err on the side of being “too cautious.” If you hire a great roofing company, and you had no problem — or just a minor problem — you might overspend by a few hundred dollars. On the flip side, if you fail to react effectively, and the roof collapses or leads to mold infestation, the cost of that under-reaction could be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, when you extrapolate over the long term — not to mention the indirect costs and inconvenience.

Make the smart choice. If you have any questions about your Bay Area roofing needs, give the Century Roof & Solar team a call today, or email us through our website. Get clarity on the job and figure out a strategic plan to put your mind at ease.

1. Enjoy more naturally created vitamin D.

Many researchers now believe that the vast majority of Americans (including many East Bay residents) do not get nearly enough natural sunlight during the day. As a result, their natural vitamin D production shuts down. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to all sorts of unfortunate health conditions. If you get a skylight installed, you will enjoy ambient light streaming into your living and working space.

2. Improve your sleep cycle.

Other research suggests that human beings are sensitive to the presence (or absence) of sunlight. If you work all day at home–and you don’t “stay in contact” with the sun–this can actually throw off your body’s natural rhythms and lead to sleep problems which in turn can cause “downstream” cascading effects. For instance, if you suffer insomnia, you might start taking drugs like Ambien, which can mess up your body in other ways.

3. Make your room feel bigger, instantly.

The lighting of a room can powerfully influence your perception of that room’s depth, size, and general warmness. We intuitively understand that small details can influence our perceptions of spaces. By adding a few skylights or sun tubes, you can open up the room to make it feel bigger and warmer.

4. Increase the real estate value of the property.

For all the reasons above–and dozens more–when you add a skylight, you make the space more livable and thus more valuable–not only to you but also to potential buyers or renters.

For help understanding best practices for skylight installation and maintenance for your Bay Area roof, get in touch with the thorough and highly reputable roofing experts at Century Roof & Solar. Visit our other website if you are interested in learning more about installing solar panels for your home.

Whether you own an old building in the East Bay, or you’re a new homeowner, you’d love to be able to tap into the free fuel provided by the sun to heat your home and run your life. But your building may not be geographically well-positioned for solar panels, so you need to the whole solar idea out the window.

Right?

Not so fast!

New, cutting-edge integrated photovoltaic products called solar shingles may be the solution. These shingles are built to convert sunlight into electricity. They look like typical roof shingles and, as such, offer weatherproofing and aesthetic benefits. Plus, you can deploy them on the roof of your condo, commercial building, or other structure to cut down on energy costs.

Here’s the gist of how they work.

When a ray of sunlight smacks into a shingle, the photons from the solar radiation kick-start an electrical circuit, causing a photovoltaic device to harvest electrons and pump them into your home/building’s energy system to run appliances, heat your home, etc. Your ability to extract good energy from these shingles will depend on numerous factors, including your energy demands, whether you can get clear access to the southern skies (best for solar), whether structures or trees obscure your building, and even your microclimate.

The good news is that you do not need to live in the high desert to get serious benefits!

In fact, new solar shingles do a great job, even in places where the weather is gray or mostly gray – e.g. the East Bay on far too many days. On the off chance that your solar shingles overproduce energy, and you have some to spare, you can strategically trade back this energy for a credit from your utility company, depending on where you live and other restrictions.

Is an East Bay solar tile solution might be right for your home or office? Talk to the team here at Century Roof & Solar. We can help with every element of the solar system selection and implementation process. We’ll help you find customized, budget-friendly, and simple solutions.

1. Defer doing the project until things get really bad.

On any given weekend, you could get out your ladder, gloves, and other tools to sweep your gutters, remove debris, and do the usual maintenance. But other, more fun stuff typically beckons. You want to watch the football game with your son or try that new brunch place everyone’s been chatting about. So you wait and wait and wait. Meanwhile, your gutters stay clogged. Leaks then sprout in your roof. The end result? Massive water damage, respiratory dangers to your family, and structural damage to your house. Your pocketbook, all told, gets walloped to the tune of thousands of dollars.

So, stop deferring, and do something about those gutters right now!

2. Fail to learn from your gutter cleaning mistakes (and successes).

When DIY Bay Area gutter cleaners finally get around to doing the dirty work, they often do a minimal job “just to get it over with.” This can be a major mistake. By making small repairs now — e.g. installing gutter screens, patching up holes with roofing cement, polishing off rust spots, rinsing out your gutters, and installing overhangs — you will not only protect yourself against the dangers we discussed above (e.g. leaks, fire hazards, etc), but you’ll also make next year’s job that much easier.

Imagine this. Say you invest five hours this year systematically identifying what needs to be done every time you clean the gutters. This efficiency then saves you three hours of work every year you clean. If you own your home for ten years, then your investment of 5 hours up front pays back in 30 hours saved over the life of your home-ownership!

3. Do it all yourself.

Truth be told, with some elbow grease and good tools, you can do a fairly decent job of keeping your gutters in ship shape. However, unless you’re a professional, odds are, you’ll miss certain clues regarding potential damage – or cost saving shortcuts. Moreover, you have better things to do! (e.g. the football game we talked about above or the special brunch place, etc).

Instead, consider outsourcing the tough job to the expert gutter care team at Century Roof and Solar. Find out more about us online, or give us a call today for a free estimate about your job.

In addition to finding the best, most reputable East Bay roofing contractor, you also want to utilize top tier products to ensure that your project goes perfectly.

To that end, consider GAF lightweight concrete roof shingles, if you’re installing a new roof on a residential or commercial building. Here’s why: Home Builder Executive recently awarded GAF with the Gold Asphalt Innovation Award for the company’s asphalt roofing shingles.  (GAF’s Press Release)

GAF Timberline Natural Shadow Slate

If you’re not an “industry insider,” this may seem like an obscure award. Who really cares?

Well, you should! Home Builder Executive is one of the key industry mavens; they help set standards and declare “winners and losers” in the homebuilding products industry. HBE editors carefully weigh various products — looking at interviews, data, and customer testimonials — before voting on winners. GAF also won plaudits for rolling out the first Lifetime Roofing System in the industry and for releasing products like Timberline American Harvest, Monaco, and Woodland Shingles. For good measure, GAF also helps out communities with its “Roofs for Troops” program, which has assisted over 5,000 military veterans and personnel.

Part of GAF’s “secret sauce” is its Advanced Protection Technology, which boosts performance of shingles with respect to wind resistance and durability, while conserving natural resources. The lifetime shingles made by GAF pass the most stringent wind tests used by the ASTM, and they come with a limited lifetime warranty.

We here at Century Roof and Solar believe that consumers deserve to know about the best, most durable roofing products. Our elite master certified roofing contractors use GAF lightweight concrete roof shingles.

Of course, we are also a flexible, innovative company. We want to help you solve your roofing challenges by meeting your budgetary requirements as well as needs for durability, strength and other parameters. Every roofing job is different.

No matter what complex factors you face, the team here at Century Roof and Solar can meet your needs and answer all of your questions. Get in touch with us today online to schedule a free estimate.

Emergency roofing repair tip #1: When in doubt, get out of there!

If your roof or home’s structure has been seriously compromised, do not stay inside. Get out of your home as quickly as possible and arrange temporary housing. Grab emergency supplies, and go. Don’t worry about overreacting. The worst that will happen is that the water damage will get slightly worse while you’re gone, and you’ll be out a few hundred dollars for lodging. The worst that will happen if you under-react is… well, literally the worst that can happen!

Emergency roofing repair tip #2: Document, by any means possible.

For insurance purposes – and for repair purposes – strive to document what’s gone wrong, if you could do so safely. Take videos of the damage or snap pictures: pictorial/video evidence contains more information. But even if you just run around your property with a notebook and sketch out where you see the damage, you’ll be ahead of the game.

Emergency roofing repair tip #3: Staunch the immediate damage, if you can do so safely.

For instance: You might lay down towels, buckets, and other materials to absorb/collect leak water. Likewise, you might want to shutdown your electrical systems, so that they don’t short circuit and cause a fire. Avoid doing this work at night or during the heart of the storm, if possible, and make sure you have an assistant working with you, so you don’t get trapped alone in the building.

Emergency roofing repair tip #4: Get help with the project: this is not the time or place to exercise your “do-it-yourself” skills.

If you’re dealing with a subtle, contained issue, like a small leak consider the DIY approach. But if your structure has been compromised in a serious way – or if you have a large area of problematic shingles letting in too much water for your bucket. Odds are, you lack the training, knowledge, tools, and products to get the job done safely and effectively. Call the team at Century Roof & Solar now for help with your Bay Area emergency roofing repair. Our team is licensed, bonded, and well-versed in how to deal with an array of scary and complex roof-related disasters. Call us (510) 780-9489 for a free evaluation to get help now.