Before we break out our shingle scrapers, our GAF award-winning crews lay out tarps that cover your lawn, flower beds, and any appliances, like air conditioning units. This is to assure that your beautiful property looks as clean as the way it was when we arrived.

Once tarps are laid and fastened, photos will be taken of the original roof. Once photos are taken, the shingles and underlayment will be scraped off of the roof. Pieces of shingle and underlayment will be tossed into the dumpster, while crew members on the ground are proactively cleaning up any spill over debris.

At this point, the roof is stripped of all shingles and underlayment, leaving the decking wood exposable to the naked eye. The crew chief will then get on the roof and inspect the decking wood for any dry rotted, water damaged, and/or unstable areas. If any of these areas are found this wood will be replaced. Pictures will be taken of the decking wood before and after any necessary wood repairs.

Our crews will then begin to prepare for placing the underlayment by re-nailing loose nails of the roof deck to guarantee the decking is properly fastened to in order to hold the newly installed shingles. Ice and water protection will be added in any areas that are predetermined by the roof layout and/or by the customer’s chosen warranty. The customer’s chosen underlayment will now be rolled out and nailed down using cap nails opposed to the common wholesale roofing gimmick of using staples. Cap nails are chosen due to their superior wind resistance which helps prolong the effectiveness of your underlayment in waterproofing your home.

After the underlayment is properly installed and fastened, our detail-oriented crews begin to mark your roof to ensure that the shingles are aligned and level. Starter strip will be placed along the rakes and eaves of the roof to properly fasten the decking wood. The sealant of the starter strip is designed to prevent wind or sideways rain from intruding under shingles that are located towards the edge of your roof and causing water damage at the bottom of your decking wood. To prevent any ice or critters from getting in between the wood and the shingles, drip edge will also be installed. Pictures will be taken that encompass the underlayment fastened to the decking wood as well as the starter strip and drip edge. 

The crew will then begin laying and nailing your shingles from the bottom up to ensure a proper overlap that gives your architectural shingle the structural integrity that it was designed to have. All our crews are trained to perform “storm nailing” where they use a six nails per shingle nailing pattern. This is different than many other pyramid roofing schemes who prioritize cost cutting over their customers they claim to value. It is proven that in a region like Tidewater, that is suspectable to major storms and high humidity, that homeowners need a custom roof that fits their region. So here at Custom Home Improvements we provide our customers a tidewater roof that can handle the weather Hampton Roads, Southeast Virginia, Richmond metropolitan, and Northeast North Carolina.

Any roofing accessories like, box vents, solar fans, pipe collars, step flashing and/or skylights will be hand sealed at this point of the roof installation. While part of the crew is finishing up on the accessories, the crew chief will begin to precisely open up the top of the ridge, where the two decking boards meet at the apex of the roof. This surgical cut is to make way for the GAF Snow Country Cobar Ridge Vent. This GAF Patented product allows any exterior sourced air to ventilate under your roof, cooling your attic and prolonging the lifespan of your roofing system. The final touch will be followed by the specifically designed ridge cap shingle to be placed over the ridge vent opening and fastened using 3-inch ring stuck nails.

Now that your new GAF Lifetime architectural roof has been installed; the crew chief will take pictures of the final product. While the crew chief is inspecting the work, the rest of the crew will be aiding in any clean up efforts that need to be completed. This includes, picking up any missed debris from shingles or underlayment, moving back any flowerpots or decorations that were moved for the install, removing the tarp and reinspecting underneath and around to ensure a clean yard, collecting any tools that were used on the job. On average, there are 10,000 nails that are handled between rip off and install of a roof. Safety for our customers and our crews is paramount to us as a company. Therefore, we provide each member of our crew with rolling magnets so that every member of our crew can contribute to sweeping both the area and perimeter of your yard in picking up nails. Once the crew chief believes both the work and the clean-up is sufficient, he will ask the homeowner to do a walk around inspection with him to make sure that the homeowner is pleased with the work we have done. In addition to the walk around inspection, all pictures that were taken before, during and after will be provided to the customer to give the customer peace of mind that no corners were cut. Further aligning with one of our core values of communicating in a clear and transparent way so that we can provide a premier roofing experience, the Custom Home Improvement way!