BLOG

Explore the pros and cons of DIY versus professional roof cleaning in our comprehensive guide. Learn about safety concerns, effectiveness, costs, and more to make an informed decision on your home's roof care. Perfect for homeowners weighing options.

Your roof can be one of your home’s greatest assets, or greatest liabilities. Whether it’s tile, metal, wood or a composite material, your roof is designed to last for decades. But just like anything, if it’s not well- maintained, it will fail. After taking a beating from the hot summer sun, your roof is faced with the harsh realities of Fall and Winter. That’s why when we inspect a roof this time of year, we recommend replacing shingles or tiles that are cracked, curled, loose, damaged, or missing. On flat roofs, we look for bulges, worn spots, or split seams that need attention. Low-hanging tree limbs can create all kinds of issues. That’s why we recommend trimming them back. We’re also mindful of gaps between the roof and chimneys, pipes, and walls. We often find metal flashings in need of repair or re-caulking. For brick chimneys, it’s important to check for missing mortar, loose bricks, and metal screen to keep animals out. For metal chimneys, if they’re free of rust and corrosion, they’re good for another Winter. If you’re comfortable on a ladder, you can make sure your roof is ready for Winter. If not, give us a call and we’ll be happy to come out and give your roof a once-over. It’s much easier and inexpensive to take care of any issues you may have before the weather changes. Neglecting to do this will only cause bigger issues when rain, snow and ice enter the picture. Making sure your roof is an asset this season will ensure a comfortable, hassle-free winter. Next week, I’ll cover gutters and downspouts. Until then, -Andy

Last week I shared some insights on getting your roof ready for Winter. In case you missed it, you can check it out here . This week I’m starting a video series on gutters. There are so many products out there claiming to protect your gutters and downspouts. It’s enough to make your head spin. Today, I’m going to start with a story about a recent downspout incident that could have been avoided with a little bit of planning and less than $10. You can watch it here. 

Last week I shared a story about an expensive downspout disaster that could have been prevented with a screen that costs about the same as a fancy cup of coffee. This week, I was going to do a video on gutter guards, but the week got away from me. So instead, I’d like to illustrate why keeping your gutters clean is so important. I’ve repaired many a home from the damage caused by “gutter neglect.” As passive as they seem, your gutters work around the clock to keep water away from your home’s foundation. That’s’ why when clogged up gutters overflow, it can create major issues. Here are seven headaches you can avoid through regular maintenance: 1. Gutter damage: Debris and standing water can weigh down your gutters and cause them to leak, separate at the seams, and pull away from the fascia. This is what we see most. 2. Roof leaks: Standing water in your gutters can seep under the roof and destroy the wood sheeting, damage the shingles, and even your ceiling. Yellow or brown stains on your ceiling are signs that water is seeping in from under your roof or behind the gutters. 3. Wood damage: Water from overflowing gutters that seep onto the fascia, siding, walls, and window frames will eventually rot and weaken the wood. 4. Landscape damage: Over-saturation can destroy plants, shrubs, grass, and other vegetation. 5. Mold infestation: Mold can begin to grow within three days of water leaking into your house. Not only can mold damage walls and ceilings, its release of toxic spores into the air can pose a serious health hazard. 6. Foundation damage: When water pools and then saturates the dirt below your foundation, it can cause cracking, unevenness, shifting, and structural damage in your foundation. 7. Ice & snow damage: When standing water in your gutters freezes, it expands and puts pressure on the walls of your gutters. Too much pressure can cause them to become slightly deformed, loose, or damage the fasteners and make them unsteady. Too many cycles of this and the fasteners could potentially fail and let the gutter come off the structure, posing a threat to life and property. If you’ve been putting off having your gutters cleaned, we can help. Just give us a call or email us to set up an appointment. We’re at your service. Talk to you next week. -Andy

Moisture. Here in the Pacific Northwest we know all about it. Eugene’s average annual rainfall is a whopping 47 inches. That’s 9 more inches than Seattle. All that rain makes it beautiful and lush here, but it’s also hard on the outside of your home. That’s why you call us to keep your roof and gutter functioning like they’re supposed to. Somewhere in your homeowner’s journey, you discovered what happens when things back up, wear out or experience total failure. It’s stating the obvious to say the roof gets so much attention because it’s the first (and most important) line of defense against rain, sleet, snow, leaves, needles, varmints, etc. But there are other parts of your home that also play a vital role in keeping what’s outside from getting in – and also maintaining the structural integrity of your home. That’s important for a lot of obvious reasons. Comfort. Protection. Investment. Health and safety. Your home is a well-designed structure with lots of systems and sub-structures, like its own little eco-system. With the busy lives we lead, it can be difficult keeping it running like a well-oiled machine. I don’t know about you, but the LAST thing I want to do on my day off is climb a ladder or crawl into a dark, cramped space. But in a town that gets four feet of rain, I’d rather do a little moaning and groaning now, then a LOT of kicking and screaming later. Something to think about. Until next time. -Andy

I know that title sounds pretty “clickbaity”, but the reason for asking the question is legit. You may remember, last week I talked about all the moisture we get here in Oregon and what it requires of us as homeowners. If you didn’t get a chance to read it, feel free to check it out here. This week, I wanted to share a real-life example about what can happen when you don’t know what’s lurking behind your walls. Last Fall we were hired for a home exterior repaint project. (Psssst. In case you didn’t know, we have a full painting crew now.) By all appearances, it was pretty straightforward. But there was more to it than met the eye. But paint can hide a multitude of issues. In this case, water damage, black mold, and carpenter ant damage in three sections of the home. Before one drop of paint could be applied, our crew had to remove and replace every rotten piece of sheathing, plywood, siding, and trim. Let’s just say the repair costs didn’t go over well with the homeowner. But if we hadn’t caught it then, like a cancer, the moisture and carpenter ants would have silently caused more damage, one drop at a time: one bite at a time. At this point you might be wondering how to prevent this kind of damage. An annual check and resealing of your siding, windows, doors, and roof, plus ensuring that there’s no exposed wood, are your best defenses against unwanted intruders. Do you know what’s lurking inside your walls right now? If you aren’t sure, you can be. We’re here to help. Talk to you next week. -Andy

Ever seen an oil painting of a country cottage with a mossy roof and smoke rising from the old brick chimney? Ah, quaint isn’t it? But hold the phone. What may seem quaint and cozy in a painting on grandma’s living room wall doesn’t tell the whole story. Moss is a menace! It’s on the roof. It’s on the sidewalk. It’s on the walls. It’s on the windows. It’s on the car. It’s everywhere! For something as ubiquitous as moss, you’d think it wouldn’t seem so mysterious….and foreign. This green, fuzzy, enigmatic substance from outer space wants to take over the world. But seriously. What is it and how do we keep it from invading our homes? Moss are small, flowerless plants that we often find in dense green clumps. It needs a moist environment to grow because it doesn’t have roots. And it really likes cool, shady places. Probably the worst place to have it is on the roof, because, over time, the damage moss is capable of causing is – extensive. Moss can grow between and underneath your roof shingles. Asphalt shingles are especially vulnerable because they can lift up. That lets water in, and also makes the shingle more likely to be torn off in heavy winds. Moss can also damage the shingles themselves, causing them to break down faster. Adding insult to injury, moss buildup can also cause more debris to be trapped on the roof, encouraging water buildup. What happens after that isn’t pretty. We’re talking about leaks in your walls, on your ceiling, rotten wood, mold intrusion. You get the picture. Removing moss from your roof not only helps keep your roof looking like new, but also helps maintain it. Because moss grows well in shady areas, you can start by removing or trimming tree branches, bushes, and other plant life, allowing for extra sunlight exposure. Here in Oregon, this only works when it’s not overcast and cloudy and overcast, which is about 200 days a year. You can use acidic or chemically basic roofing cleaning products to help the rest of the year. If you choose to DIY versus having a company like Ace help you out, make sure you wear protective clothing, rubber gloves, and eye protection whenever working with chemicals. If you’re looking for Total Moss Eradication, we have a special disintegrator ray gun that we can blast it with. Just kidding about the disintegrator ray gun. But we really can help you with your roof moss, window moss, walkway, and driveway moss. Give us a call. Talk to you next week. -Andy

Remember Punxsutawney Phil, the infamous, prognosticating groundhog who, in early February, looks for his shadow to determine if we’re going to have an early Spring? Well, last week they pulled Phil out of his box and, to the dismay of millions, he saw his shadow, dooming us to six more weeks of Winter weather. Good heavens! But I’m here to tell you, first off, that groundhogs have a terrible track record for this. He’s always been more wrong than right. Secondly, if that surprises you, maybe I shouldn’t tell you the tooth fairy isn’t real. Kidding aside, whether or not Spring shows up sooner versus later, there’s things we can do right now to shake off the cold. Here’s one. If it’s been more than a year since you checked the gaps around your home, now’s a great time to take a look. Re-caulking and replacing worn weather stripping around your windows and doors can not only take the chill off, but it will keep moisture and bugs out. Plus, it can save you a small fortune on your heating bill. If Phil turns out to be right. there’s still six weeks of brrrrrr left. That’s a month and a half of potential savings. Keep in mind, not all caulking is created equal. If you’ve seen the caulking and sealant section at the local home centers, you may remember how vast it is . There’s every kind of caulking you can imagine…and some you can’t. Latex, acrylic, siliconized latex, siliconized acrylic, indoor/outdoor, best for brick, concrete, windows, and doors, all-purpose, roof, gutter, kitchen & bath. Oh, my! They must have 31,000 flavors of caulking there. Did I see chocolate and vanilla caulking there? They might even have cheesy bacon flavored caulking. Buy two, get a free package of crackers. Disclaimer: Caulking is not really food. Eat it at your own risk. So, if you don’t walk into the store knowing exactly what you need, you might as well be in Vegas. Roll the dice and hope the well-meaning clerk knows more than you do – and it could still be wrong. Pro Tip: If you’re only going to caulk around your windows and doors, save yourself some trouble and buy one that says, “Windows and Doors.” DAP and GE are popular brands. I hope that didn’t sound patronizing. I just know that with the busy lives we lead, combined with so many choices and misinformation out there, picking the wrong sealant isn’t hard. If you’d rather not hassle with it, give us a call to schedule a low-cost evaluation. We’ll take care of you. -Andy