Archive for the ‘News’ Category

Roofing Insurance Scams on the Rise: Homeowner Beware

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Your Florida home’s roof is one of the most significant investments you will make throughout your ownership and one that has a substantial impact on its resale value. If you aren’t in the roofing industry, you will need to rely on what you are told, and unfortunately, some dishonest people will attempt to make you commit insurance fraud when it comes to your roof. Read on to learn some of the most common roofing insurance scams currently on the rise so you can protect yourself.

How to Recognize a Scam

Roofing insurance fraud is more than an annoyance — it can be a felony. Defined as misrepresentation for the purpose of receiving money from an insurance company, instead of the fraudulent contractor being held responsible, the homeowner often is, risking community service, probation, or even jail time. These charlatans entice unwitting homeowners with the promise of a free or “no money out of pocket” roof. 

Storm Chasing

Storm chasers are contractors who go where there has just been a major storm. They leave door hangers or speak to homeowners to convince homeowners to file an insurance claim that the contractor then intercepts for their own use. 

hurricane over florida

Free Inspections

Beware if someone knocks on your door stating they notice damage on your roof and will inspect it for free — naturally, they will find damage and will picket the money you give them to fix. Or, they will begin but not finish the work and tell you while it’s underway that more money is needed. 

Down Payment Requirement

In this scenario, a scammer will say that they need a down payment to pay for materials. They will pressure you into signing the first insurance check over to them but will keep the money for themselves and disappear. Unfortunately, senior citizens are often targeted by this type of scammer.

How to Protect Yourself and Your Wallet 

With scammers so prevalent and new scams being thought of all the time, it can feel overwhelming. Luckily, there are a few easily actionable steps you can take to keep from being tricked. 

Ask for Proof

When engaging the services of any construction professional, you should ask for their permanent place of business as well as a tax id number and business license, if required in your area. You should also request proof that they hold liability and worker’s compensation insurance coverage and verify their licensing status

Check for References

Word of mouth can be an effective way to root out scammers. Ask for a list of references and contact these for their reviews or check with other homeowners in your neighborhood who have replaced their roofs for recommendations. Also, be sure to check online review forums such as Yelp and the business’s social media accounts and Google listing. 

Get a Written Proposal

Ask for a detailed breakdown of all costs associated with your new roof, including the following.

  • Accurate description of the work to be performed
  • Specifics about the materials that will be used
  • Start and completion date estimates
  • Payment procedures

McFall in Gainesville, FL Helps You Not Fall For Scams

The bottom line is this — if an unfamiliar roofing contractor offers you a deal that sounds too good to be true, it likely is. So the best way to avoid being scammed out of your money and a new roof is to use a trusted roofer. When you choose the team at McFall Residential Roofing in Gainesville, FL, you have peace of mind that we are here for you over the life of your roof through installation, maintenance, and repair by a company with decades in business. We deliver what we say we will, and you get to enjoy a headache-free experience over the life of your roof. Contact us or request an estimate today so we can get started on your roofing project!

Holiday Season Roofing Tips

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The holiday season offers some of the happiest times of the year, from decorating the house to spending time with family and friends. But, if you’re not careful, keeping your home comfortable and stringing up Christmas lights on your roof can quickly become a headache and costly. To make sure everything goes off without a hitch over your winter, we’ve outlined some helpful holiday season roofing tips to keep you and your roof safe from start to finish. 

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Winter

When winter weather comes in, many homes struggle to efficiently maintain the comfort your heating system provides. This inefficiency can easily drive your utility costs up throughout the colder months. To keep the cold outside and your family inside warm, we recommend two main roofing practices as a start. 

Ensure Proper Roof Ventilation

The purpose of roof ventilation is to manage the temperature and airflow within your attic and ensure that your conditioned air isn’t losing its comfort by coming into contact with a hot or cold roof. Further, a properly ventilated roof helps to minimize hot and cold spots throughout your attic, eliminating the potential for frost. Ventilation also helps to do this for your home, making a warm upstairs and frigid downstairs a thing of the past. 

To learn more about roof ventilation and why it’s significant for your roof, read our blog designated to discuss proprietary ventilation benefits. 

Evaluate Your Insulation

Just like you pull out your oversized, insulated jackets in the winter, your home is looking to do the same. Especially in older homes, inadequate insulation makes it difficult to keep your home warm throughout the colder months. While your ceiling should be insulated rather than your roof, this critical step works with your roof ventilation to regulate indoor temperatures to keep your attic and roof from bearing temperature extremes. 

Stringing Up Lights Without Racking Up Damages

Christmas lights are a holiday staple, strung up along the roofs of residential homes across the country. Unfortunately, damaged roofs are commonly a New Year’s staple once the lights come down. Ensuring that you’re decorating your home for the holidays the right way can save you both repair costs and headaches come January. 

Select Decor Thoughtfully

When planning your holiday rooftop extravaganza, consider your roof’s structure. To decorate your roof safely, you might need to pass on the full-size sled and reindeer. Heavy decorations can often put more weight on your roof than it can bear. The average home may not be equipped with the proper weight-bearing structures to allow for such heavy decor. Over time, this unsupported weight will damage your roof, leading to roof repairs and re-roofing needs down the road.

Holiday roofing safety tips - Picture of christmas lights on roofs with a large decored pine tree in the foreground.

Use Plastic Clips 

There is no more critical tip for decorating your roof than to advise against using nails or staples to secure decor. Using these may seem like a simple, fast way to hang up Christmas decorations and lights, but you’ll be leaving behind roof damage. The safest way to hang lights is by stringing them through plastic clips attached to your gutters, eaves, and shingles. If you have a non-traditional home with a flat roof that lacks gutters and eaves, use parrot clips to secure decorations.

Patience and Care Go A Long Way

While putting these clips and lights on your roof, try to avoid doing so at peak hours of sunlight and heat. Walking on your shingles while they’re heated makes them more vulnerable to damage. When you get on top of your house to decorate, make sure to wear smooth, non-abrasive shoes, like sneakers. Further, once your lights are up, make sure to practice proper cord safety. Never coil cords tightly around themselves while in use or place them under rugs. 

When it comes to taking down holiday decorations, most homeowners can hurry through this process, letting any mishaps be “next year’s problem.” However, when it comes to your roof, avoiding damages that can incur by hastily yanking down holiday lights is worth the extra patience. When removing your holiday lights, be sure to remove them from the clips without pulling on the clips themselves, as doing so can damage the attached shingle, eave, or gutter. 

Step Into Christmas With Clean Gutters

The laborious chores of owning a home can often persuade homeowners to put off their regularly scheduled maintenance. After all, isn’t that the purpose of the year’s annual lump sum of spring cleaning? However, procrastination is no friend of your home, especially when it comes to preserving your roof. 

When leaves and debris clog your gutters, the path that rainwater typically takes to run off your home’s roof is blocked. As water overflows from your gutters, it can damage both the exterior and interior of your home. This still water causes roof rot and leaks. Especially in Florida, where heavy winds and storms pass through regularly, gutters may need cleaning more frequently. At a minimum, ensure that your gutters are cleared at least twice a year. 

It’s the Most Wonderful Time Of The Year For Roof Inspections

Especially in Florida, where roofs are subjected to heavy rain and harsh sunlight, the home’s structure can be quickly damaged if a roof is not safe and secure. Structural repairs are some of the costliest unexpected expenses homeowners can face.  

Once problems with your roof become obvious to the untrained eye, it’s often too late to avoid costly repairs. Unwrap the situation early to keep your roof healthy with a professional roof inspection. When roofing concerns are addressed before they become serious problems, you help your roof last longer. If you notice any signs of developing roof problems while up on your housetop, call for service sooner rather than later. 

Don’t Let a Roofing Issue Be the Grinch That Ruins Your Christmas

At McFall Residential Roofing, we know that your home is the heartbeat of your family, making it ever so important to have a lasting, quality roof to protect it. Whether your roof needs an inspection, repairs, or a new installation, McFall Residential Roofing is here to help. Reach out to our team if you have any questions about how to keep your roof safe and schedule your roofing service today!

Pool Cages and Your Re-Roof Project

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To get the most out of Florida’s sunshine, homeowners throughout the state find relief from the summer heat in their backyards with swimming pools. However, some of Florida’s natural elements can make your dips in the pool less relaxing than you might have hoped. This is where pool cages come into play, protecting your pool from unwanted nuisances like leaves and bugs.

What is a Pool Cage?

Pool cages fully enclose a pool in a protective screen. The screen is held in place by a metal frame that can be designed to match your home’s aesthetic and withstand the extreme weather conditions that homes often face in Florida. The benefits of having a pool cage in Florida make the investment a likely choice for most homeowners, providing:

  • UV protection from the sunlight
  • Easier maintenance
  • Additional security
  • Pest and wildlife control
  • Limited algae growth
  • Reduced heating energy costs

As pool cages help homeowners meet safety regulations and increase the resale value of homes, you’re bound to see quite a few in any residential community here in Florida. 

How Your Pool Cage Fits into Re-Roofing

While not all pool cages have to be built directly against the side of a home, most are. This junction requires a careful team to make repairs or replacements to either the enclosure or to the roof of your home to ensure that it is properly maintained. By working around your pool cage and restoring any connections between the two structures once your re-roofing project is complete, McFall Roofing ensures that your pool cage will be protected throughout the roofing process.

Potential Pool Cage Problems

Constructing a pool cage against the side of a home can often lead to fascia and soffit repairs in the future as the buttress often prevents water from properly draining off of the roof. If your roof isn’t able to adequately channel water, this still water collecting on your roof may damage the roofing materials that lie underneath and the support framework. This ponding water often causes mold and mildew growth where it collects, leading to rotted areas of your roofing structure. 

To combat this, many screen enclosures are paired with a Super gutter to help water flow off of the roof. Super gutters are heavy gauge aluminum gutters that are specifically designed to support screen and pool enclosures. While these gutters protect your roof from bearing significant risks of water damage, any point at which water can collect on the roofing structure will be prone to rot. In particular, during re-roofing projects, we often uncover rotted fascia where the pool cage’s Super gutter ties into the roof. 

If your roof has sustained water damage, there is no need to sound an alarm. Our roofing experts will bring in our carpentry crew to provide temporary cage support and replace the damaged roofing components, leaving you with a healthy, sturdy roof ready to protect your home for years to come. 

Trust McFall Roofing for Quality Service

Completing a roofing project while working around home features, like pool cages, can pose challenges. However, McFall Roofing has served North Central Florida for over 20 years, equipping our roofing experts with the skill and expertise necessary to work around any challenges and never need to compromise between efficiency and quality. 

Reach out to our team today or request a free roofing estimate to get started on your project!

 

How Florida’s Weather Affects Your Roof

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Your roof is one of the first lines of defense your home has against the weather. It should be engineered to withstand heavy amounts of rain, wind, and sun exposure. But aging roofs or poorly constructed roofing systems fall victim to these natural elements.

The Effects of Extreme Weather

Florida has many extremes, from relentless heat in the summer to devastating storms that can pop up half of the year. Your roof needs to be ready to protect you from these unpredictable elements.

Rain

It’s no surprise that rain threatens the integrity of your roof all year long. During the summers here in North Central Florida, heavy thunderstorms can be expected in the afternoons. These can last 15 minutes or occur for many days. Regardless, your roof will experience a great deal of water. While this may not seem like a big deal, a short storm can turn into a big problem if your roof has any underlying damage.

Improper flashing, missing shingles, or an opening in your roof can become an issue when water finds its way through the roof and into your home. This will lead to leaks that threaten the interior of your home. If your roof isn’t designed to properly channel water, you can end up with ponding water sitting on top of your roof that will then harm your shingles and the roofing materials that lie underneath.

Heat

Here in the sunshine state, we receive our fair share of exposed sunlight and extreme temperatures. Heat is problematic for asphalt shingles because UV exposure actually causes the shingles to shrink, expand, and crack. When shingles expand and contract from sunlight, blistering occurs which causes your shingles to have a bubbling texture.

Additionally, sunshine can cause your roof to age faster. Choosing lighter color shingles over darker ones can help avoid this sun damage as it reflects sunlight. This can even help to keep your attic cool. If your roof has improper ventilation, hot air will be trapped in your attic and can actually cook your shingles from below!

Humidity

What happens when you combine hot Florida air with a high moisture index? You get humidity. Humidity is more than an uncomfortable consequence of living in Florida. Increased humidity can wreak havoc on your roof if it’s already susceptible to damage. This could lead to leaks from condensation or mold growth on your roof. You can’t avoid the humidity in Florida, so it’s important to keep your roof maintained and ready to protect against moisture.

Wind

Big storms produce heavy amounts of rain, but also wind gusts. Wind can loosen or blow off your shingles, exposing integral parts of your roof. If your roof wasn’t installed properly with high-quality underlayment, your roof deck can be threatened by any water that follows the wind.

Not only can you lose shingles, but wind can also stir up debris or branches around your home. If strong enough, these items can become projectiles and damage your home and your roof.

Hail

While not as common, hail can still occur in North Central Florida and threaten your roof. Hail can’t be prevented nor is there much protection from these projectiles. When there is a hail storm, hail can range in sizes, as small as a penny or as large as a baseball. The larger the hail, the more likely damage to your shingles and structure is bound to happen. Even metal roofs can crack or dent from hail. The best thing to do after a hail storm is to schedule a roof inspection to ensure no damage occurred and if it did, you can correct the issue quickly.

Protect, Maintain, and Repair Your Roof with McFall Residential Roofing

Extreme weather is an expected challenge when living in Florida. Whether it’s water damage or intense storms that threaten the security of your roof, our team of roofing professionals is ready to protect, repair, and maintain your roof to give you peace of mind all year long.

Call us or request a free roofing estimate to get started!

How to Spot Water Damage on Your Roof

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Living in Florida has many perks, like endless sunshine and close proximity to beautiful natural resources. But, most Florida homeowners also know how unpredictable the weather can be, including severe thunderstorms that may last for an hour or multiple days.

With this increased amount of rain, Florida roofs must be engineered to withstand large amounts of water and properly channel it from your home. If your roof wasn’t installed properly, you can find yourself with more problems, especially stemming from water damage.

The Threat of Water Damage to Your Roof

Water damage can happen in many different ways, whether from an intense storm or increased amounts of moisture in our air. Most often, water damage can affect your home if you have incorrect water drainage, warped flashing, or damaged shingles. If you have a flat or low-sloped roof, water damage can occur when water begins pounding on the top of your roof and remains there.

Water damage presents many different threats if left untreated or unnoticed. These threats include:

  • Mold and mildew which can cause future health problems.
  • Damage to your rafters, framing, and exterior which compromises the structure and appearance of your home.
  • Ceiling and attic damage that requires more repairs.
  • Decreased efficiency leading to higher energy bills.

Four Ways to Spot Water Damage

Notice Leaks or Water Spots on Ceilings and Walls

The most telling sign that your roof has suffered water damage is brown spots or discoloration on your ceilings or walls. Leaks are easier to spot and alert you immediately that there is something wrong upstairs.

If you notice new stains that run down your wall, this could be a sign that water damage has occurred. You should inspect your attic to confirm your water damage suspicions. Common signs of water damage in your attic include mold or mildew, exposed sunlight through rafters, or a sagging roof.

Your Roof Has Missing or Damaged Shingles

Another clue that your roof might be suffering from water damage is missing or damaged shingles on your roof. After any major storm or weather system moves through, you should inspect your roof to ensure that no damage has occurred. Shingles can become damaged or removed during a heavy storm, exposing your roof to the elements.

Roofs installed with proper underlayment shouldn’t be an area of concern, as quality underlayment temporarily protects your roof deck from moisture damage or punctures. When shingles are missing, moisture can saturate the roof desk causing more problems for the security and structural integrity of your home.

There is Debris on Your Roof

You should make sure that your roof doesn’t have debris laying on top of it. Limbs and other debris can weaken your roof or puncture critical aspects of your roof. Leaf piles also threaten your roof as they retain water and can cause your roof to sag, or worse, push moisture into your attic. It’s best to be safe and take care of any debris as soon as possible to protect your roof and your home.

Roof Components are Rotting or Damaged

Your roof is made up of many different components, with each playing a crucial role in protecting your home. If one is compromised, more damage will follow. You should make a visual inspection of your roof often, especially during storm season. Be sure to keep an eye on the following parts of your roof:

  • Flashing: where your roof meets a vertical wall/chimney
  • Roof deck: the structure that roofing materials are attached to
  • Gutters: ensure they are free from debris or rust
  • Skylights and Chimneys

If any of these look abnormal, call one of our roofing specialists to  inspect your roof and diagnose if water damage is present.

Trust the Roofing Experts at McFall Residential Roofing

roof with sky in background

It’s best to be proactive when it comes to potential water damage. Repairing your roof is just one of the ways that McFall Residential Roofing prioritizes your home’s safety. With a wide range of roofing services, count on our team to inspect your roof, diagnose any issues, and find solutions for your roofing problems.

Call us today or fill out our contact form for more information.

Guide to Synthetic Roofing Underlayment

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Your roof is designed to protect both your home and your family, and all the components that make up your roof are important to ensure its safety and stability. A specific part of your roof, namely, the synthetic roofing underlayment, is crucial in water damage prevention.

What is Synthetic Roofing Underlayment?

Before we can dive into what synthetic roofing underlayment is, you’ll need to first understand why it’s installed on your roof. Underlayment, in general, is crucial to your roof’s design. Its primary purpose is moisture protection, which is absolutely necessary for any Florida homeowner.

Underlayment is installed beneath your shingles, serving as a watertight layer to protect the roof deck from water damage and moisture. If the roof deck is exposed to the elements, it threatens the entire structure of your roof.

Synthetic vs. Felt Paper

There are a few different materials used for underlayment, but the most popular types are synthetic and felt paper. Felt paper, made from asphalt-saturated felt, has been around for a long time and is still a common form of underlayment.

Synthetic underlayment, made from a fiberglass mixture, is stronger and lighter compared to felt paper underlayment. While it is more expensive than felt paper, synthetic underlayment retains less heat due to its lighter color (felt paper is most commonly black). Synthetic roofing underlayment is so effective that it can even be used as a short-term roof cover.

Importance of Underlayment

Underlayment is critical to keeping moisture out of your home, especially during our intense storm seasons. Without a reliable or properly installed underlayment, you will experience a whole host of roofing problems.

If shingles come off during intense weather, the only thing between your roof deck and inclement weather is your underlayment. This extra layer of protection ensures that the structure of your roof is not threatened and reduces the risk of interior water damage.

Installing Sythetic Roofing Underlayment

roofing contractors in gainesville florida working on a new shingle roof

Simply having underlayment is not enough. For it to serve your roof well, underlayment must be installed correctly. Proper underlayment installation occurs before any shingles are added to your roof. At McFall Roofing, we ensure that the roof is completely clear from debris before adding the underlayment. We wouldn’t want debris to puncture the underlayment and threaten the security of your roof!

Synthetic underlayment is installed in two sections. The first section is a water protection layer that goes around the roof’s perimeter for a tight seal. This is also added to areas that receive the most water, like the valleys of your roof. The purpose of this first layer is to correctly channel water for proper drainage so that it doesn’t sit on top of your roof.

The second layer is the tear and water-resistant layer of underlayment that will be installed in the remaining areas of your roof. Another bonus of using synthetic underlayment is that it has great traction, so your roofing contractors are better protected as they work on your roof.

Gainesville Roofing with McFall Residential Roofing

In all kinds of weather, your roof should be engineered to withstand the elements while also keeping you and your family safe. Underlayment is crucial to your roof and helps reduce the risk of water damage. Stay protected with a quality roof that is built to last!

Contact McFall Residential Roofing in Gainesville, FL for all of your roofing needs. From installation to repair, we do it all!

Four Roof Installation Practices that Ensure a Long-Lasting Roof

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Installing a new roof is an investment almost every homeowner will have to make. Asphalt shingle roofs, the most common roofing option, have a lifespan of 20-25 years. Your roof can live the full extent of its useful life with a combination of routine roof maintenance, biannual roof inspections, and quality roof installation from the very beginning.

Quality Roofs Start with Careful Installation

Just like when you build a house, a strong foundation will serve as a solid base for your home to exist upon. Taking shortcuts or not paying close attention during the initial foundation construction will bring on much larger issues down the road. In the same way, roof installation is the most important part of creating a long-lasting, high-quality roof that will protect you, your family, and your home for years to come.

Four Ways McFall Ensures Proper Roof Installation

We’ve been installing, maintaining, and repairing roofs in North Central Florida for over 25 years. In that time, we’ve stayed committed to a roof installation process that is easy for homeowners, but also crucial for a new roof that is built to last. McFall Roofings installs every roof per manufacturer’s specifications.

High-End On-Ridge Venting

Roofs in Florida have to endure a lot of elements each and every year. From hot, blinding sunshine to heavy rain during storm season, your home will experience a lot. The combination of heat and water creates challenges for your home and your roof. One way we give your roof a fighting chance is by installing high-quality venting systems on your roof’s ridges. Many times, roofs are installed with standard holes drilled into them for air circulation. Our team fills in these holes and then installs proper on-ridge venting for maximum efficiency.

Venting is crucial to the health and well being of your roof. If air can’t circulate, your attic will become like an oven and cook your shingles from underneath. This wears out your roof much quicker than it should and you’ll be forced to repair or replace your roof sooner than anticipated. Plus, a hot attic will wreak havoc on the energy efficiency within your home. We take the extra step to install venting on your ridges to create a steady stream of air circulation for your attic.

Synthetic Underlayment

Before any shingles can be installed, we lay down a high-end synthetic underlayment. The purpose of this layer is to create a water-resistant barrier under the shingles. You want your home to have the added security against the heavy rains we experience in North Central Florida. Additionally, synthetic underlayment is the preferred roof base because its makeup of asphalt and fiberglass creates a tear-resistant and stable base for your roof.

One of our first steps is to completely clean the roof before we add the synthetic underlayment. We wouldn’t want your underlayment to be punctured by debris, such as old nails from a previous roofing project, or dirt that would sit underneath the underlayment. Once installed, this layer seals your roof so your home is protected against rain and moisture.

Peel & Stick Valleys

We’ve already discussed how underlayment creates a barrier underneath your shingles or other roofing materials. There are other areas of your roof that need just as much attention against water damage. Your roof’s valleys are the areas where water will be directed to when it rains. Because this is where the most water will be, your roof needs added protection to prevent leaks.

McFall Roofing uses peel & stick valleys on top of the underlayment as a second layer of protection. These valleys are sealed to the roof deck to create a strong line of defense against heavy rain. We install these around all penetrations, including plumbing.

CertainTeed Shingles and Stainless Steel Nails

Not only do we have the years of experience to handle your roofing project we also have earned CertainTeed Shingle Master Select status, the highest roofing certification a roofing company can have. This means we offer a 25-year warranty on labor and our team has completed a series of specialized training courses and programs.

Because of this status, we offer CertainTeed shingles in for our roofing projects. These are guaranteed for 25 years and can withstand 130 mph winds. During installation, we also offer an upgrade of stainless steel nails to secure your shingles. One of the biggest mistakes a roofing company can make is leaving nails exposed on the roof. This puts your shingles at risk and causes more money spent down the road. We always install a shingle, secure it with stainless steel nails, and then use the next layer of shingles to cover the nails.

Roof Installation with McFall Residential Roofing

We do more than install new roofs. McFall Residential Roofing installs roofs that are engineered to last and protect your home against all kinds of weather we experience in North Central Florida. Contact us today to request a free roofing estimate!

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