Guy Grussing provides valuable roofing information for buyers and sellers
STEVE: Hi, this is Steve Westmark. Thanks so much for watching my video blog this week. I decided to bring in a roofer that knows lots about roofing with a company in Hopkins called Grussing Roofing. And this is Guy Grussing. Welcome, Guy.
GUY: Hi, Steve. Thanks for inviting me.
STEVE: Guy, people ask me when do you go ahead to replace a roof. What are things that people need to look at or what do you have to look at to help them determine when they need to replace a roof on their house?
GUY: That’s a good question, Steve. Generally, as a rule of thumb, roofs generally last around 20 years. If it’s around 20 years, telltale signs of the roof will be signs of aging. You might be losing shingles; granules may be falling off. Some of the shingles might be curling or cupping where they’re raised up and just looking old. And that’s a good time to get your roof evaluated to see if it’s time to replace.
STEVE: There must be good times and bad times to put new roofs on. What are the best times to put a new roof on your house?
GUY: Well, Steve, that’s a real good question, and there’s two different seasons. You have a summer season and a winter season. In the summer—generally it’s best to put it on spring and fall. Sometimes in the summer when it gets really hot days, the shingles can get scuffed because the asphalt gets really soft from the temperatures and walking on it. And as far as when it gets too late in the year, generally late November, December when the snow starts flying, shingles will get brittle. If you walk on them, they can crack.
It’s hard to work with and it’s just the quality of the craftsmanship just isn’t there when the temperature drops and the people are working on the roof.
STEVE: We have buyers that go out and look at properties and we see roofs that have a certain type of algae or some type of darkness on the roof. What causes that and how can that be corrected?
GUY: Steve, what causes that is algae growth that grows under shingles and it wasn’t a really big part of this area until about 10 years ago. Since then, the shingle manufacturers, the new shingles, a lot of the designer shingles they’ve incorporated with granules, copper, and zinc that actually wash when it rains and kills the algae growth on it because it has become such a bunch of a problem.
It’s more of a cosmetic problem, but if you do have it on your roof right now, there’s roof cleaners that have a bleach compound that you put on the roof. You just spray it on, let it sit for five minutes. Then you take a hose and rinse it off and that will kill the algae growth.
STEVE: Of course, in Minnesota we have a lot of storms and with those we get hail. How do you help people deciding how to deal with hail damage on their roofs?
GUY: Steve, the best thing to do is when you first start with a roof is to look at soft metal. Anything that’s aluminum is a good way to determine the size of the hail and the damage. Before you even get on the roof, you can look at the gutters and downspouts and see if there’s denting in them. And then if you have aluminum fascia, see if there’s any denting on that. If there is any denting, there’s a good chance that there might be possible damage to the roof.
When you get on the roof, what you’re looking for are circles or kind of a round circle where the granules are actually removed where the hail has impacted the roof, knocked the granules loose, and you’ll see asphalt. And determine whether they’re new or old. If the asphalt is black, then it’s a newer hit and as it grays and gets dirty over the years, that means it’s an older hit. And you look for that, and the insurance company will determine how many per square feet, usually anywhere between 5 and 15 before they will replace the roof.
And if you do see some damage like that, it’s good to have a roofing consultant come out and then call your adjuster to get the final approval for the roof replacement.
STEVE: Well, Guy, thanks so much for coming in today. He obviously has a lot of knowledge. I know his dad was in roofing and he’s gained all the insight from him, but how’s the best way for you to be contacted to talk about getting a roof on someone’s home?
GUY: I can either be contacted by phone at 952-935-0557 or Grussingroofing.com.
