How to Conduct a Roof Health Check - PODCAST TRANSCRIPT

Editor's note: The following is the transcript of a live interview with Lori Swanson and Matt Swanson of Guardian Roofing. You can read the interview below or listen to the podcast.

Intro: Hello, everyone. Welcome back to an AskARoofer Minisode. Today I am here with Lori and Matt Swanson and we're going to be talking about how to conduct a roof health check. So hello, how are you both?

Lori Swanson: We're doing great. How are you, Megan?

Megan Ellsworth: So good. I'm excited to learn. Let's just have you introduce yourselves and then we'll dive into the question.

Lori Swanson: Okay, great. I'm Lori Swanson. I'm one of the founders, founders with my husband Matt, we own Guardian Roofing, Gutters and Insulation here in Seattle.

Megan Ellsworth: Amazing.

Matt Swanson: And I'm Matt.

Megan Ellsworth: Perfect. Okay, well, let's dive right in. What are some key signs homeowners should look for when performing a ground-level roof inspection? What are they looking for on their roof?

Lori Swanson: Should I go first?

Matt Swanson: Yes.

Lori Swanson: Okay, great. I think the easiest thing to look at is just stand back, do a walk around of the house and then look up and see if there's shingles or components of the roof that are actually missing or if they're curling or lifting or damaged. I think that's a first step that you'd want to take. And then also, as you're walking around, look at your gutters and see if they're pulling away from the house or if the downspouts that funnel the water from the gutter to the ground, if they're coming away from the building too, that's another really good thing to look for because that water can essentially get in the basement or cause your side of the house to overflow or other issues around the house.

Matt Swanson: Yeah, those are definitely the main things you want to look for. And I would recommend actually, when you're walking around your house, take two laps. I don't usually advocate for more walking. The first one that I would do is I would walk as close to the house as possible and look straight up. And the reason is because you can actually see behind the gutters. A lot of times the first place that you're going to see problems is you'll either see some staining where water runs behind the gutters, or sometimes that very first piece of plywood that we call the soffit, you'll see a little bit of punkiness just starting right where it meets the gutter, which means that that leading edge of that roof is having problems.

In addition to that, up underneath, we call them the bird blocks where the ventilation starts, a lot of times when houses get a little older or if they have leaking inside and they're gathering moisture inside that attic, you'll start to get some dark stains of water that runs out of those bird blocks and that's one of the signs that there's something going wrong and you should have a professional look in your attic.

Lori Swanson: Yeah, you could even start to see mildew or mold on the underside of the soffits as well.

Matt Swanson: If you want to get even more in depth, the nice thing about all of our phones now is you can zoom in on things to where when you step back, you look at the pipe boots, you look at the flashings, look for anything that just looks a little bit out of place. Even though most people that are walking around doing a health check on their roof maybe aren't experts, when there's something out place, it typically tends to stand out to even the novice, so that would be my suggestion.

Megan Ellsworth: Absolutely. So side question, maybe a homeowner is cleaning out their gutters and they see granules in their gutters from the roof. What do they do? Is that a sign that they need a new roof or that maybe they can put it off for a couple of years? What do they do?

Matt Swanson: That's a great question.

Megan Ellsworth: Really good question.

Matt Swanson: And if a homeowner is cleaning out their gutters and they're seeing granules, if they can get on the roof and it's safe for them to get on the roof, what you really want to look for is any area where the fiberglass mat of that roof is exposed and what that'll kind of look like is when a tire gets worn out and you can start to see the little side walls inside the tire underneath the rubber, looks very similar when a roof gets worn out because it's asphalt.

So a little bit of granules here and there, especially if a roof was done in the last year, is perfectly normal. They're just sitting there loose and the rain will run them off into the gutters. A house that's five, six, seven years after the roof is done and you're seeing a lot of granule loss, you want to walk around and make sure that you're not seeing big patches of asphalt that are exposed or even worse, seeing fiberglass. Because in those first few years of that roof is when the homeowner has the most protection with their warranty, so they're better off having somebody come and look at it right away and being cautious and just kind of keeping an eye on it. Because every year they keep an eye on it, they have less of a warranty, so you're better off if you see a good amount of granule loss, just have somebody come take a look.

Lori Swanson: Yeah, I think checking and doing, if you can, a walk around twice a year is really good. We talk about before the storm season so you know that it's ready to handle the elements, the precipitation and then after the storm to make sure that there's not also heavy debris on there and that the roof is functioning properly.

Matt Swanson: So that's like four laps.

Lori Swanson: Four laps if you're easy.

Matt Swanson: You're going to have to do that and let me know [inaudible 00:05:25]

Megan Ellsworth: Wear your Fitbit, get the steps in.

Lori Swanson: Yeah, exactly.

Megan Ellsworth: Amazing. Okay. And so would you recommend people clean their gutters twice a year too, before storm season and after?

Matt Swanson: I'll be honest, if someone is very comfortable being on a ladder and it's something that they've already done lots of times, I'll recommend them cleaning their gutters, yes, twice a year.

Megan Ellsworth: Twice a year.

Matt Swanson: If it's like, "Oh, my goodness, that's something new. I should go try that," hire a professional.

Lori Swanson: We don't want anybody to get hurt.

Matt Swanson: Yeah, it's not very expensive to have somebody clean your gutters and I just hate to see someone hurt trying to do the right thing and maintain their house.

Megan Ellsworth: Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. Everyone out there be safe. Like they said, tons of companies. I just cleaned the gutters on my garage because I can reach them. I don't even have to stand on the ladder. So hopefully other people can do that too.

Lori Swanson: That's really convenient.

Megan Ellsworth: So convenient, yeah. And there was like five inches of mud in our gutters for I don't even know how long. I was like, "Uh-oh." But that's a sign, everyone go hire gutter cleaners right now, because there's probably something in there.

Matt Swanson: There's a very good chance, yes.

Megan Ellsworth: More often than not.

Lori Swanson: Never know what you might find in there.

Megan Ellsworth: Yeah, maybe a little bird nest.

Lori Swanson: I've seen gardens growing in them before too, so.

Megan Ellsworth: Wow. Well, Matt and Lori, thank you so much for your time. This was super informational and informative, so I learned a lot. Thanks.

Matt Swanson: Thanks for having us.

Lori Swanson: Yeah, thank you, Megan.

Outro: Absolutely. Everyone out there listening, thanks for listening. Make sure to subscribe. And I'll see you next time on the next AskARoofer Minisode.