From avoiding ice dams and snow load issues to understanding when it’s time for a replacement, Dave shares practical, no-nonsense advice drawn from decades of hands-on experience across southern Maine. Listeners will learn why metal roofs are growing in popularity, how to plan ahead to lock in materials and pricing, and the importance of workmanship warranties that go beyond the manufacturer’s promise.
Whether you’re new to Maine or preparing your longtime home for another winter, this episode offers invaluable insights on how to keep your roof — and your peace of mind — intact through whatever Mother Nature brings.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Let's move to Maine. I'm Mark Erickson. Today we are
talking to Dave Wallace of Wallace Roofing. Dave, are you
getting ready for winter?
Speaker 2 (00:09):
We
are trying to get geared up. I'm hoping it doesn't
snow till January.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
You know, as beautiful as the state of Maine is,
I've got to believe there are easier states to be
putting roofs on buildings,
Speaker 2 (00:22):
right? There is. I mean, Maine is a very nice state, obviously.
We've got all four seasons to deal with.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
What are some of the challenges you face as we
start to change seasons and move into colder weather and
the very real possibility of
snow?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Well, we do work all winter, unfortunately, putting roofs on,
but we try to get as many done as we
can before snow flies. And then after that,
We pretty much do roofs that absolutely have to get
done in the wintertime. We try to avoid the bad weather, obviously.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
In a four season environment like Maine, what is the
best type of roof to have?
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Well, I mean, we've got two options now. We're doing
a lot more metal roofs than we used to do
in the past. So metal roofs seem to be the
new trend. I'm still a shingle guy myself. Rather do
a shingle roof than a metal roof, but, you know,
the snow does slide off on a metal roof. So it, uh,
It does help that
way.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
When you're talking about roofs and wintertime, what about the
very real possibility of snow stacking up on a rooftop?
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Most of the main roofs are designed to withstand snow loads.
The problems arise when we get rain after we get
a heavy storm, a heavy snowstorm. Most of the problems
arise when during the day the snow melts and then
it freezes back up at night. That's when people start
to get ice backups and ice problems. That's when they
may have to shovel their roof.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
What can be done?
To prevent ice dams and that sort of thing.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Well, ice dams, obviously, you can keep the roof shoveled,
but a lot of times homeowners will do more damage
by going up and shoveling the roof than they will
leaving it alone. So in our advice, if we don't
have to shovel it, we don't want to shovel it.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Talk about working in the wintertime and because things will
happen on occasion and sometimes you just have to replace
a roof or repair a roof and it might happen
in the wintertime. What are some of the things that
you need to take into consideration when that happens?
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Well, we try to take a warmer day. If we
can get a 40, 50 degree day, we certainly would
much rather do it at that time.
There is emergency situations that have to be done no
matter what. A lot of times we could talk to it,
buy some time, try to wait for a better day,
but we do do roofs all winter long.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
And how about during storms themselves? What should folks be
on the lookout for? And if they know a storm
is coming in, what should they be paying attention to
on their roof? Well,
Speaker 2 (02:40):
long before wintertime, they need to make sure that all
the debris, meaning leaves, tree branches, etc. are clean.
From the roof. So if you got a nice clean
roof and then your gutters are all cleaned, you should
be ready to go for winter. There's not too much
preventive that you can do prior to a snowstorm.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
How
long does a roof last, Dave?
Speaker 2 (03:01):
The average roof in Maine lasts about 20 years. The
shingles now have a little longer warranty than they used
to have, but the average roof in Maine lasts 20.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
If you're buying a new home, if somebody is moving
to Maine, can they track down how long the roof
has been on a particular home?
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Most of the time, the homeowners that's selling the house
knows how old the roof is. So yes, and a
lot of times they have documentation when they had the
roof done, how many years ago, etc.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
If somebody is considering a move to Maine and they've
already got a piece of real estate in mind, do
you offer a sort of a roof checkup?
Speaker 2 (03:35):
We do offer that checkup, Mark. By the time I
get called, usually the homeowner or the seller or the
real estate agent already knows that it needs a new roof.
So by the time they get called, they're looking for
an estimate at that point.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
What are some of the things that that you find
when you're doing some of these inspections? What, what, what's
like a worst case scenario on a main roof?
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Well, worst case scenarios, the shingles are very brittle. They're
all curled up, streaks. I mean, sometimes you drive in
the driveway and it's very obvious they need a roof.
Other times, if the roof's, you know, 15 to 20
years old, you can't tell till you're right up there
on the
roof.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
The shingles are of course the part you see or
the or the steel, the metal is the part that
you see, but roofs really have kind of layers to them,
don't they? Yes,
Speaker 2 (04:19):
I mean, you've got flashing areas, you've got valleys, you've got,
you know, obviously chimneys.
Uh, ridge vent, etc. like that. It's not just the
shingles as you're driving in, correct.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Talk a little bit about the flashing. Talk about the
things that are around skylights and chimneys and other things on,
on the rooftops that could be a point of failure
for the roof.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
The whole thing is, on those question mark, the chimney,
I tell people right now, if it's not leaking, leave
it alone. There's not much preventive you can do. I mean,
you can go up and put tar on, but if
it's not necessary, I, I tell people to leave it alone.
If it's not leaking, leave it alone. Same with the skylights.
If they're not leaking, leave them alone. But if you
do get a replacement on a new roof, you need
(05:00):
to consider putting new lead around the chimney and then
replacing the skylights at the same time, because the skylights
are just as old as the roof.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
What
What other things do you find on rooftops? I mean,
I know that satellite dishes for home use are not
so much of a thing these days, but there was
a time when people were knocking holes in rooftops and
the sides of their homes to install small satellite dishes.
What are some other things that you find on rooftops
that could be potentially harmful to the rooftop?
Speaker 2 (05:30):
The exhaust, sometimes there's dryer vents that are up there
that are exhausting on the roof, as well as
You know, different flashings that need to be addressed, but
usually I see if they get a leak around the
vent
pipe.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
And if somebody does have a leak, does have a
situation that does require a repair, no matter what time
of year it is, at some point you've got to
figure out, is this repair minor enough that the homeowner
is going to pay for it? Does this cross the
line into insurance needs to get involved and if insurance
does need to get involved, what can you do to
(06:04):
help out?
Speaker 2 (06:04):
We
Certainly can help you with insurance estimates. We usually don't
get involved with the adjuster. That's usually the homeowner's responsibility.
I certainly talk to adjusters all the time, and they
want to know what the cause is most of the time.
So you have to figure out is, was it enough
damage to warrant calling your insurance company? What is your deductible?
(06:25):
What is the cost estimate to repair the roof or
replace the roof? That's when you have to decide whether
you want to get your insurance company involved or not.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
When you're up there assessing what the issue or the
problem is, do you, do you take some pictures? Can
you provide some, uh, homeowner help that way?
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Yeah, we certainly can. But again, once they get the
insurance company involved, the insurance adjusters will do all that.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
What's the biggest roofing project you've ever worked on at
Wallace Roofing?
Speaker 2 (06:51):
I did the Masterpiece at high school. It was 2000
bundles of shingles.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
2000 bundles of shingles. How long did the work take?
Speaker 2 (06:59):
A week and a half.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
A week and a half. And when you've got major
projects like that, you're looking ahead to weather forecasts, and
you have to figure out when you can do certain
parts of the roofing because at some point during the
roofing project, the building is open to whatever the elements
may be doing that day. So you've got to plan
way ahead, don't you?
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Yes, and you've got to be watertight at the end
of every day, because just because they said the sun's
going to be out, doesn't mean it's going to stay out.
It could rain any minute, as we all know, the
weather changes in Maine by the minute. So you have
to be prepared every, at the end of every day.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
You
mentioned earlier that that shingles are your preferred way.
To go. There are different grades and levels of shingles,
aren't there?
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Most of
the manufacturers all have the same warranty now, which is
35 year warranty for architectural shingles. The warranty works like this,
and I don't get all hyped up on warranties. It's
a 35 year limited warranty. The key word limited.
So I educate all my customers. The 1st 10 years
of that 35 year warranty, they cover labor and material
(08:04):
in full for defective shingles. After that, it's prorated, which
means it goes down a little bit every year to
the 35-year warranty. And I said at the beginning of
the podcast here that we're, you know, the average roof's
gonna last probably 25 years with those 35 year shingles.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
When the warranty kicks in, are there special circumstances? Are there,
is there fine print on these warranties, particularly in an
environment like Maine where you've got winters?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Yes, 100%. It's usually not the winter that causes the
warranty issues. It's usually defective shingles. Let's say the uh
the granular started coming off of the shingles in 5 years,
that would be considered a warranty. Let's say we had
a color issue, so half the roof's one color and
half the roof's a different color, that would be considered
a warranty. Um, you know, and then a lot of times,
(08:55):
it's a bad installation job, that's not a manufacturing's warranty,
that's a roof's warranty.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
So talk about the warranties from Wallace Roofing.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
We do a 10-year workmanship warranty, which coincides with the 10-year,
1st 10 years of the roof shingle warranty. So if,
if we had a leak around the chimney 3 years
from now, you call Wallace, we go back, fix it,
no charge, have a good day. Um, so that's, you know,
that's basically our warranty.
So the 1st 10 years, you don't really have to
(09:26):
worry about the roof. You know, barn, we get a tornado, hurricane,
that's not a, that's not a manufacturer's warranty or a
Wallace home improvement warranty.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
That's when the whole act of God from the insurance
company kicks in, right? Correct. What are the most common
things you see for, for issues with folks and their rooftops,
especially in the state of Maine?
Speaker 2 (09:47):
They try to go beyond the life expectancy of the shingles,
you know, then all of a sudden it's an emergency job.
When they could have prevented, you know, maybe 2 or
3 years ago down their roof sooner.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
So at that 20-year mark, whether I've got any issues
with my roof or not, should I at least be
thinking about replacing the roof?100%.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
You probably can go up to the 25 year mark
starting from today. 20 years ago, your roof is right
on the cuff of
Being that the life expectancy is about over, you're gonna
start to have issues if you don't already, and then
when you need a repair, the shingles are so brittle
now that that you're not going to get a roofer
(10:28):
to really do a repair and, and, and warranty it.
So you're, you're gonna be on that cuff of needing
a roof.
So 20 to 25 years, if the roof's 2025 years old,
you need a roof.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Talk a little bit about the shingles themselves. In this
day and age, the price of nothing is going down
and everything is, is going up. What are you seeing
for a trend in the materials that you need to
put new roofs on buildings?
Speaker 2 (10:54):
On the trend of roofing materials, you know, gas price,
believe it or not, dictates the cost of roofing, because
it is petroleum related.
And then it's, it's also on the metal that's, we're
getting tariffs coming out of Canada. A lot of that
stuff coming from out of the country. We are starting
to make more stuff in the United States, but, uh,
anything metal related, really not coming from the United States. Uh,
(11:17):
shingles are being manufactured in the United States, but again,
they're petroleum related. We have an average increase of 5%
per year on roofing materials.
So we just take that in consideration this year was 6%.
On the average, it's 5%. We have not had a
price increase since April. So once we usually get the increase,
it holds pretty much for the year.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
How about the other materials involved in the roof, the
shingles you mentioned are, are a petroleum product and, and
therefore probably more subject to some wild price fluctuations, but
there's a lot of other accessories and, and pieces and
parts that go into putting a roof on a building.
How are the prices on those things running?
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Well, again, it's, it's all based on availability. Sometimes they
increase prices just because they can, um, you know, uh,
prices haven't changed a whole, whole lot in the last
20 years. Obviously, they've gone up, but not significant. You know,
labor hasn't gone up that much in the last 10 years,
but the, the material has dumping fees, etc.
(12:18):
Those stuff all tie into the price and cost of
a roof job.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
You talked a little bit about needing to look at
replacing that roof at the 25 year mark. If it's
not an emergency, if it's not a crisis, but someone
is starting to think, well, maybe, maybe it's time for
me to take a look at this, how far out
do they need to get in touch with you to
get on your schedule?
Speaker 2 (12:39):
I would say 6 months is the average.
Do we make exceptions for emergencies? Absolutely. We always have
time to, as we say, squeeze one in. But if
you're serious about getting a roof, now, we are booking
out pretty much to next year already, in the middle
of the summer, and here's why, because most qualified, legitimate,
longtime roofers are looking into summer already of next year.
(13:03):
So with that said, locking in a contract now helps
all of us. And what it does without buying power.
And the manufacturer's buying power, we can order your shingles
now for, let's just say a May installation.
So when I do that, it locks the price in,
which means I don't have to worry about a price
(13:23):
increase in April. I don't have to worry about tariffs.
I don't have to worry about a shortage. So, if
you're serious about getting a roof done, then you should
get a contract done. We as a company don't take
any money down. So let's just say you said, I
want to do my roof in April.
We'll do your roof in April. Let's just say March 1st,
you said, hey, I'm selling the house. I'm not doing
(13:45):
the roof. There's no loss to either one of us. Yeah,
I've ordered some shingles, but I haven't paid for them yet,
so there's no loss to anybody. So I tell people
very carefully.
Yeah, get a contract. Don't give anybody any money down
till you get very close to getting your roof
done.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
And by ordering that in advance, you've perhaps saved money
on a possible increase, and you'll store that material until
it's time to use it?
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Correct. Well, the manufacturer will work with me to store
it as well. So what I'm doing, I'm committing the purchase.
They're, uh, they're holding it, or they're setting up their
delivery for March and say, OK, Wallace already bought this, this, this, this,
and this. So we're already locked in, and we're going
to beat the price, you know, if I know I've
got all these roofs in April, May, I'm going to
(14:30):
buy the shingles in March before the price increase.
But what we do is we're locking it in for everybody.
But I don't want people giving money down. We don't
take money down till the job's done anyway, but uh
don't give guys money down, especially now, and then they're
not going to do the roof till April. You may
or may not see him. So if you called me today,
I would do everything I could to talk you into
(14:51):
doing a roofing next year.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
The state of Maine is a surprisingly large state as
far as land area goes. What's the service area that
Wallace Roofing maintains?
Speaker 2 (15:03):
We're primarily from Augusta south to Kitterie, and then we
go as far as West Casset north and then pretty
much inland. So we stay primarily southern Maine.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Dave Wallace, Wallace Roofing online at Wallace Roofing Maine.com. Wallace
Roofing Maine.com. As always, we thank you for spending time
with us and letting us in on a little bit
of your, your knowledge, skills, and ability with roofing in Maine.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
All right, thank you very much, Mark. I appreciate it.
Anybody moving to Maine, please give us a
shout.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
For Let's Move to Maine, I'm Mark Erickson.
Let's move to Maine. I'm Mark Erickson. Today we are
talking to Dave Wallace of Wallace Roofing. Dave, are you
getting ready for winter?
Speaker 2 (00:09):
We
are trying to get geared up. I'm hoping it doesn't
snow till January.
Speaker 1 (00:15):
You know, as beautiful as the state of Maine is,
I've got to believe there are easier states to be
putting roofs on buildings,
Speaker 2 (00:22):
right? There is. I mean, Maine is a very nice state, obviously.
We've got all four seasons to deal with.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
What are some of the challenges you face as we
start to change seasons and move into colder weather and
the very real possibility of
snow?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Well, we do work all winter, unfortunately, putting roofs on,
but we try to get as many done as we
can before snow flies. And then after that,
We pretty much do roofs that absolutely have to get
done in the wintertime. We try to avoid the bad weather, obviously.
Speaker 1 (00:51):
In a four season environment like Maine, what is the
best type of roof to have?
Speaker 2 (00:58):
Well, I mean, we've got two options now. We're doing
a lot more metal roofs than we used to do
in the past. So metal roofs seem to be the
new trend. I'm still a shingle guy myself. Rather do
a shingle roof than a metal roof, but, you know,
the snow does slide off on a metal roof. So it, uh,
It does help that
way.
Speaker 1 (01:15):
When you're talking about roofs and wintertime, what about the
very real possibility of snow stacking up on a rooftop?
Speaker 2 (01:24):
Most of the main roofs are designed to withstand snow loads.
The problems arise when we get rain after we get
a heavy storm, a heavy snowstorm. Most of the problems
arise when during the day the snow melts and then
it freezes back up at night. That's when people start
to get ice backups and ice problems. That's when they
may have to shovel their roof.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
What can be done?
To prevent ice dams and that sort of thing.
Speaker 2 (01:46):
Well, ice dams, obviously, you can keep the roof shoveled,
but a lot of times homeowners will do more damage
by going up and shoveling the roof than they will
leaving it alone. So in our advice, if we don't
have to shovel it, we don't want to shovel it.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Talk about working in the wintertime and because things will
happen on occasion and sometimes you just have to replace
a roof or repair a roof and it might happen
in the wintertime. What are some of the things that
you need to take into consideration when that happens?
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Well, we try to take a warmer day. If we
can get a 40, 50 degree day, we certainly would
much rather do it at that time.
There is emergency situations that have to be done no
matter what. A lot of times we could talk to it,
buy some time, try to wait for a better day,
but we do do roofs all winter long.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
And how about during storms themselves? What should folks be
on the lookout for? And if they know a storm
is coming in, what should they be paying attention to
on their roof? Well,
Speaker 2 (02:40):
long before wintertime, they need to make sure that all
the debris, meaning leaves, tree branches, etc. are clean.
From the roof. So if you got a nice clean
roof and then your gutters are all cleaned, you should
be ready to go for winter. There's not too much
preventive that you can do prior to a snowstorm.
Speaker 1 (02:58):
How
long does a roof last, Dave?
Speaker 2 (03:01):
The average roof in Maine lasts about 20 years. The
shingles now have a little longer warranty than they used
to have, but the average roof in Maine lasts 20.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
If you're buying a new home, if somebody is moving
to Maine, can they track down how long the roof
has been on a particular home?
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Most of the time, the homeowners that's selling the house
knows how old the roof is. So yes, and a
lot of times they have documentation when they had the
roof done, how many years ago, etc.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
If somebody is considering a move to Maine and they've
already got a piece of real estate in mind, do
you offer a sort of a roof checkup?
Speaker 2 (03:35):
We do offer that checkup, Mark. By the time I
get called, usually the homeowner or the seller or the
real estate agent already knows that it needs a new roof.
So by the time they get called, they're looking for
an estimate at that point.
Speaker 1 (03:47):
What are some of the things that that you find
when you're doing some of these inspections? What, what, what's
like a worst case scenario on a main roof?
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Well, worst case scenarios, the shingles are very brittle. They're
all curled up, streaks. I mean, sometimes you drive in
the driveway and it's very obvious they need a roof.
Other times, if the roof's, you know, 15 to 20
years old, you can't tell till you're right up there
on the
roof.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
The shingles are of course the part you see or
the or the steel, the metal is the part that
you see, but roofs really have kind of layers to them,
don't they? Yes,
Speaker 2 (04:19):
I mean, you've got flashing areas, you've got valleys, you've got,
you know, obviously chimneys.
Uh, ridge vent, etc. like that. It's not just the
shingles as you're driving in, correct.
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Talk a little bit about the flashing. Talk about the
things that are around skylights and chimneys and other things on,
on the rooftops that could be a point of failure
for the roof.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
The whole thing is, on those question mark, the chimney,
I tell people right now, if it's not leaking, leave
it alone. There's not much preventive you can do. I mean,
you can go up and put tar on, but if
it's not necessary, I, I tell people to leave it alone.
If it's not leaking, leave it alone. Same with the skylights.
If they're not leaking, leave them alone. But if you
do get a replacement on a new roof, you need
(05:00):
to consider putting new lead around the chimney and then
replacing the skylights at the same time, because the skylights
are just as old as the roof.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
What
What other things do you find on rooftops? I mean,
I know that satellite dishes for home use are not
so much of a thing these days, but there was
a time when people were knocking holes in rooftops and
the sides of their homes to install small satellite dishes.
What are some other things that you find on rooftops
that could be potentially harmful to the rooftop?
Speaker 2 (05:30):
The exhaust, sometimes there's dryer vents that are up there
that are exhausting on the roof, as well as
You know, different flashings that need to be addressed, but
usually I see if they get a leak around the
vent
pipe.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
And if somebody does have a leak, does have a
situation that does require a repair, no matter what time
of year it is, at some point you've got to
figure out, is this repair minor enough that the homeowner
is going to pay for it? Does this cross the
line into insurance needs to get involved and if insurance
does need to get involved, what can you do to
(06:04):
help out?
Speaker 2 (06:04):
We
Certainly can help you with insurance estimates. We usually don't
get involved with the adjuster. That's usually the homeowner's responsibility.
I certainly talk to adjusters all the time, and they
want to know what the cause is most of the time.
So you have to figure out is, was it enough
damage to warrant calling your insurance company? What is your deductible?
(06:25):
What is the cost estimate to repair the roof or
replace the roof? That's when you have to decide whether
you want to get your insurance company involved or not.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
When you're up there assessing what the issue or the
problem is, do you, do you take some pictures? Can
you provide some, uh, homeowner help that way?
Speaker 2 (06:40):
Yeah, we certainly can. But again, once they get the
insurance company involved, the insurance adjusters will do all that.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
What's the biggest roofing project you've ever worked on at
Wallace Roofing?
Speaker 2 (06:51):
I did the Masterpiece at high school. It was 2000
bundles of shingles.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
2000 bundles of shingles. How long did the work take?
Speaker 2 (06:59):
A week and a half.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
A week and a half. And when you've got major
projects like that, you're looking ahead to weather forecasts, and
you have to figure out when you can do certain
parts of the roofing because at some point during the
roofing project, the building is open to whatever the elements
may be doing that day. So you've got to plan
way ahead, don't you?
Speaker 2 (07:19):
Yes, and you've got to be watertight at the end
of every day, because just because they said the sun's
going to be out, doesn't mean it's going to stay out.
It could rain any minute, as we all know, the
weather changes in Maine by the minute. So you have
to be prepared every, at the end of every day.
Speaker 1 (07:34):
You
mentioned earlier that that shingles are your preferred way.
To go. There are different grades and levels of shingles,
aren't there?
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Most of
the manufacturers all have the same warranty now, which is
35 year warranty for architectural shingles. The warranty works like this,
and I don't get all hyped up on warranties. It's
a 35 year limited warranty. The key word limited.
So I educate all my customers. The 1st 10 years
of that 35 year warranty, they cover labor and material
(08:04):
in full for defective shingles. After that, it's prorated, which
means it goes down a little bit every year to
the 35-year warranty. And I said at the beginning of
the podcast here that we're, you know, the average roof's
gonna last probably 25 years with those 35 year shingles.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
When the warranty kicks in, are there special circumstances? Are there,
is there fine print on these warranties, particularly in an
environment like Maine where you've got winters?
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Yes, 100%. It's usually not the winter that causes the
warranty issues. It's usually defective shingles. Let's say the uh
the granular started coming off of the shingles in 5 years,
that would be considered a warranty. Let's say we had
a color issue, so half the roof's one color and
half the roof's a different color, that would be considered
a warranty. Um, you know, and then a lot of times,
(08:55):
it's a bad installation job, that's not a manufacturing's warranty,
that's a roof's warranty.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
So talk about the warranties from Wallace Roofing.
Speaker 2 (09:05):
We do a 10-year workmanship warranty, which coincides with the 10-year,
1st 10 years of the roof shingle warranty. So if,
if we had a leak around the chimney 3 years
from now, you call Wallace, we go back, fix it,
no charge, have a good day. Um, so that's, you know,
that's basically our warranty.
So the 1st 10 years, you don't really have to
(09:26):
worry about the roof. You know, barn, we get a tornado, hurricane,
that's not a, that's not a manufacturer's warranty or a
Wallace home improvement warranty.
Speaker 1 (09:35):
That's when the whole act of God from the insurance
company kicks in, right? Correct. What are the most common
things you see for, for issues with folks and their rooftops,
especially in the state of Maine?
Speaker 2 (09:47):
They try to go beyond the life expectancy of the shingles,
you know, then all of a sudden it's an emergency job.
When they could have prevented, you know, maybe 2 or
3 years ago down their roof sooner.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
So at that 20-year mark, whether I've got any issues
with my roof or not, should I at least be
thinking about replacing the roof?100%.
Speaker 2 (10:08):
You probably can go up to the 25 year mark
starting from today. 20 years ago, your roof is right
on the cuff of
Being that the life expectancy is about over, you're gonna
start to have issues if you don't already, and then
when you need a repair, the shingles are so brittle
now that that you're not going to get a roofer
(10:28):
to really do a repair and, and, and warranty it.
So you're, you're gonna be on that cuff of needing
a roof.
So 20 to 25 years, if the roof's 2025 years old,
you need a roof.
Speaker 1 (10:39):
Talk a little bit about the shingles themselves. In this
day and age, the price of nothing is going down
and everything is, is going up. What are you seeing
for a trend in the materials that you need to
put new roofs on buildings?
Speaker 2 (10:54):
On the trend of roofing materials, you know, gas price,
believe it or not, dictates the cost of roofing, because
it is petroleum related.
And then it's, it's also on the metal that's, we're
getting tariffs coming out of Canada. A lot of that
stuff coming from out of the country. We are starting
to make more stuff in the United States, but, uh,
anything metal related, really not coming from the United States. Uh,
(11:17):
shingles are being manufactured in the United States, but again,
they're petroleum related. We have an average increase of 5%
per year on roofing materials.
So we just take that in consideration this year was 6%.
On the average, it's 5%. We have not had a
price increase since April. So once we usually get the increase,
it holds pretty much for the year.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
How about the other materials involved in the roof, the
shingles you mentioned are, are a petroleum product and, and
therefore probably more subject to some wild price fluctuations, but
there's a lot of other accessories and, and pieces and
parts that go into putting a roof on a building.
How are the prices on those things running?
Speaker 2 (11:57):
Well, again, it's, it's all based on availability. Sometimes they
increase prices just because they can, um, you know, uh,
prices haven't changed a whole, whole lot in the last
20 years. Obviously, they've gone up, but not significant. You know,
labor hasn't gone up that much in the last 10 years,
but the, the material has dumping fees, etc.
(12:18):
Those stuff all tie into the price and cost of
a roof job.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
You talked a little bit about needing to look at
replacing that roof at the 25 year mark. If it's
not an emergency, if it's not a crisis, but someone
is starting to think, well, maybe, maybe it's time for
me to take a look at this, how far out
do they need to get in touch with you to
get on your schedule?
Speaker 2 (12:39):
I would say 6 months is the average.
Do we make exceptions for emergencies? Absolutely. We always have
time to, as we say, squeeze one in. But if
you're serious about getting a roof, now, we are booking
out pretty much to next year already, in the middle
of the summer, and here's why, because most qualified, legitimate,
longtime roofers are looking into summer already of next year.
(13:03):
So with that said, locking in a contract now helps
all of us. And what it does without buying power.
And the manufacturer's buying power, we can order your shingles
now for, let's just say a May installation.
So when I do that, it locks the price in,
which means I don't have to worry about a price
(13:23):
increase in April. I don't have to worry about tariffs.
I don't have to worry about a shortage. So, if
you're serious about getting a roof done, then you should
get a contract done. We as a company don't take
any money down. So let's just say you said, I
want to do my roof in April.
We'll do your roof in April. Let's just say March 1st,
you said, hey, I'm selling the house. I'm not doing
(13:45):
the roof. There's no loss to either one of us. Yeah,
I've ordered some shingles, but I haven't paid for them yet,
so there's no loss to anybody. So I tell people
very carefully.
Yeah, get a contract. Don't give anybody any money down
till you get very close to getting your roof
done.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
And by ordering that in advance, you've perhaps saved money
on a possible increase, and you'll store that material until
it's time to use it?
Speaker 2 (14:09):
Correct. Well, the manufacturer will work with me to store
it as well. So what I'm doing, I'm committing the purchase.
They're, uh, they're holding it, or they're setting up their
delivery for March and say, OK, Wallace already bought this, this, this, this,
and this. So we're already locked in, and we're going
to beat the price, you know, if I know I've
got all these roofs in April, May, I'm going to
(14:30):
buy the shingles in March before the price increase.
But what we do is we're locking it in for everybody.
But I don't want people giving money down. We don't
take money down till the job's done anyway, but uh
don't give guys money down, especially now, and then they're
not going to do the roof till April. You may
or may not see him. So if you called me today,
I would do everything I could to talk you into
(14:51):
doing a roofing next year.
Speaker 1 (14:52):
The state of Maine is a surprisingly large state as
far as land area goes. What's the service area that
Wallace Roofing maintains?
Speaker 2 (15:03):
We're primarily from Augusta south to Kitterie, and then we
go as far as West Casset north and then pretty
much inland. So we stay primarily southern Maine.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
Dave Wallace, Wallace Roofing online at Wallace Roofing Maine.com. Wallace
Roofing Maine.com. As always, we thank you for spending time
with us and letting us in on a little bit
of your, your knowledge, skills, and ability with roofing in Maine.
Speaker 2 (15:29):
All right, thank you very much, Mark. I appreciate it.
Anybody moving to Maine, please give us a
shout.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
For Let's Move to Maine, I'm Mark Erickson.
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