What the wind does to roofs around Van Wert
Van Wert sits on flat, open ground — the old Black Swamp country, drained and farmed. There is nothing between a roof here and a west wind for miles. On the ladder, that shows up as lifted shingle tabs on the windward slope, resealed poorly, lifted again the next spring. The east slope often looks ten years younger than the west one.
Winter is freeze and thaw more than deep cold, and on asphalt the water that backs up at the eave only has to get past a nail head.
The houses I see here
Three kinds, mostly. Older two-story homes near downtown with steeper pitches, a dormer or two, and additions tied in over the years — more flashing, and flashing is where the leaks and the money both are. Postwar ranches on simple gables, which are about as straightforward as a re-roof gets. And farmsteads with a house, a machine shed, and a barn already wearing screw-down panel.
Here is the tradeoff on that last one. Exposed fastener is the least expensive metal roof, and it is fine on the shed. Every screw has a rubber washer under it, and those wear out around year ten to twelve. On the house you plan to keep, I would steer you to a concealed-fastener system — standing seam on a simple gable or a long run, or an interlocking metal shingle if you want it to still read as shingles from the road. We do not install exposed fastener under a 4/12 pitch, on anything.
When I tell Van Wert homeowners not to do this
If you expect to sell in the next few years, metal will not return what it costs. Good asphalt is the rational choice for a short hold, and I will say so on the phone.
If one flashing or one pipe boot is leaking on a roof with life left in it, that is a repair. We do not take repair calls; a repair contractor is the right answer, and nobody should convert that into a replacement.
Where we are coming from
Van Wert is about 45 minutes from our Fort Wayne office, straight out US 30. Ohio is not our home market, and a crew ten minutes away is a legitimate thing to want. What comes across the line is the same system, the same certification, and a warranty that transfers if you sell. The drive does not change the roof.
“We also serve surrounding towns and rural communities throughout Northeast Indiana, Northwest Ohio, and Southern Michigan within roughly a 90-minute drive of our Fort Wayne and Noblesville offices.”
