Shingle roof and gutter work in Brookland (20017)

Streets around the Catholic University campus and up toward the Franciscan Monastery carry some of the heaviest tree cover in Northeast. Shade keeps the north side of a roof damp, and moss and algae streaks follow. Leaves and seed pods pile into valleys and gutters every fall, and the water that backs up behind them finds the edge of the deck.

We see the damage in predictable places: rotted fascia boards behind overflowing gutters, granules worn away along valleys, and shingles lifted where branches have been rubbing. When we replace a roof here, we install metal drip edge along every eave and rake and run ice and water underlayment through the valleys and along the gutter line.

If your gutters overflow every October, gutter guards sized for oak leaves can cut down how often they need cleaning. We trim back branch tips that touch the roof as part of the job, though large limbs are work for an arborist.

The low-pitched bungalows along Newton and Otis Streets often have deep overhangs with exposed rafter tails. Those tails rot where water drips off the shingle edge, so we check them before anything new goes on. Foursquares have hip roofs with a single dormer, and the dormer cheek walls are where step flashing fails.

Several houses in the neighborhood were built from catalog plans in the early twentieth century. They tend to have plank decking with gaps between the boards, which shingle manufacturers do not want under a new roof. On a new asphalt shingle roof we lay plywood over the planks so the nails hold and the warranty terms apply.

Many Brookland houses still have the original brick chimney running up through the roof, sometimes no longer in use. The mortar at the top softens, the flashing pulls away and water stains the ceiling next to the chimney breast. We reset the step flashing, add a cricket on the uphill side of wide chimneys and repoint the crown if it is cracked.

Finished attic bedrooms are common here, and they run hot in July because the old roofs have little or no ventilation. Adding a ridge vent and opening soffit intakes during a tear-off costs much less than doing it later.

Unlike the rowhouse blocks to the west, many Brookland lots have a side driveway or a rear parking pad off an alley. That gives us room to set a roll-off container or a dump trailer without a street permit, and it keeps shingle debris off the sidewalk. Where the driveway is shared or too narrow, we use a trailer and empty it at the end of each day.

We lay tarps over shrubs and foundation beds, lean plywood against windows on the tear-off side and run a magnetic sweeper across the yard and driveway twice before we pack up. Nails in a tire are the last thing you want from a roof job.