Shingle roof replacement and storm repair across Fairfax County

The county's postwar subdivisions along Little River Turnpike and Braddock Road were built in the 1950s and 1960s, mostly brick ramblers and split-levels with low, wide roofs. Those low pitches shed water slowly, and the original plank decking is often hidden under two shingle layers by now.

Two-story colonials from the 1970s and 1980s, common in Burke, Fair Lakes and the streets around Chantilly, usually have plywood or early OSB decking. We find delaminated OSB at the eaves on many of them, where years of minor ice damming and poor attic airflow softened the edges.

Townhouse communities from the 1980s and 1990s bring a different set of issues: shared roof planes, party wall firewalls, and an HOA that has to approve shingle color. Then there are the large custom homes in Great Falls, Oakton and Clifton, where we work with slate, cedar, copper and standing seam metal more than plain shingles.

Thunderstorms roll across the county from the west most summer afternoons, and the wooded neighborhoods near Lake Accotink, Wakefield Park and the Difficult Run valley take the brunt of falling limbs. Wind lifts tabs on older three-tab shingles and breaks the sealant strips, which leaves them flapping in the next storm.

When you call after a storm, we photograph each slope before touching anything, tarp open areas with lumber battens screwed into the deck, and write up the damage for your adjuster. Our storm damage roof repair crews carry tarps, decking and shingles in the truck so a small blow-off can often be closed in for good on the first trip.

We strip to the deck, every time, so we can see the boards. Soft or delaminated sheets get cut out and replaced, and every nail line on the new deck gets checked for spacing before underlayment goes down.

Ice and water membrane goes along the eaves, in every valley, and around chimneys and skylights. We install new drip edge, pipe boots and step flashing rather than reusing the old metal, and we look at whether the attic has enough intake at the soffits to match the ridge vent. On a 1960s rambler that sometimes means adding soffit vents the house never had, which is where our attic ventilation work comes in.

• Full tear-off with decking inspection on every slope
• Ice and water membrane at eaves, valleys and penetrations
• New drip edge, flashing and pipe collars on each job
• Daily magnet sweep of the driveway and lawn

Whether your project needs a permit depends on the scope, so we check with the county permit office before a full replacement, especially when decking or framing is involved. Towns inside the county, such as Vienna and Herndon, may have their own rules, and we ask about those as well.

For townhouse rows and planned communities, we pull the HOA's approved shingle list and help you put together the request with color samples. Our Woodbridge head office and Washington, DC office put crews within reach of the whole county, from Chantilly to Mount Vernon.