There is one prevailing truth to maintaining a house that Larry Landwher of Grand View Roofing & Exteriors thinks all homeowners should know.

"Not all roofs are created equal," he says.

The age, materials, quality, regional location and other variables factoring into the longevity of a roof can all affect the efficiency, durability and life span of a house's topmost feature—and its first line of defense.

While Grand View is in its third year of operation, the team behind the family-owned company has been providing professional construction services to clients all around New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania for more than 16 years; Landwher himself has been in construction since he was 15.

Working with both residential and commercial customers, they've won a loyal client base by providing superior work and craftsmanship with a focus on not just roofing but also siding, windows and gutters.

It's not just understanding how one part of a structure can affect the rest that sets Grand View apart. It's also how the team treats every customer like family and approaches every home like their own.

"I feel like we make the job more personal: You're dealing with a few people instead of a lot of different people, a lot of salesmen, a lot of project managers," he says. "Plus, when you're dealing directly with contractors such as myself, you're talking directly to the person who's hands-on with the exterior remodeling and can ask them specific questions, instead of talking through someone else."

That personal approach extends to not only working with clients but also educating them on proactive homeownership, as letting exterior work languish can lead to more dire and expensive damage later.

Landwher's noticed that most homeowners don't think about their roofs until something goes wrong. And since that roof takes the brunt of the beating from rain, snow, ice, wind, falling debris and year-round sun, it's a risky element to neglect.

"As far as the house goes, if your roof goes bad, you can run into some serious problems," he warns. "You can wind up with damage to the inside of the home."

That's why he recommends getting your roof professionally assessed, especially if it's been 20 years or more since its materials have been replaced.

"I've seen a lot of people who say, 'My roof's 25 years old but it's not leaking right now, so I don't need to get it replaced.' But as shingles start to weather and age, it can de-laminate the plywood underneath and cause plywood issues. And then instead of replacing your roof, you're now replacing all your plywood, which can double the cost."

Although, Landwher notes, not all professional quotes are created equal, either, and he advises any homeowner who's looking to begin a roof restoration, reshingling or replacement to remember that settling for the lowest bidder can be tempting, but you get what you pay for.

"Sometimes I'm the second or the third estimate that walks in the door and a customer says, 'Hey, I got another contractor to do it for $1,000 cheaper,'" he says. "Then I'll look at the quote, and they're not using ice and water shield—they're using a builder's-grade shingle, where I'll try to show them why that one might be cheaper, and the differences between it and the one that's more expensive."

The upfront cost of high-quality materials may seem deceptively more expensive at the beginning of a project. But choosing better materials often means they're longer-lasting, and improves curb appeal, resale value and even energy efficiency.

"A lot of times, especially with older roofs, they don't have a ridge vent cut in so they're not getting adequate ventilation," Landwher explains. "We'll come in and we'll add that vent to allow proper ventilation in the attic space, which allows the home to cool better."

Early spring and fall tend to be Grand View's busiest seasons—installing a roof in the winter is dicey since shingles don't bond as well in the cold—which means now is the time to start getting ahead of roofing problems before the luxury of time is no longer an option.

And with the pandemic's supply shortage still impacting contractors, Landwher saw far too many clients get burned by pushing off repairs last year, only to face today's steep price hikes born of limited materials. It's one more reason why he advises homeowners to be proactive in maintaining their roofs.

"We just had our seventh price increase in about the last 13, 14 months," he says. "It's tough when you go out to a customer's house and they're in need of a roof, and they're saying, 'Hey, I'm going to wait 'til next year,' but they could have saved themselves a significant amount of money if they would have replaced the roof last year."

Grand View Roofing & Exteriors
Pilesgrove, N.J.
(856) 305-9883
GVExteriors.com

Published (and copyrighted) in House & Home, Volume 21, Issue 12 (September 2021). 
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