Metacomet Roofing

Why roofs fail

Snow that sits for weeks at a time, on framing cut long before anyone specified a load.

Snow does not test a roof evenly. It leans hardest on the eave, the valley and the chimney. Snow finds all six, and it has weeks to work on them.
Garage Point 1: ridge caps 1 Ridge caps: thin, exposed, first to lift Point 2: the field of the roof 2 The field, one layer or two Point 3: valleys 3 Valleys: leaves, then snow on top Point 4: flashing 4 Flashing at chimney and saddle Point 5: vent boot 5 Vent boot Point 6: eaves and ice dams 6 Eaves, where the porch roof meets the wall
  1. 1 Ridge caps. Thin, exposed, and worked loose by a winter of freezing and thawing.
  2. 2 The field. One layer or two, and the answer changes what a tear-off costs.
  3. 3 Valleys. Leaves mat where two slopes drain as one, and snow sits on top of them.
  4. 4 Flashing. Old masonry chimneys, and the saddle behind them that should shed snow.
  5. 5 The vent boot. A collar that goes brittle in the cold and splits without warning.
  6. 6 Eaves and ice dams. Where escaping attic heat melts snow that refreezes at the edge.

The six

What a Connecticut winter asks

Snow arrives here and stays, and a roof carries it for weeks rather than days. Heat escaping the house melts it from below, the meltwater runs to the cold overhang and freezes there. Behind the chimney, a saddle that was never built lets snow pile against brick. A ridge vent buried under a foot of snow stops venting. Under the oldest houses the framing predates any code, and on the north slope the moss never dries out. Winter has weeks to work on each one.

Roofing across central Connecticut →