What Happens During a Roof Repair Visit, Start to Finish

A repair visit starts in the office. At Stellar, somebody measures the roof by satellite before the technician arrives, and somebody confirms the right material is ordered and on the truck. That is part of what the $500 minimum pays for: the technician shows up with what the job needs instead of discovering halfway through that the shingle or the flashing is wrong.

The technician is matched to the job. Minor repairs, such as a pipe boot, a few shingles or a section of step flashing, go to one of our Level 2 technicians. More complex work, like most chimney re-flashes, skylight replacements and badly built valleys, goes to our highest-skilled Level 4 technicians. The people who diagnose your roof are the people who fix it, not a salesperson who hands it off.

If you sent photos or a leak log when you called, that is when it gets used. It helps decide how long to block out and what to bring.

Diagnosis is the part of a repair that separates a fix from a patch. Our technicians inspect the roof surface, every flashing, every penetration, and the attic. They take moisture readings, and when the source isn't obvious, they do controlled water testing: isolating sections of the roof and flooding them one at a time until the leak shows. It is slower than guessing, and it is why the repair holds.

Then they keep looking, because one ceiling stain is often fed by more than one entry point. Water can come in at two, three or four places and run to the same low spot. Fix one and the stain keeps growing. A visit that stops at the first suspect is the reason so many leaks seem to come back.

Michigan backs up the written-price habit with a licensing rule. Roofing for homeowners in Michigan is done under a residential builder or a residential maintenance and alteration contractor license, and the state's administrative rules for those licensees are specific. Rule R 338.1533 says all agreements and changes to the agreement between a builder or contractor and the customer shall be in writing and signed by the parties, with copies provided to the customer. It also says the contractor shall make certain the written agreement clearly states the terms of the transaction, including the cost, the type and amount of work to be done, and the type and quality of materials to be used.

That rule matters at two points in a repair visit. The first is before work starts: the written price should name what is being fixed and with what, for example replacing a pipe boot and the shingles around it, not just the words roof repair. The second is when the roof is opened and there is more than expected, such as soft decking under a failed flashing. Under the same rule, that change also belongs in writing, signed, with a copy to you, before the extra work goes ahead. A verbal okay on the driveway is not a signed change.

The rules cover advertising too. Rule R 338.1532 requires a licensee to include its name, license number and actual business address, as shown on the license, in all advertising, so you can check the license on the state's lookup before anyone arrives. Stellar's owner, Paul Aikens, holds Michigan Licensed Residential Builder #262000779.

This summarizes the administrative rules and is not legal advice; for a dispute over a specific contract, talk to an attorney.

An active leak changes the order of things. Our technician arrives prepared to work, so the same visit that diagnoses the leak stops the water. Sometimes that is the permanent fix on the spot. When the damage runs deeper, we tarp and stabilize the roof that day and the permanent repair gets scheduled. For a true emergency we are usually on site within 24 hours, weather permitting and if the roof is safe to access, and emergency repairs typically start around $850.

We leave the site clean, magnetic nail sweep included. Old flashing, boots, shingles and packaging should leave with the truck, and the ground under the work area should be swept for nails, especially where kids, pets and tires go.

Before the technician leaves, you should know what was done, what warranty applies, and who to call if the leak returns. Most Stellar repairs carry a 10 to 15 year craftsmanship warranty, written for the job. Our craftsmanship warranty is separate from any manufacturer warranty, and none of it is automatic: the terms are the ones in writing.

One thing a roofer does not do is repair the inside of your house. Our job is to stop the leak and repair the roofing components that failed, including decking and underlayment. Drywall, paint and any mold work are separate trades, and the photos from the visit are what you hand to them or to your insurer.