Durham roofers: repair, replacement and storm damage, explained

Durham roofing, explained

This is a free homeowner guide, not a roofing company. The pages below explain what goes wrong on roofs here, what the fixes typically cost and what to ask before you hire. Calls and estimate requests go to an independent local roofing contractor partner who inspects the roof, writes the quote and performs the work. You're never obligated to hire, and the prices on this site are typical ranges for the area, not quotes.

What roofs go through in Durham

When it comes to roofing, Durham, NC is Piedmont, not coast. There's no salt and little of the sustained wind the beach gets, and none of the regular hail Kansas gets. What Durham gets is heat, humidity, pines, and a tropical system every few Septembers that reminds everyone how tall those pines are.

Humidity is the slow killer. From May through September an attic off Guess Road or in Parkwood runs 120–140 degrees with wet air trapped under the deck, and shingles cook from below as much as from above. Outside, the same humidity feeds Gloeocapsa magma, the algae that paints black streaks down north-facing slopes all over the city. The streaks are cosmetic for years, then they aren't, because algae holds moisture against the granules.

Pines are the fast killer. Loblolly pines grow 80–100 feet tall on the red clay, they root shallow, and when the ground is saturated after two days of remnant rain a 40 mph gust is enough. Fran in 1996 put pines through roofs from Duke Park to Hope Valley, and hurricane remnants since — Florence, Michael, the ones that didn't get a headline — have done it on a smaller scale. Falling limbs, not hail, cause most storm damage here.

When it comes to residential roofing, Durham houses fall into two groups. The mill houses and bungalows in Old West Durham, East Durham, Trinity Park and Watts-Hillandale date from the 1920s through the 1950s: low-slope porch roofs, board decking instead of plywood, chimneys that were never flashed properly, and often two or three layers of shingles on top of each other. The subdivisions that filled in from the 1990s onward — Woodcroft, Hope Valley Farms, Parkwood, Treyburn, everything off NC-54 and Fayetteville Road down to Southpoint — have steep, cut-up architectural shingle roofs, and the 1990s ones are at the end of their life right now.

The services, explained

Roof repair — leaks at pipe boots, chimney flashing, valleys and skylights; shingles lifted by wind; soft decking around a long-ignored drip. Most repairs are $300–$1,500. See roof repair.

Roof replacement — full tear-off, decking check, synthetic underlayment, membrane in the valleys and around penetrations, architectural shingles with six nails each. See roof replacement; typical prices are on the cost page.

Storm damage — tarping, what to photograph yourself, and how claims work, whether it was wind, a hurricane remnant or a pine. See storm damage repair.

Roof inspections — what a walked inspection with a written photo report should cover, for a house you're buying or a roof you're not sure about. See roof inspection.

Metal roofing — standing-seam and exposed-fastener systems for the farmhouses and new builds north of the city. See metal roofing.

Licensing in North Carolina

Licensing rules for roofing work depend on the size and type of the job, so don't take a truck sign's word for it: check a contractor's license with the NC Licensing Board for General Contractors and your city's permit office. Whoever you hire, ask to see their certificate of insurance before work starts. Also ask for the license number if they claim one, and the liability and workers' comp certificates; if a roofer can't produce them, keep looking. Our post on questions to ask Durham roofing contractors has the full list.

Areas this guide covers

All of Durham — downtown and the mill neighborhoods, Duke Park, Northgate, Croasdaile, Hope Valley, Woodcroft, Parkwood, Treyburn — and north through Bahama and Rougemont, plus Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Hillsborough, Morrisville, Cary, Apex and Research Triangle Park. If you're comparing roofers in Durham, the pricing page has typical numbers before you call.