JM Roofing & Siding

When you’re making as big of an investment as a new roof, you’ll probably do your absolute best to avoid making any costly mistakes that could negatively affect the project. While there are plenty of things you should do when it comes to your roof, there are a few big “No’s” you should take into consideration as well.

Overestimated Your Handiness

If you have experience with roofing or are just particularly handy, you may be able to handle doing your roof yourself. However, if you aren’t that great with your hands, don’t make your roof a DIY project. Trying to replace your roof without experience can result in improper installation and actually cost you more in the long run.

Buying Your Own Materials

You may think you’ll be able to save on costs by cutting out the middleman and buying your roofing materials, but that’s not always the best idea. A professional roofing contractor uses specific brands and materials for a reason — because they know the quality and worth of them.

Buying your own materials means having to spend more time going through different materials and try to negotiate the best price. Hiring a professional cuts out all the hassle and often gets you a better price.

Installing Certain Products

While you may love the idea of having a skylight, they typically can’t support too heavy of rainfall and can allow for water to seep into your roof and cause leaks. Sometimes, certain products or roof features can actually cause more harm than good and run up not only your initial costs but maintenance and repair costs down the line.

For all your roofing needs in the Norwalk, CT area, trust the experts at JM Roofing & Siding. With over 15 years of experience under our belts, we have the knowledge and know-how to offer you the best experience possible. Give us a call today at 203-299-0716.

When you’re making as big a decision as what is going to protect your home and family from the elements, you should ask any and all questions that come across your mind. After all, the more questions you ask now, the less confusion or misunderstanding there will be later on. Make sure you ask your roofing contractor these questions.

How local is your business?

While you don’t necessarily need a contracting team close to home, it definitely helps! When your contractor is local, you not only have a team who knows your area and its weather, but it can also be cheaper. If your contractor has to travel (with all the materials) from far away, you may end up having a higher fee.

Who, exactly, is installing my roof?

Is you contractor and his or her own team installing your roof? Or are they outsourcing a team to get the job done? It’s often better to hire a contractor who has and uses their own employees, so you know exactly who will be working on your roof.

Who is handling getting the necessary permits?

Will your contractor require you to go to your local city hall and get the necessary building permits or will they take care of things for you? It’s often better when your contractor will take care of that for you — one less thing to worry about on your end.

How will you ensure the safety of my home and family?

The last thing you need is for something to fall off your roof and injure a family member as you’re leaving the house in the morning. Speak to your roofing contractor about what steps they will take to ensure your home and family will be unharmed.

For all your roofing needs in the Norwalk, CT area, trust the experts at JM Roofing & Siding. With over 15 years of experience under our belts, we have the knowledge and know-how to offer you the best experience possible. Give us a call today at 203-299-0716.

As the winter weather continues to get worse and worse as the years go on, it’s getting harder to protect your home against the elements. One major issue that comes about during winter is ice and freezing. Sure, you know that your driveway can freeze over when the temperatures drop, but did you know that your siding can freeze too?

Fiber Cement

As water gets underneath fiber cement siding, it can freeze, causing the material to expands and crack in the process. Once the water melts and the fiber cement is no longer frozen, it can continue to crack and break as the material relaxes.

Traditional Wood Siding

Wood siding needs to be taken care of to preserve it normally, but during winter, it requires a little more attention. If you don’t keep up with painting and sealing, water can soak into your wood siding, causing it to freeze, warp, and crack.

Vinyl Siding

Vinyl siding is often installed a little loosely so that it can handle the changing temperatures outside — it expands and contracts with outdoor weather. While it’s pretty good at standing up to the cold, it can be more prone to freezing and crack in winter if the temperatures really drop.

Engineered Wood Siding

If you opted for engineered wood siding over the traditional material, your siding may have a better chance at holding up in winter temperatures. Engineered wood siding doesn’t freeze as easily as other siding materials, so you won’t have to worry about much damage.

For all your roofing and siding needs near Norwalk, CT, contact the professionals at JM Roofing & Siding. Give us a call at 203-299-0716 for your FREE estimate today.

If you’re like most people, you probably don’t pay your windows much mind,  aside from choosing the curtains that cover them. However, your windows play an important role in keeping your home comfortable and safe from the elements. There are a few signs you should recognize that signal when you should replace your windows.

There are Lots of Drafts

The seals around your windows can wear down after a while and allow for drafts to enter your home. While a slight draft once in a blue moon isn’t a major problem, if you have drafts coming in from multiple windows all the time, you should look into getting replacements. Overly drafty windows seriously disrupt your home’s comfort and can raise your energy costs.

They’re Hard to Open and Close

If you have to use a lot of strength to pry your windows open or get them to shut again, you should really look into replacements. Not only can they prevent your home from getting fresh air if they’re hard to open, but if they’re also hard to close, they may be allowing outside air into your home and not creating a proper seal like they are supposed to.

They Won’t Stay Open

If you have windows that open and close vertically and they constantly fall, that’s not only annoying, but it’s not safe either. If your windows won’t stay in place when you open them, you run the risk of their closing on someone’s hand or on your pet’s paw, so you should replace them.

They Have Water Damage

If excess moisture has caused the wood panels of your windows to warp or rot, not only are they not able to properly seal, but they run the risk of mold growth. Any windows that have extensive water damage should be replaced.

If you notice water damage on your windows, it could be caused by problems with your roofing or siding. Ask the experts at JM Roofing and siding for help keeping your home safe from the elements.

Whenever you’re faced with a problem, you may feel like the sky is falling, but the good news is that, most of the time, it’s not. However, if your roof is in bad shape, it won’t be the sky falling — it’ll be your roof. If you want to avoid dealing with the dangers that follow, learn to recognize the signs that your roof may collapse.

Heavy Weather Damage

A little fall of rain typically won’t harm your roof too badly — but some heavy snowfall might. All that snow can weigh down your roof and if the load gets to be too much, your roof could collapse into itself. What’s worse is that when that snow melts, all the extra water can damage your roof  and put it at risk of collapsing as well.

Leaks

Like we said, excess moisture on your roof is never a good thing. If you notice water leaking from your roof, that is typically a sign that your roof’s integrity is being affected it is at risk of collapsing.

Sagging

The chances of your roof collapsing completely at one point in time are very rare. More often than not, you’ll notice your roof start to sag in certain areas first. If that goes unchecked, the entire roof can collapse at a later time.

Creaking

While most houses make noise on their own, if you notice strange sounds such as cracking or popping coming from your ceilings or roof, call a professional right away to inspected. Those sounds are a sign that the roof may collapse soon.

For emergency roof repairs near Norwalk, CT, contact the professionals at JM Roofing & Siding. Give us a call at 203-299-0716 for your FREE estimate today.

After all the money you spent replacing or repairing your roof, you probably would be disappointed if you walked outside and saw unsightly water stains growing on top of it. While any roof water stain is not ideal, you should be aware of which ones are worse for your roof’s integrity and how to deal with those stains.

Yellowish Water Stains

The stains are more likely to be found on your ceilings inside your home than they are on your roof itself. Yellow or white-ish stains are often a sign of water damage caused by a leak in your roof.

You first move here should be to diagnose where your roof is leaking and have that repaired. To get rid of the yellow or white stains, your best bet is to use a vinegar solution to slowly fade them away. Scrubbing the stains could actually result in more damage.

Black Stains

Black stains on your roof itself are usually a sign of algae growth. Algae can grow on your roof if it’s holding on to excess moisture and the sun beats down on it to help it grow. If you’re finding black stains on your ceiling, this is typically a sign of mold growth caused by excess moisture from a leaking roof.

A professional roof cleaning should get rid of the algae on your roof. You should have the mold under ceiling inspected and removed by a professional in order to keep your home and family safe.

For all your roofing needs in Norwalk, CT, trust the experts at JM Roofing and Siding!

Whether they’re escaping the bitter cold of winter or looking for some relief from the blistering summer sun, rodents, bugs, and other pests always see your home as a safe shelter. And while it’s bad enough to find you have mice living in your garage, it’s even worse to find pests living in your walls, literally.

If you have wood siding, you’re susceptible to an infestation, so you need to know how to handle pests in your siding.

Pests That Infect Wood Siding

Termites

This is a given — where there is wood, there can be termites. While these pests will often eat the wood below ground levels, once they’ve munched their way through that, they can create tunnel-like holes in your wood siding, damaging the wood’s structure and integrity.

Carpenter Bees

These buzzy bees will tunnel into your wood siding to create nests for themselves — and will keep doing so year after year unless the nests are closed. If you notice them in your wood siding, use caulk to seal up the nest holes and tell those bees they aren’t welcome in your home.

Carpenter Ants

While these flying pests typically stick to the inner walls of your home, if any of your wood siding is very moist or rotting, they’ll make their way there. A tell-tale sign that you have a carpenter ant problem is small piles of wood shavings by your walls.

Prevent Pests in Your Siding

Keep Your Gutters Clean

If clogged gutters allow water to flow onto your wood siding, that extra moisture can rot the wood and attract pests. Keep your gutters clean to avoid this issue.

Keep Firewood Away from Your Siding

The more wood, the more snacks for those bees and ants. Keep your firewood farther away from your home.

Choose a Different Siding Material

If you just can’t seem to keep pests away from your wood siding, consider switching to vinyl, aluminum, or fiber cement siding. These materials don’t attract pests as much as wood siding, so they may help solve your problems.

For all your roofing needs in the Norwalk, CT area, trust the experts at JM Roofing & Siding. With over 15 years of experience under our belts, we have the knowledge and know-how to offer you the best experience possible. Give us a call today at 203-299-0716.

Anyone who lives in the Northeast knows that our winters can be tough and unpredictable. Sometimes we’ll go most of the season without so much as a flurry, and other times, we’ll end up having to spend 15 extra minutes in the morning digging our cars out from under huge mounds of snow.

In case this winter decides to deliver a strong dose of hail, harming your roof in the process, here are a few ways you can do some damage control.

Spotting Hail Damage

While other weather-inflicted damage can sometimes be more noticeable, hail damage isn’t always as easy to spot. First off, it’s not really safe to climb onto your roof yourself and check for damage, but if you do, a few things to check for are:

• Dented Shingles
• Cracked Shingles
• Missing Shingles

Remember that the older your roof is, the more vulnerable it is to suffering from hail damage.

Handling Hail Damage

Call the Pro’s

If you think a hail storm may have caused some damage to your roof, the first thing you should do is call a professional roof inspector to take a good look at your roof. He or she will be able to tell if the amount of damage to your roof warrants a few simple repairs or if the damage is extensive enough that you need an entirely new roof.

Call Your Insurance Adjuster

Oftentimes, if a hail storm is the cause behind your needing a new roof, insurance should cover some of the costs. It’s important to speak to your insurance adjuster before investing in a new roof so you know how much you may have to pay out-of-pocket.

For all your roofing needs in the Norwalk, CT area, trust the experts at JM Roofing & Siding. With over 15 years of experience under our belts, we have the knowledge and know-how to offer you the best experience possible. Give us a call today at 203-299-0716.

It’s no secret that roof cleaning is not the most glamorous task. Nevertheless, it’s a necessary one. Before you go climbing up on the latter or putting off the task, you should be aware of these roof cleaning myths that may change how you handle things.

Moss is Not Just an Aesthetic Thing

If you see patches of green moss or other vegetation growing on your roof, don’t just brush it off as unsightly. Not only does moss eat away at certain elements on your shingles, making them susceptible to damage, but they breed moisture. The more excess moisture that is on your roof, the more susceptible you are to water damage.

Stains are Only Caused by Air & Dirt

Sure, dirt and grime can grow on your roof due to airborne particles and nearby vegetation, but that’s not the only way stains form. If you have moss or algae on your roof, they can leave ugly streaks on your roof whenever it rains or they get wet.

Moss-Infested Roofs Need to Be Replaced

We have a positive answer to this one. No, they don’t. Unless your roof is all but entirely covered in moss and algae, a good cleaning and protective solution should be enough to get your roof clean and safe.

You Can Power Wash Your Roof

While your roof can take a beating from mother nature, you shouldn’t put the added pressure of power washing to it. Power washing can not only strip away protective elements from the shingles but can also end up removing your shingles entirely.

For all your roofing needs in the Norwalk, CT area, trust the experts at JM Roofing & Siding. With over 15 years of experience under our belts, we have the knowledge and know-how to offer you the best experience possible. Give us a call today at 203-299-0716.

We’ve all been there — you’re running and rush out of the house, only to realize you left your keys on the kitchen counter and are now locked out. Well, if you figure out a few clever hiding spots for your spare key, you won’t be stuck waiting in your car until someone else comes home to let you in. You just want to make sure they’re spots that other people won’t suspect, of course!

Smart Places to Hide Your Spare Key

Under a Fake Sprinkler

This is an especially great hiding spot if you already have a real sprinkler system that a fake spout could blend in with. Place your spare key in an old pill bottle, then glue the lid to the bottom of a sprinkler head before burying it in your lawn.

Under a Knocker

Use a magnet to attach your key to the insider a metal door knocker, then attach the knocker to your front door — just make sure you’re able to get the knocker off so you can access the key.

Under a Rock

First off, you’re going to need to use a real rock that’s placed among others — a fake rock is too obvious for a burglar. Either use hot glue (so the key is removable) to stick your spare key to a rock or bury it in some dirt then cover it with rocks.

In Your Gutters

Glue a small magnet to your key and attach it to the inside of your downspout. This way you’ll have easy access to it and it’s still hidden from anyone besides you and your family.

For more home hacks, keep up with our blog. And for all your roofing needs in the Norwalk, CT area, trust the experts at JM Roofing & Siding. Give us a call today at 203-299-0716.