Learning center
Know what you are buying before you buy it.
Most people only replace a roof once or twice in their life, so the first time they price one they have no way to tell a good number from a bad one. These pages are how we explain the work to our own customers. No sales pitch, no gimmicks, just how the assembly goes together and what to ask whoever is standing in your driveway.
The guides
Start with the part that is failing.
Each guide covers one assembly: how it is built, what makes it fail early, what the manufacturer requires, and the questions worth asking before you sign anything.
- RoofingIce barrier, underlayment, ventilation, and what voids a shingle warranty
- SidingEngineered wood, vinyl, and steel compared for Minnesota weather
- Windows and doorsReading an NFRC label, and why flashing beats brand
- DecksThe ledger connection, framing, and composite decking
- Storm damage and insuranceMinnesota law, your right to cancel, and how a hail claim moves
- Where we workThe metro, greater Minnesota, and out of state by project
Why we put this on the website.
Exterior work is one of the last trades where a customer cannot see most of what they paid for. The parts that decide whether a roof lasts twenty years or eight are covered by the parts you can see. Ice barrier at the eave, a flashing detail at a window head, the fastener holding a deck to the house. All buried by the time the crew leaves.
So we write it down. If you read these pages and hire somebody else, that is fine by us. You will hire them better.
What failure looks like
The pictures nobody puts on a brochure.
These are conditions we find on real buildings. They are here because the finished photos on the rest of this site do not teach anybody anything. The damage does.
How to use this
Three questions that sort contractors fast.
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Question one
What did you find that you are not fixing?
Every building has something. A contractor who inspected an exterior and found nothing outside the scope he wants to sell either did not look or is not telling you. We put the findings in writing, including the parts that are fine and the parts that can wait a season.
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Question two
Which manufacturer instruction are you installing to?
Code is set by your city, it is different one suburb over, and it is the legal floor. The manufacturer's printed instruction sits above it, does not change by address, and is the actual condition of your warranty. Ask which one the crew is following, and ask to see it.
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Question three
What happens if you open it up and it is worse than you thought?
The honest answer is a written unit price agreed before the tear off, so a surprise costs a known number instead of whatever the contractor decides that week. The dishonest answer is silence now and a change order in month two.