Thank you for choosing Welte Roofing Company for your project. We truly appreciate the faith you have shown by selecting us and look forward to completing your project. We wanted to get this information out in order to set expectations about how the process will work. As always, please feel free to contact us with any questions.
We don’t pre-establish actual calendar dates for our work for several reasons. First, the weather in Pittsburgh is very unpredictable and inevitably causes delays. Second, projects often take longer than we expect due to unforeseen circumstances with the house conditions. Third, material availability can cause delays. Finally, staffing issues and illness often cause timeframes to be extended. While we do everything we can to stay on track, giving you an actual start date is just not in the cards for our type of work – instead, we try to give you an estimated range. At any given time we have several hundred people waiting for work. Because of this, it is not practical to give routine updates. It is likely that once we receive your signed proposal, you won’t hear from us again until it is time to schedule your work, which can be quite some time.
Depending on the scope of your project, we will have materials delivered to the job site and will likely have equipment left on site if it is a multi-day project. Please keep in mind that the material may have to be placed in your yard or driveway. This can imped the use of your driveway/garage for the duration of the project. If a large amount of material is placed in your yard, it can result in damage to the yard/dead grass. This is unavoidable and should be expected. Most of the time the yard comes back to life on its own.
Prior to the start of your project, please make sure that all personal property items around the exterior of the house are moved. If getting a new roof installed, the old roof material will be thrown to the ground and could damage personal property that has been left out. This would include items such as lawn/deck furniture, grills, flower pot, lawn ornaments, etc. If you have any unmovable items that you are concerned about, please point them out before we start your project so we can properly protect them. Also, we ask that garage doors in the immediate area of our work be opened so they are not damaged by debris or equipment.
If your property is close to a neighboring property, there is a possibility that we will need to be on the neighboring property to safely access your house. Additionally, we may need to walk through neighboring properties in order to properly clean up after a job. We ask that you warn your neighbors and gain their permission to access their property and have access points clear of personal property.
We have different crews that work different hours. Particularly, we try to stagger start times so a manager can be with each crew as they start a project. Typically, our crews are on site between 7:00 AM and 7:00 PM. Many of the shingle and rubber crews begin work closer to 9:00 AM. Several of our service and smaller project crews stop working at 3:30 PM while our larger shingle and rubber crews typically work until 7:00 PM. Only on rare occasions (to finish a job) would we ask to stay beyond 7:00 PM. We do often work Saturdays as need to complete jobs or make up for weather days. We ask the property owner to be aware of any local ordinances that may prohibit work during certain hours/days.
We ask that you make a standard outlet available to the crew. We have battery operated tools that require charging, standard power tools, and air compressors that all require power at various stages of the project. If you do not have an exterior outlet, we ask that you run an extension cord outside for our use for the duration of the project, if possible.
Please move all vehicles from your driveway and the street immediately in front of your house before we arrive on site. This will assure your vehicles do not get damaged and provide a place for our crew to park. We typically have 1-3 vehicles on site. Similarly, if you have a neighbor with a driveway or parking in close vicinity to where we will work on your property, you should meet with them and ask them to move their vehicles.
Roofing is a loud process. There are compressors and generators running outside. The crew will yell over the noise of the equipment in order to communicate. Debris thrown from the roof will make noise impacting the ground. Similarly, the debris is loud when being loaded into dumpsters. If you are inside the house during the process of getting a new roof, it can often sound like a “bomb is going off,” or “the house is going to fall down.” We assure you, it won’t. When the crew stocks the roof with shingles, the impact of the bundle hitting your roof decking is loud. The pneumatic nail guns used on shingle roofs are loud. This is all to be expected. We are not excessively loud, but some level of noise is reasonable. We try to complete the job as quickly as possible to minimize the inconvenience. You may find it better to not be inside the house during the installation.
Roofing is a dirty, messy business. We pride ourselves on doing a thorough clean-up when the project is finished. That being said, it is reasonable to find small bits of old roof material, a few nails, and shingle grit on the property even after clean up. It is impossible to catch every piece of debris that comes off the roof. There are literally tens of thousands of nails. We use tarps, brooms, blowers, and magnets to get things as clean as possible for you. Please understand when such a significant amount of debris is thrown from the roof the ground, despite the keenest of eyes, things can be missed. Additionally, you may discover new debris (cut shingles, nails, shingle grit, sealing strips) that comes down off the roof in the days following an installation. This is normal and not an indication that anything is wrong with your roof.
We do not do any interior work. The only time our employees would seek to enter the home is to see a leaking area. If you have a finished attic space or top floor of the house, it is possible that small cracks in the plaster develop as a result of the new roof installation. Weight distribution, the crew moving across the roof, and the impact of the shingles/guns can all play a part in creating vibrations that can cause cracking. This is to be expected and not something we would come in to fix. Similarly, if you have an unfinished attic space with open rafter bays, you will notice an increase in dirt debris that comes down due to the vibrations and work. This is to be expected and not something we would come in to clean up.
We hope this list of “What to Expect” helps to explain how the process will work and aids in your understanding. The biggest thing to remember is that roofing is loud, messy, and chaotic work. We will do everything in our power to minimize the impact on you and the neighborhood! Thank you again for choosing Welte Roofing Company.
Click to view a printable version of this information.
We proudly serve all of Allegheny County, PA and the immediately surrounding areas. Contact us if you are unsure if we can service your property or check out the information below regarding specific regions and communities in and around Pittsburgh, PA.
The south hills are central to our customer base. Our office is in the heart of the south hills and we have been maintaining Pittsburgh’s rich slate and tile roof heritage in these communities for over 70 years.
Welte Roofing is fortunate to service several high-end slate and shingle roofs in the east end as well as work on several of Pittsburgh’s colleges and universities. We have repair crews in the east end of Pittsburgh, PA weekly.
From the Mexican War Streets to Sewickley and Allegheny to Fox Chapel we have satisfied customers north of Pittsburgh in almost every community with every type of roofing.
Where it all began – the West End. Our original offices were located in the West End and we have long-standing customers dating back to our first year in business from this region.
Shingles, slate, tile, shake, rubber, and metal – we do it all. We professionally install all types of roofing for your home or new construction.
We offer the convenience of a Fall and Spring maintenance program to make sure your roof is ready for the Winter and secure in the Spring.
If you spring a leak or are experiencing issues with your roof system, we run repair service year-round (weather permitting) to get you squared away.
Selling or buying a house? We provide detailed roof inspections to help get the roof into top shape to aid in the negotiation process.
We offer a full compliment of other roof related services including gutters, downspouts, soffit, fascia, siding, skylights, and custom metal work.