Finding 01 · chimney flashing
Water is getting a head start here.
The old flashing is open at the corner. We photograph it, explain the path, then quote the repair without bundling in work you do not need.
Typical repair: $450–$850
Toronto & the GTA · family roofers since 1998
A roof should be checked from the roof.
Ridge & Rafter brings boots, cameras, and a line-by-line answer to every inspection, repair, and replacement.
Request an inspectionWhat we look for
Good work starts with a useful inspection.
Tap a finding on this real-style roof report. We show the problem, the fix, and the scale before you decide.
Finding 02 · vent boot
A small part can make a big stain.
The rubber collar is past its useful life. Replace the boot before the next freeze-thaw cycle and protect the ceiling below.
Typical repair: $180–$320Finding 03 · valley metal
This is where meltwater changes direction.
The valley metal is lifting at the eave. We reseat it over fresh membrane and show the finished detail in your report.
Typical repair: $700–$1,100The Ridge & Rafter standard
Every visit has a clear next step.
- Roof surfaceShingles, slate, cedar, fasteners, and storm damage.
- Water pathFlashing, valleys, vents, eaves, and the attic below.
- Written scopePhotos, options, and a quote with the maybes marked.
Recent work
Finished roofs, explained plainly.
Birch Cliff · full tear-off
Architectural asphalt, new ridge vent.
Soft decking was photographed and replaced while the roof was open.
Markham · ice dam
Ventilation before another winter.
We cleared the dam, opened blocked soffits, and gave the bungalow room to breathe.
A straightforward process
Look first. Quote clearly. Build carefully.
01
We inspect
Roof, attic, ground, and the water path.
02
We document
Photos and a written scope you can keep.
03
You decide
Repair, replace, or wait with better information.
Local-only preview
Tell us what the roof is doing.
The existing demo form validates locally and sends nothing. Describe the drip, curl, pond, or rattle.
Field report № 041 — filed in February, the month that finds every roof
Every quote starts with boots on your roof.
Ridge & Rafter is a family roofing crew out of east Toronto. Pete answers the phone, Devon runs the ladders, and nobody prices your house from the driveway. Shingles, flat roofs, slate and cedar, eavestroughs — and the February leaks nobody else wants to climb to.
Ask for a callback
Water coming in right now? Call first, email later.
What a proper look turns up
This is a real-style report from a 1920s slate-and-brick two-storey we checked off the Danforth in October. Nothing dramatic — just six-figure damage waiting a few more winters. Tap the pins.
Pin 1 — chimney shoulders
Rust running from the chimney
The counter-flashing was face-sealed with caulk years ago and the caulk gave up. Every rain, water gets behind the render and rides the brick down. Freeze it a few dozen times and the shoulders start spalling.
The fix: proper step and counter-flashing, ground into the mortar joints — usually $900–$1,600 with the scaffold.
Pin 2 — plumbing vent
A cracked vent boot
The rubber boot on the plumbing vent has split through. Ten years is about all those boots last. It's the most common leak source we find on any roof — and the cheapest one to fix.
The fix: new boot, sealed under the course above — $180–$260 while we're already up the ladder.
Pin 3 — old patch work
Face-nailed slates
Three slates were swapped at some point, and one is held with a nail straight through its face. Face-nailing slate is how you crack the slate below it. Whoever did that saved twenty minutes and made two leaks.
The fix: slate hooks and salvaged matching slates — $350–$600 depending on how many we find loose.
Pin 4 — valley at the eave
Valley metal lifting
The valley metal lifts at the eave and the felt under it is original. In a freeze-thaw week, meltwater backs up and rides sideways under the slates right here. This is where February gets in.
The fix: re-seat the valley over new ice-and-water membrane — $700–$1,100.
Pin 5 — eavestrough
A trough full of slate grit
The eavestrough is half full of grit off the slate and it's growing something at the corner. Overflow lands straight at the foundation, which is a basement problem wearing a roof problem's coat.
The fix: clean, re-slope, re-hang — $300–$500. And with slate, skip the gutter guards. Honest.
The February list — what we check first when you call about a leak
- The attic, before the roof. Water travels. The drip over your bed started six feet sideways.
- Chimney flashing and vent boots. Nine leak calls out of ten end at one of the two.
- Soffit vents. Two blocked soffits cook a roof from underneath and grow the ice dams you see outside.
- Valleys and eaves. Where meltwater backs up when the night hits −15° after a melt day.
- Lifted shingle corners. Wind gets under one tab on a storm night and takes the whole row home with it.
“I've been on GTA roofs since 1998. The houses changed; water hasn't. It still finds the same six spots.” — Pete
Lately on the ladders
Every neighbourhood ages its roofs differently. Here's what the last few months actually looked like.
Birch Cliff — full tear-off on a brick semi
Twenty-two-year-old three-tabs, curled like potato chips. Found two sheets of decking soft at the eave — photographed them for the owner before they came out. New ridge vent while the roof was open.
- Material
- Architectural asphalt, weathered wood
- Roof age
- 22 years
- On site
- 4 days, one dumpster
Markham — the February ice dam
A bungalow with icicles to the windowsill and a brown ring on the spare-room ceiling. We steamed the dam in February, then came back in March to open up blocked soffits and add baffles. The roof was fine; the attic couldn't breathe.
- Material
- Steam first, ventilation second
- Roof age
- 9 years
- On site
- Two visits, one season apart
Leslieville — flat roof over a rowhouse kitchen
A Danforth rowhouse addition with a flat roof that ponded an inch deep after every rain. New modified bitumen, and we moved the scupper three feet so the overflow stops washing the neighbour's brick. Small job, done like a big one.
- Material
- Two-ply modified bitumen
- Roof age
- 16 years
- On site
- 2 days
When the sky goes like this
Storm nights we answer the phone until late, and we tarp the same day the wind lets us. A tarp buys your drywall a week; it doesn't fix anything. Once it's calm, we come back, trace the leak properly, and show you photos of what we found — whether you hire us for the repair or not.
Wind-lifted shingles, branches through decking, flashing peeled back like a can lid — we've tarped all of it.
What roofs usually cost around here
Typical ranges from our last two seasons, so a number on the internet doesn't surprise you. Your roof gets its own number after we've stood on it — and the look costs nothing.
| Full asphalt re-roof — semi or bungalow | Tear-off included. Pitch, old layers and decking move this number. | $9,500–$15,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Flat roof — rowhouse or addition | Two-ply modified bitumen. Lane access decides a lot. | $8,500–$14,000 |
| Slate or cedar repair visit | We salvage and match. We don't swap in plastic lookalikes. | $650–$2,400 |
| Eavestroughs, soffit and fascia | Full house, five-inch trough, new downspouts where they belong. | $2,400–$5,200 |
| Leak call — tarp and trace | Credited back if we end up doing the repair. | $350–$850 |
| Soft decking, when we find it | Photographed before it's replaced. No surprise sheets. | $95–$130 / sheet |
Nobody honest quotes decking sight-unseen. We open the roof, we take pictures, then we talk.
What happens after you call
You call
Pete or Erin answers. In storm weeks it might take two rings. You'll get a day and a two-hour window, not "sometime next week."
We come and look
Free. We walk the roof, the attic and the ground, and photograph everything — the photos are yours either way.
You get a written quote
Line by line, with the maybes marked as maybes. It holds for 30 days and nobody phones you twice about it.
The work
Most re-roofs run three to five days. We tarp the garden, mind the neighbour's car, and don't start the week the forecast says rain.
The sweep
Magnet over the lawn twice, troughs checked, and a walkaround with you before any invoice exists.
Tell us what's dripping.
Or what's curling, ponding, rattling, or just old. A sentence is plenty — we've heard worse.
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