Roof Replacement in Elizabethton, Tennessee

We look at the drive before we price the roof

On a Carter County job the access is part of the price, and pretending otherwise is how a quote turns into an argument later. A crew that cannot get a truck near the house carries everything further, and a tear-off that cannot be dropped straight into a dumpster takes longer to clear.

So we come and look at the driveway, the turn-in and the ground around the house before we give you a number — and then that number covers it. One honest figure for the roof and the getting-to-it, rather than a low one that grows.

Elevation changes the roof you should buy

Elizabethton sits in the bowl where the Doe meets the Watauga, and the ground climbs fast from there. A winter storm that arrives as rain on Sycamore Street can be several inches of snow at Hampton and more again toward Roan Mountain. That does three things to a roof:

• Load. Snow sits on a roof rather than running off it, and it sits longer on a north slope in a shaded hollow.
• Melt and refreeze. The snow that does melt runs to the cold overhang and freezes there. That is the ice dam mechanism, and it is worse at elevation because the eave stays colder for longer.
• Cold-air pooling in town. On clear nights, cold air drains off the slopes and settles on the valley floor, so the town itself crosses the freezing point more often than the surrounding ridges do. More cycles means faster ageing of an asphalt roof.

Practically: ice-and-water membrane at the eaves and valleys is not a nice-to-have here, and metal is a stronger candidate the higher and shadier your lot is, because it sheds snow rather than holding it while it melts and refreezes. Metal versus shingles works through it.

Access, priced honestly

Long gravel drives, steep lots, tight turns, big trees and a hundred yards of carry from where a truck can sit to where the roof is. These are normal in Carter County and they are a genuine cost: a crew that cannot park close moves material by hand, and a dump trailer that cannot get up the drive means the tear-off is handled twice.

We would rather look at the drive and price it honestly than quote a subdivision number and then start finding reasons. If access is going to add to the job, you will hear it at the quote.

The system that goes back on

Complete tear-off to the deck — and on the older places along the river and up the hollows, expect plank decking and sometimes an earlier layer. Bad boards replaced and photographed, priced per sheet in the original quote. Ice-and-water membrane, synthetic underlayment, new drip edge, new step and counter flashing at every wall and chimney, ridge ventilation, and then shingles or metal.

Getting there

About forty minutes from our shop — I-81 to I-26, then east on US-19E — or the long way round on TN-91 through the Holston valley. We batch Carter County work where we can, so if you are planning a replacement, call us with some notice rather than in an emergency and we will fit it in properly.

The rest of what we do in Elizabethton

We do everything in Elizabethton, not just replacements — leaks, storm damage, metal and gutters. This page happens to be the one with the most detail on it. For the rest, see roofing in Elizabethton or call us.

Same work, next town over

• Roof Replacement in Johnson City, TN — fifteen minutes west into Washington County
• Roofing in Bluff City, TN — north into Sullivan County

Back to everything we do in Elizabethton, TN, or read the general roof replacement page.