Cleaning up after a new roof installation means that there is ZERO material remaining after the cleanup is completed.
Too often, the gutters will have nails, bits of cut off shingle, pieces of misc trash. In the inspection process, making sure the gutters are completely clean is part of due diligence.
Unfortunately, a pervasive method of the crew to clean the Roof Sheathing is to use a leaf blower. This is also used to blow off areas of newly installed shingles. This method is used to blow off nails, bits of shingles, bits of Underlayment, bits of pieces of drip edge, pieces of flashing, and sometimes other random trash.
This is all blown down on the yard. Even when there IS a tarp below, much of it blows amazingly far. It is crazy how often nails are blown onto a neighbors driveway.
Careful canvassing of the rooftop, gutters, grounds, shrubbery, small corner trees, flower beds are necessary to insure a quality cleanup. Many of the particles are very, very tiny pieces of shingle and shingle granules – not really able to be picked up, but now forever part of your soil. Just so you know.
Typically crews will have magnetic sweepers to pick up nails. But many are missed. I know, because I have canvassed job after job after the crew has departed, and personally find trash, nails, caps from the cap nails, pieces of shingle both old and new, trimming pieces from drip edge, trimming pieces from flashing, backing plastic from underlayment, and other misc.
Don’t accept any trash. If you see any, call the Roofing Company and ask them to come out and clean up.
Observe the driveway very diligently before you drive on it, to keep that random nail from puncturing your tire.
DAMAGE
Look for damage up and down. A shingle tossed down from the roof that catches the air the right way could tear a screen. As the crew is on the roof, they would not likely even know.
A frequent damage area is vegetation.
Stomped flowers.
Broken branches on shrubbery and small corner trees.
DOCUMENT
Document, take pictures of everything – before you pick it up.
Verbal reporting of trash, mess, damage isn’t the same as actual pictures.
NEXT: Discussion with company about completed work.