Signs of water stains running down walls or extending across ceilings is probably a sign of a roof leak. Roof leaks are often caused by small holes, missing shingles, or gaps in metal flashing around vent pipes. While fixes for the leaks are pretty easy, it’s the tracking of the leak that can turn out to be a headache.

Not being able to locate the source of a leak can cause tremendous damage to your home’s interior–drywall, lighting, flooring, furniture, the list goes on. In this guide, our East Bay roofing contractors discuss a few simple tips for locating roof leaks quickly and easily.

1. Try to notice the leak as it occurs

Easier said than done, we know, but making an effort to track a leak as it occurs will save you a lot of time and frustration. Tracing a leak back to its original source using stains left behind on walls and ceilings can be very tricky and may not tell you the whole story. Try to spot the leak the next time it rains or snows and see if you can notice it.

2. Take precaution

Alternatively, if you aren’t sure that you’re dealing with a roof leak, head to the attic with a flashlight and use a garden hose to wet the roof to create a human-made leak. Then, closely examine the rafters and roof decking in the attic above the spot where you created the wet spot.

3. Follow it up

Follow any existing wet spots or water stains through the roof decking or up the rafters to reach the highest point. Take measurements from the roof peak to the leak’s highest point, and over from the gable end to the source of leak.

4. Head over to the roof and keep looking

Once the roof has dried off, go there and transfer the measurements you took to the roof. Closely examine your house’s roofing to find out the exact location of the leak. In the off chance you are unable to find out, keep on looking higher up on the roof as there’s always a chance of water running down the shingles before coming down in the attic deckers.

Contact Us for East Bay Roof Leak Detection and Roof Leak Repair

Identifying the location of a roof leak isn’t always as easy as it sounds, and if you’re still unable to find the leak’s source, it’s time to call in the pros. The team at Century Roof Tile are Bay Area roofing contractors that can make your life a little (or a lot) easier. We provide the most advanced infrared/thermal imaging roof leak detection and roof leak repair services to fix the problem once and for all. To say good riddance to your roof leak(s), call (888) 233-7548 or contact us online.

Roof maintenance is essential to keeping your home safe and shielded from the elements. Failure to perform regular maintenance can lead to gradual degradation of the roof structure – which eventually demands a costly makeover and can cause damage to your property. The Bay Area roofing contractors at Century Roof Tile recommend scheduling a regular inspection to ascertain the condition of the roof in anticipation of the usual wear and tear caused by erratic weather conditions and ageing of the roofing materials.

Reinforce your roof every spring and fall to strengthen the structure and prevent leakage and extensive damage in the event of bad weather. The following are expert tips to help get your roof in order so that you can secure your home and avoid the hassle of impromptu Bay Area roofing repair work.

• Remove any debris (sticks, leaves, etc.) from the surface of the roof as these can get stuck on the shingles and cause damage.
• Inspect the flashing and clean out any caulk before resealing.
• Check the joints and chimneys for caulking and seal any spaces to prevent leaking. Check also for cracked mortar and seal any existing spaces.
• Signs of algae and mold are bad for your roof. To prevent growth of mold and algae you can install lead or zinc control zips.
• Replace any damaged shingles with new ones, or contact a Bay Area roofing company for assistance.

Clean your gutter

In the fall season, take time to clean your gutter to prevent clogging of your gutter system. Accumulation of leaves and other debris can prevent the flow of water and cause a back-flow. When the cold season kicks in, this water freezes and damages the roof and gutters.

Trim your trees

Large, heavy branches can cause significant damage to your roof if ignored. Check for trees that lean towards your house and chop off any branches that might fall directly on your roof. Keep in mind that strong winds can cause weak or dead branches to fall, and if the tree is in close proximity to your house, that can spell disaster.

Tree-trimming has another benefit; it serves to minimize the amount of leaves and sticks that build up over time, causing the gutter system to rot in the process.

Consult Bay Area Roofing Experts for a Roof Inspection

For people who don’t have the time to perform these maintenance routines, it helps to hire professionals to do the job for you. Our East Bay roofing contractors are well-trained and have the resources to inspect and perform maintenance to prevent cases of flooding or damage to your home. Contact the team at Century Roof Tile today by calling (510) 780-9489 or via our online contact form.

Formerly, the slope of a roof was what determined whether opting for a skylight or not was qualified. Flat roofs or others that are too steep necessitated specialized equipment and techniques. Today however, a majority of skylight kits come with comprehensive installation supplies that permit installation on almost any type of roof. However, if you have metal or tile roofing, you may have to pay a little extra for the installation process.

Whether you’re constructing a new home or considering building maintenance, you will want to take the steps to make everything as efficient and achievable as possible. Thus, besides settling on your roof and wall construction materials, you should select the flooring type that would be most beneficial to you. One more thing that is often forgotten are windows; but they have a tremendous effect on the temperature, energy-efficiency and overall look of your property. Whether you install a single or multiple skylight(s), a range of benefits is in your future – a few of which are listed below.

The benefits of installing skylights for your home

Natural source of light

First and most importantly, a skylight transmits and diffuses light more effectively and evenly than that of a regular window. By providing these types of aesthetic benefits, your house is made to look larger and brighter. With the most efficient and well-installed skylight, your room will look up to nearly 20 times its original size! Not only that, but since sunlight is responsible for the release of endorphins and serotonin in our brain, it can even help improve our mood and overall health. So, the more it fill into your house, the better you and your family members will feel.

Lower energy bills

As more light comes in through the skylights, you won’t have to turn on the electric bulbs nearly as much, if at all. A majority of corporate constructions have lights on 24/7; hence, skylight installation will lead to generous savings for them.

Since sunlight enters your home and keeps it warm, your energy bills can be reduced significantly. As a matter of fact, it has been estimated that skylights can slice your energy costs down by almost one third. To enjoy optimum benefits, consider hiring the professionals at Century Roof Tile to install your skylights. By enlisting professional installers rather than opting for a DIY solution, your savings will be even more pronounced, while any chance of leakage or other catastrophic incidents will be mitigated.

Complete Privacy

People with windows in their house often resort to net curtains for maintaining privacy. While effective, curtains reduce natural sunlight and instill a gloomy room atmosphere. By using skylights instead, this problem can be solved easily. You will enjoy ample sunlight, yet still be able to maintain complete privacy. Nobody outside your private space will be able to peep into your house or office premises.

One of the most common causes for leaks is an inaccurate fitting. These often result when unreliable contractors are unknowingly enlisted for your project. When installing skylights, many people are compelled to simply employ a handyman instead of a professional roofer. While there are plenty of different home improvement projects a general handyman can take on, a skylight installation should be left to someone with the knowledge and expertise to do the job correctly the first time.

Skylight installation and re-roofing in the Bay Area

Skylights can do so much more than just saving you money and allowing natural sunlight into your home. When installed correctly by experienced contractors, homes with skylights experience greatly enhanced curb appeal. Before selecting a specific skylight, make sure you’re choosing the right type for your home. Contact Century Roof Tile at (510) 780-9489 or contact us online for more information on skylights.

With meteorologists predicting one of the strongest El Niño seasons in history, Bay Area roofing contractors recommend preparing for the worst. El Niño is likely to bring heavy rain and powerful winds, both of which will damage roofing throughout the Bay Area and beyond. If you’ve been ignoring home maintenance or if you haven’t had your roof inspected for some time it is a good idea to check for problems before heavy storms arrive this winter.

Understanding El Niño

El Niño is a phenomenon that occurs when the surface water in the eastern Pacific Ocean is significantly warmer than normal. This leads to heavier than normal rainfall in the western part of the United States, including the Bay Area. In many cases, this precipitation comes with damaging winds and can cause mudslides and flooding in areas that are not well equipped to handle heavy flows of storm water.

Getting Ready for the Rain

In anticipation of winter storms, prudent Bay Area residents are already preparing their homes. If you live in this area, now is the time to clean your gutters and repair any problems with your roofing system. If you have been living with small leaks through the past 4 very dry years you won’t want to ignore them any longer, as your problems may compound themselves with strong winds and rain.

Although you may be able to make some repairs on your own, most roof repairs should be left to the experts who know the best ways to patch a leak or when more than a small patch is necessary for the long term health of your roofing system and home that it protects. Call a roof leak repair Bay Area company to make sure any leaks are fixed properly. In addition to professional experience and training, some roofers have useful tools that would be prohibitively expensive to a home owner such as thermal leak detection using infrared technology.

Take Advantage of Local Roofing Contractors Experience and Advanced Tools to Detect and Repair Leaks

The Century Roof and Solar team has the experience, knowledge, and tools to prepare your home or commercial property for the approaching winter storms. Call us at (888) 233-7548 or contact us online to get the help you need to protect your property and prevent damaging mildew, mold and decay from infiltrating your roof.

As August comes to a close, Bay Area residents are busy grilling, swimming and enjoying a few brief moments of quiet while the kids are getting ready to head back to school. Very few homeowners have time to spend dwelling on their gutters.

Even if you recently noticed a leak in a spout or a warped area on your roof, you may not feel compelled to do something about it right away. After all, it’s dry and placid, and the harsher storms and winds of late fall and winter seem distant.

However, roofing contractors would stress that identifying problems with your gutters is extremely important, and not just because preventative maintenance can help you catch and reverse roofing water engineering problems before they cause irreversible damage. Leaky gutters can also lead to the formation of unpleasant problems, such as mildew, mold and bacteria, which can get into your roof, your attic and the walls of your home, in turn affecting air quality and the useful life of the materials that you rely on to keep your home safe and comfortable. Mold can even indirectly lead to structural problems and create risks of roof collapse.

Leaky gutters can also lead to flooding on your property. If your home is surrounded with trees or flower beds that you have spent time or money to plant and maintain, and your gutters are not draining properly, a significant downpour could wipe out your topiary and cost you thousands of dollars to replace and seriously impact the appearance of your home.

Beyond simply diverting water away from your plantings, structure, and foundation, shiny new gutter installations can really have a drastic effect on your home’s curb appeal. Old dirty, rusty, or dented gutters are one of the most prominent features of your home’s structure as viewed from the street.

Aesthetics aside – who wants to look at dingy, corroded gutters?

Installing new gutters might not seem like glamorous or urgent work, but preventative maintenance can save you money and frustration and make your home more robust and resilient. Call the Century Roof & Tile roofing contractors at (888) 233-7548 today for insight into your gutter repair and maintenance needs. You can also contact us online right here from our contact page.

Many customers call our Bay Area roofing contractors, eager to install solar tiles on their homes. They want to start saving money on energy and mindfully increase the resale value of their homes or businesses.

But not everyone rushes to start the solar roofing installation process. Some people are naturally cautious about doing home improvement projects. Others may just need (or want) to watch their budgets. But there are several good reasons to move quickly on your solar project.

Summer is the best season to have functioning solar panels. Energy costs rise rapidly in the summer, thanks to A/C costs. By investing in solar now, you can leverage alternative energy to keep cool come July and August instead of relying on expensive grid energy.

Solar companies offer many payment plans that can help you defer the upfront investment costs and get the infrastructure up and running.

If you defer the project now, you may never come back and complete it. There’s never a “perfect time” to make a major home improvement. Life always seems to “get in the way.” If you don’t take action to install solar now, you’ll be more likely to defer it again and again. You could wind up wasting months or years stuck in your current, ineffective home heating and lighting paradigm, tied to the grid, and spending way more than you should on your energy costs.

Learn More About the Exciting New Advances In Solar Technology

The team here at Century Roof and Solar can introduce you to exciting new technology designed to help homeowners save more, extract more useful energy from the sun, and reduce maintenance costs and worries. Contact us today at for a free estimate on solar power roofing for your home.

As roofing contractors who are committed to green roofing in the Bay Area, we at Century Roof and Solar only use the best products for our customers.

We have had experience using a number of different roofing products. But one that stands out for its durability and beauty is GAF’s TruSlate.

Many people consider slate to be the most gorgeous, durable roofing product on Earth. Slate roofs connote “old world” prestige – and it just looks amazing. GAF’s TruSlate premium roofing system is the best in the business.

The system uses “genuine hand-split quarried slate,” and the installation method is simpler than traditional methods. It requires less total slate material, so there’s less total weight on the structure. This reduces the burden on the structure and simplifies the engineering. As a result, installation typically costs about less than half what normal slate roof installation costs.

Even though the slate is lighter/thinner than traditional slate, it looks identical. The “weight saving” comes from the fact that the “under belly” of the slate is replaced with a special type of waterproofing material called UnderBlock UV & Moisture Barrier. This technology uses high density polyethylene to protect the roof from weathering, stress, freezing, etc. The added durability reduces the need for costly roofing repairs.

Contact the Best Bay Area Roofing Contractors

To learn more about slate roofing, and for help with your gutter and solar roofing needs, call the roofing contractors at Century Roof & Solar today for a free estimate: 1-888-233-7548.

This hesitation makes sense. After all, it can cost a lot to install or upgrade a roof, particularly one that needs to be strong enough (and warrantied long enough) to make the investment in solar technology worthwhile. Plus, your roof may be “doing fine” right now. So why not just defer making any modifications, until you really need to get them done?

Why Modifying Or Replacing Your Roof Still Makes Sense

First of all, before you add a solar system, do due diligence:

• Your roof must be strong enough to support it;
• The system should be south facing and should collect enough sun during daylight hours to generate significant power;
• The system shouldn’t violate building ordinances, condo regulations, etc.

If your roof meets these basic criteria, you must tackle the more delicate question of whether to install a new roof or tweak your existing one. Here’s the reality: solar roofing systems can last a long time – generally much longer than roofing, with a few exceptions, such as certain metal roofing systems. Odds are that your solar system will outlive the roof below it.

This means that, at some point, you will need to decommission the system, take it down, replace the roof underneath, and then rebuild everything. That whole process can cost a ton of time and money and disruption. One school of thought is: “Well, that may be a huge future cost, but if I can defer it for 5 to 10 years, by then, I will have enough money to pay for it easily.” This philosophy is similar to the balloon mortgage concept. It could work out for you.

In general, however, it makes more sense to strengthen/replace the roof now.

How the Process Works

Your roofing contractor will first take a look at the structure of your roof to make sure that it can handle the weight of the system. He or she will also recommend recovering the roof, repairing it, or re-roofing entirely; help install key structural elements; and protect those elements against weathering and other dangers.

For help with all aspects of this process — and to get a free, ethical, thorough estimate — connect with the Century Roof & Solar team today. We’re licensed, bonded and respected professionals. We will make sure that your roof is secure and that your solar investment is protected.

Slate offers substantial benefits over other types of roofing materials. Here are a few:

1. Aesthetic benefits

Slate is a beautiful, natural material. It recalls iconic buildings, such as Ivy League architectural masterpieces. It’s been used for centuries, and it looks great even after it’s been weathered.

2. Boosts the value of your building

Thanks to their unique beauty, simplicity, and durability, slate roofs tend to substantially increase property values. This is important, whether you’re fixing up an investment property to sell or just maximizing the equity value of your home.

3. Low pollution

Many Bay Area builders and remodelers are very “eco-conscious.” They want to avoid using materials that exude pollutants or toxins into the environment.

4. Easy to adapt to current structures

Some slate solutions require sophisticated modifications to existing roof structures. But other innovative technologies now allow you to easily adapt slate over your existing structure. Newer slate solutions are also lighter and less expensive than old ones.

Two reasons why slate is not a more popular material:

1. Traditionally, it’s relatively expensive.
2. It’s heavier than other roofing materials, which means that installation and maintenance require more work and that roofs must be well engineered to support the weight.

Fortunately, new technologies have made slate solutions both cheaper and easier for structures to bear. For help designing, executing and maintaining your Bay Area roofing project, look to the team at Century Roof & Solar. Whether or not you want to use slate or another material, we are standing by to discuss to provide a free and thorough consultation about your project.

Are you on the prowl for a Bay Area solar company to install a cost-effective, environmentally friendly energy solution? Even if you are, you’re likely are unfamiliar with all the benefits that solar tiles confer. Here are three ultra cool and dynamic benefits:

1. Thin film solar cells can do everything a traditional asphalt shingles can.

Solar shingles offer flexibility, durability, protection against the elements, and they are aesthetically identical to traditional shingles. They can blend in with your current roof construction. That’s a big advantage for people who don’t want to be “garish” about their switch to solar. (While some Northern Californians don’t mind being associated with “green energy,” others balk at the idea of sprouting a Keck telescope like solar system from their rooftops.)

2. Installation is relatively cheap and efficient, and tiles are lightweight.

When solar tiles replace roofing materials underneath, the installation is priced competitively. Tiles are also lightweight, so you won’t overburden the roof or structure with a heavy PV system.

3. You can stay connected to the grid – and save money doing so.

Many Northern California homeowners like the idea of being at least partially “on the grid.” When you go the solar tile route, you can save up to 60% on your monthly energy bills while exuding no noise or pollution … AND you get to sell back excess energy to the power company to lower your bill and help the community meet its energy needs.

On those blasting hot days in mid-August, you can feel proud not only that you’re collecting and using energy from the sun, but also that you’re “giving back” to the community.

Is a solar tile system solution right for you? Look to the Bay Area roofing team here at Century Roof & Solar. We can give you a free estimate and talk to you about the pros and cons of setting up this or any other solar scheme to power your home or small business. Invest a few minutes on the phone with us to enjoy massive long term savings and peace of mind. Connect today.