It usually starts with a drip. Then more drips. Soon, the house seems like a giant drip coffee maker with an unlimited supply of water.
It`s a leak in the roof and, according to roofing contractor Butch Beinlich, it`s usually the first clue to homeowners that something is wrong.
”We get most calls after a rain storm,” says Beinlich, owner of C.W. Ebert & Sons, a roofing company in Glencoe.
But knowing there`s a leak is one thing. Actually finding the hole in the roof is something else again. ”The leak could be coming from a hole the size of a pinhole,” says Tudy Beinlich, Butch`s wife and the daughter of previous company owner Clark Ebert.
”The water can travel 20 or 30 feet from the entry point in the roof to the point in the ceiling where it leaks,” Butch Beinlich adds.
Finding the source
Like a detective, Beinlich works with flashlights and measuring tapes to chart the path of water and determine where the leak originates. Beinlich estimates that most repairs can be completed in under four hours.
However, there are those problem roofs. ”One roof I remember took us three months to find the problem, but we persevered and then fixed it,” he says.
In his 38 years in the business, Beinlich has repaired or replaced thousands of roofs, mostly on older homes on the North Shore, he says.
”We work with wood shingle, asphalt and the rubber or modified bitumen roofs,” Beinlich explains. ”Rubber is used on flat roofs because it expands and contracts with weather changes, which keeps it from cracking over time.” Most of the roof projects are repairs, but the company also does complete replacements, which involves stripping the old roof, replacing rotted wood supports and putting down a new roofing surface. According to Butch Beinlich, ”We have some homes that are on the second or third roof we`ve installed for them, going back over the last 40 or 50 years.”
The company actually dates back to the 1920s, when it was named Armstrong Roofing. Ebert bought the company in 1937 and Butch Beinlich joined the small family business in the summer of 1954.
”I was just out of high school and had an older brother who was working here at the time. I ripped off old roofs and hauled away debris-a lot of the tough work,” Beinlich says. It was then that he met Tudy. They married in 1956 and Beinlich purchased the business from her father in 1968.
Today, C.W. Ebert & Sons is still very much a family business. Tudy and Butch`s son, Tim, has been with the company for 13 years. The company employs three other workers.
”We also have six daughters, but they are interested in other professions,” Butch says. ”I have tried to keep the business at a level where either I or Tim can be at every job.”
Beinlich says the average roof should last 15 to 20 years, with flat roofs requiring replacement more often.
Flat roofs suffer
”The flat roofs take more abuse because of the accumulation of water and direct exposure of sunlight,” she says. ”Sunlight is the No. 1 cause for wear for all roofs. Then there is winter weather, storm damage and clogged gutters. One of the best things homeowners can do to protect the roof is keep the gutters clean, so water doesn`t collect on the roof.”
According to Tudy Beinlich, animals also are a common culprit in roof damage. ”A raccoon can rip off a square or two (of singles) in no time,” she says. ”Especially with the wood shingles, animals seem to be able to locate the soft or rotting areas and dig through.”
To combat these critters, the company recommends cover screens on chimneys and grease on downspouts. Beinlich also counsels clients to have roof inspections done every few years, especially on wood roofs. He regularly performs the inspections, usually at no charge to clients, and if work is required free estimates are prepared.
Beinlich says clients expect ”honesty and someone who will take responsibility for their work.” Most clients don`t go up on the roof with him or even inspect the job when it`s done, he says. ”They expect the job to be done right or, if there is a problem, they want you to come back and fix it. . . .
”One of the first things Tudy`s dad told me when I started working here was to treat every roof as if it was your own.”
In the last two years, the cost of jobs performed by the company has nearly doubled, according to Butch Beinlich, primarily due to a state law, passed in 1991, that requires all roofing contractors to be licenced by the state. To receive a license, a contractor must provide proof that it carries liability and workman`s compensation insurance.
”Even though we haven`t had a claim in five years, our insurance keeps going up,” Butch Beinlich says. ”In the last 18 months, our prices have almost doubled.”
Risky business
High insurance costs reflect the fact that roofing is among the top three most hazardous professions for workers, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics.
In addition to licenses, most communities require roofing companies to obtain permits before beginning a job.
But aside from the new laws, the industry has not changed dramatically in the more than 55 years C.W. Ebert & Sons has been in existence, Butch Beinlich says. ”It`s still a labor intensive job. Except for the rubber roofs, which we use on almost all our flat roofs, the materials and the equipment have pretty much stayed the same. . . .”
While Beinlich leaves much of the lifting and hauling to younger employees these days, he still enjoys getting up on the roof to perform inspections, doing the repairs and talking with clients about their roofs.
”Myself, I like wood shingles,” he says. ”They`re really good looking and after you put down a roof you can look back and really appreciate what you`ve done.”
