Prairie Grove has some of the oldest housing in Washington County and a downtown built around a battlefield, and both facts show up in the roofing. We cover 72753 — downtown Prairie Grove, the streets around the battlefield park, Viney Grove, Rhea's Mill and out along the Highway 62 corridor.
Old houses need tear-offs, not layovers
The older housing here — and there is a lot of it — has the characteristics that go with its age: steeper pitches than modern construction, cross-gables and valleys, original wood soffit and fascia, and very often two or three layers of shingle from decades of replacements done the cheap way.
We price a full tear-off on these houses every time, and it is worth explaining why rather than just quoting it.
A layover hides the decking. On a house of this age the decking is frequently plank rather than sheet, sometimes with gaps between boards, and sometimes soft where a leak ran for a season before anyone noticed. Laying new shingles over old means nobody looks at any of it, the added weight sits on framing never designed for three layers, and the trapped heat shortens the life of the new roof. The next contractor then has three layers to remove instead of one.
The one moment anyone can inspect a deck is when the old roof is off. We photograph what we find before replacing it.
Flashing on old rooflines
Where two roof planes meet a wall, where a porch roof ties into the house, where a chimney comes through — these are where old houses leak, not in the field of shingles. Properly woven step flashing, counter-flashing let into the masonry rather than caulked against it, and kick-out flashing at the bottom of a roof-to-wall run.
That last one is missing on the majority of pre-1990 houses we open up in Prairie Grove, and the rotted wall sheathing behind it is entirely predictable once you know to look.
Rural properties and outbuildings
Outside town, Prairie Grove addresses run to acreage — barns, shops and equipment buildings alongside the house, frequently roofed in exposed-fastener metal. Those panels leak through their fasteners as the neoprene washers harden and the screws back out, which produces hundreds of small leak points rather than one obvious failure. Re-screwing with larger-diameter fasteners is a real repair, and much cheaper than replacement.
Storms
Washington County takes the same spring hail as Benton County. On a much older roof, an adjuster has more room to argue that what they are looking at is age rather than damage — which makes early, thorough documentation more important here than on a ten-year-old subdivision roof. Photographs of strikes on the shingles and of the dents in gutters, vents and window wraps, taken soon after the event.
Permits
Work inside the city limits is permitted through the City of Prairie Grove; properties outside fall under Washington County. Given how much Prairie Grove-addressed property is rural, the county applies more often here than in the larger towns.
What we do in Prairie Grove
- Roof replacement on older, steeper and multi-layer roofs
- Flashing repair at chimneys, valleys and roof-to-wall intersections
- Metal roof repair on houses, barns and shops
- Storm damage inspection and insurance documentation
- Siding replacement in vinyl, LP SmartSide and fiber cement
- Seamless gutters, soffit and fascia repair
- Exterior and interior painting
- General contracting on renovations and additions
Free estimates. Call (479) 799-2022.
