Roof repair and replacement in Conway, from Old Conway to new west side homes

Conway's oldest residential neighborhood sits just west of downtown in the Robinson Historic District, bounded by Faulkner Street, Robinson Avenue, Watkins Street and Ash, Caldwell and Davis Streets. Homes there date from about 1890 to 1950 and include Queen Anne and Colonial Revival styles with steep pitches, turrets, dormers and multiple roof planes.

Roofs like that have more flashing than a typical house, and that is where they leak. We see a lot of chimney counterflashing that was caulked instead of cut in, step flashing that rusted through and dormer cheeks with gaps behind the siding. Conway has a Historic District Commission, so check with the city before changing exterior materials in a designated area.

Conway calls itself the City of Colleges, with the University of Central Arkansas, Hendrix College and Central Baptist College all in town. The streets around the campuses mix owner-occupied homes with a lot of rental houses, and rental roofs tend to get patched rather than replaced.

For landlords and property managers, we send photos of the leak source, the repair and the finished work, so an owner who lives elsewhere can approve the job without coming over. Patching a rental roof between tenants is often the most practical move, and we tell you honestly when a roof has run out of patches.

Student rentals also see more foot traffic around the roof than most homes: satellite dishes added and removed, cable lines stapled over shingles and window units dripping onto lower roofs. Each of those leaves holes or wear spots we seal during the repair.

Conway's population jumped by about 63 percent in the 1990s alone, and it has kept growing since, reaching more than 64,000 by 2020. That means a large share of the city's roofs went on between the mid-1990s and the late 2000s. Many of those builder-grade shingle roofs are now 18 to 28 years old and at or past the end of their service life.

On those homes we usually see the same signs: granules washing into the gutters, curled shingles on the south and west faces, brittle pipe boots and soft decking at the lower edges. When a roof shows several of those at once, a full replacement usually makes more sense than another round of repairs.

• Bare spots and dark patches where granules have washed off
• Cupped or curled tabs on the sun side of the house
• Cracked pipe boots around plumbing vents
• Ceiling stains near exterior walls after hard rain
• Granule buildup at downspout outlets

I-40 wraps around the north and east sides of Conway, and spring storms often roll in from the west across open ground. Conway took an F4 tornado in April 1965, and the 2014 EF4 tornado that hit nearby Mayflower and Vilonia passed just south and east of the city. Hail and straight-line wind are a yearly concern here.

Newer subdivisions on Conway's edges are especially exposed, with young trees that do little to break the wind. We see wind damage along rakes and ridges after almost every major storm, and hail bruising on west-facing slopes. Impact-resistant shingles are worth considering on those homes, and some insurers offer premium discounts for them.

Lake Conway sits just south of the city, and homes on that side deal with more shade and moisture. North slopes there grow algae and moss faster, and the fascia behind full gutters tends to stay damp.

Call (501) 387-1152 at any hour. We answer 24/7, and during storm season we keep crews ready to drive up I-40 for active leaks and tarps.

On a regular visit we inspect the whole roof, photograph every issue and give you a written price before any work starts. After the job, the crew cleans up and runs a magnet sweep across the yard, driveway and beds.