Roof leak repair and new roofs in White County, Searcy to Bald Knob

Searcy is the county seat and home to Harding University, which moved there in 1934. The city has older streets near downtown and the campus, newer neighborhoods on its edges and rental homes that see a lot of turnover. The Little Red River runs along the north and east side of town.

Beebe sits about halfway between Little Rock and Searcy and is home to Arkansas State University Beebe. It has grown as a commuter town, with newer subdivisions alongside older homes. Bald Knob, farther northeast, is smaller and more rural, and many homes there sit on open land with metal or shingle roofs that face the weather head on.

Rental homes, student housing and owner-occupied homes all sit close together near the campus. Each one has its own priorities, and we work with owners and property managers as readily as with homeowners who live in the house.

A long drive means people in White County tend to put off small roof problems until water shows up on a ceiling. By then the leak has usually been running for a while. Most of the leaks we trace here start at the same few places, and few of them are in the middle of a shingle field.

We trace the water from the stain back up through the attic, then find the entry point on the roof. Fixing the right spot the first time matters more when the crew is driving an hour each way.

Rental homes near Harding and in older parts of Searcy add another layer. Owners who live elsewhere often do not hear about a drip until a tenant mentions a stain. We send photos of the leak source and the repair so an owner can see the work without making the trip.

• Cracked rubber pipe boots baked by summer sun
• Step flashing pulled loose along walls and dormers
• Chimney counterflashing with failed caulk instead of a proper reglet
• Valleys clogged with leaves that back water under shingles
• Exposed nails on ridge caps that rust and let water in

White County gets the full central Arkansas storm season from roughly March to June, with hail, straight-line winds and tornado watches. The April 27, 2014 EF4 tornado that hit Mayflower and Vilonia crossed into the county and ended near El Paso, in its western part. Roofs across the area were repaired or replaced after that storm.

Winter brings occasional ice storms, and ice is hard on roofs under trees. Ice-loaded limbs break and fall on the roof, and ice dams at the eaves can push water under the bottom rows of shingles. Rural homes near the woods take the worst of it.

If your roof is over 20 years old, has leaked in more than one spot or is losing granules into the gutters, a repair may only buy a season. We inspect the whole roof, photograph the decking at the eaves where rot starts and give you two prices in writing: the repair and the full replacement.

On a replacement we tear down to the deck, replace soft sheets, put down new underlayment, drip edge and flashing, and install new shingles or metal. The crew cleans the yard and runs a magnet sweep before leaving, which matters on rural lots where nails can end up in tractor and mower tires.

Metal roofs are common on rural White County homes and outbuildings. Those leak at worn screw washers, loose ridge caps and laps that have opened up over the years, and they are usually repairable without new panels.

Call (501) 387-1152 at any hour, day or night. Tell us your town, describe the leak or damage and let us know if water is actively coming in, since that moves you up the list.

During storm season we schedule White County jobs in blocks so a crew can cover several homes on one trip. That keeps response times reasonable even at this distance from our Little Rock office.