# Roofing - What to ask about to prevent lawn/landscape damage?



## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

Anyone had a roof replaced? Did you encounter lawn and landscape damage?

What might be sources of damage that would be an issue? What questions would you ask the contractor ahead of time to prevent or minimize any damage? Or is that not possible, and the lawn will have to be redone after?


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## SNOWBOB11 (Aug 31, 2017)

Chances are the roofing contractor isn't going to care much to be carful around your lawn. I'd make sure they put tarps down so you don't get shingle crumbs all into your grass.

Another thing and I feel this is important, is see if you can get it done in the early spring or fall instead of summer when the heat is the worst. Even a few hours of having shingles and tarps on your lawn in the scorching heat can cause bad burning.

I changed my back patio roof shingles a few years ago and had the old shingles in garbage bags resting on the back lawn for only a few hours. A few days later the area tuned crispy brown and I had to re seed the grass.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

SNOWBOB11 said:


> Chances are the roofing contractor isn't going to care much to be carful around your lawn. I'd make sure they put tarps down so you don't get shingle crumbs all into your grass.
> 
> Another thing and I feel this is important, is see if you can get it done in the early spring or fall instead of summer when the heat is the worst. Even a few hours of having shingles and tarps on your lawn in the scorching heat can cause bad burning.
> 
> I changed my back patio roof shingles a few years ago and had the old shingles in garbage bags resting on the back lawn for only a few hours. A few days later the area tuned crispy brown and I had to re seed the grass.


Makes sense. Those are some great suggestions.

Another thing that comes to mind is that they would probably want to drive their trucks through the yard, to get their ladders and scaffolding in and out, right? And that would require major repairs along the entire path, and wherever they were parked. Decompressing several sets of tire tracks with a pitchfork across the entire yard would take hours. And hopefully I wouldn't puncture any of my irrigation lines or buried gutter tubes while doing it.

I can't even get all the seed in the original blend I used for the back, because some of the types used in it are all sold out. That means another step...pulling and transplanting plugs into damaged areas...this could become a big project quickly.


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## SNOWBOB11 (Aug 31, 2017)

I would definitely talk to them about not letting them drive over the grass to move there equipment around unless it was absolutely necessary. I'd try and make that a stipulation before hand. I don't see why they would have to do that. They should be able to move the ladders by hand and assembled the scaffolding without trucking it into your backyard. Otherwise it's going to be a hassle trying to stand the grass back up again.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

SNOWBOB11 said:


> They should be able to move the ladders by hand and assembled the scaffolding without trucking it into your backyard. Otherwise it's going to be a hassle trying to stand the grass back up again.


And tough to de-compact it, as I mentioned. People who drive over landscapes overlook that one, but it's really important. You really have to spend the time manually de-compacting.

Sometimes, standing it up again is impossible. The leaves lose a lot of rigidity when driven over, and get creased where they attach to the base, too. Raking helps, but it tends to just bend them in the other direction because they get floppy. Then when you go to mow, nothing really gets cut.

I wonder if abruptly stopping PGR around the time to cause a rebound would help with any recovery, and if that's something I should even be thinking about doing. Just continuing to use PGR after damage probably isn't the best idea, either, so maybe...?


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## SNOWBOB11 (Aug 31, 2017)

Interesting idea. I guess the only worry would be stressing the already stressed turf by letting it rebound with excessive top growth? Still would be worth a try if it came to that.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

SNOWBOB11 said:


> Interesting idea. I guess the only worry would be stressing the already stressed turf by letting it rebound with excessive top growth? Still would be worth a try if it came to that.


Yeah, the only problem is, this will probably end up being Summer. Hopefully early Summer, though. Hate to have stuff solarize the lawn in spots.

One time years ago, when work of another type was being done, this guy had to use a generator to power a concrete saw. Instead of having the generator in the street, he positioned it a foot away right at the edge of the lawn near the curb. It ended up burning a 3x2 foot rectangle where it was. The original grass did not grow back. Bentgrass did. Contractors leave before they can see the effects of these things. So, they're often ignorant that they're even causing damage. "It looked fine when I left", is what's in their mind.


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## 440mag (Jan 29, 2018)

Hi, green (Happy New Year!!! 

Oh man, best support I can give is PREPARE* FOR THE WORST and hope for the best!

The wife and I opted not to rent a HUGE-*SS tracked piece of equipment (industrial scissor jack) last Fall and instead just she and I used a 32-ft ladder to apply masonry sealer Lasti-Seal** to every square inch of the brick veneer facing of our home, with northeastern exposure (the amounts and hydro-forces of wind-driven rains off our lake can be biblical at times!) …

As painstakingly careful as we were, we still lost entire, wholesale portions of back yard; I'm pretty devastated. Making matters worse, all of the areas in question are in high traffic areas AND either steeply sloped or with poor drainage so mechanical de-compacting is pretty much out of the question.

(just to give an idea how bad it is; the wife - who feels money spent on turf would be better spent on our new Jack Russel mix puppy (that'll be a different thread! , pistol ammo and gas for the boat - is lamenting the condition of the backyard at least once, EVERYDAY … it is that bad! :-(

So, *QUESTION* (*and i ask here as the answer will likley go a long way toward the "be prepared" I prefaced with ...): *WHAT ARE THE MOST EFFECTIVE WAYS TO DE-COMPACT LARGE AREAS WITHOUT MECHANICAL MEANS (NO USE OF AERATORS, etc.) ???
*

**On a side-note, I cannot say enough good things about the polyester-based masonry sealer, 'Lasti-Seal' -- the stuff plain rocks and completely blows away the silica-based and siloxane masonry sealers, all other sealers for that matter. We paid our chimney sweep to use it on the monolithic brick face chimney rising out of our roof (we're talking major sf) and he said he is switching entirely over to Lasti-Seal from here on --- it does NOT break down under UV sunlight the way the silica-based and siloxane masonry sealers do! AND its water cleanup!!!

Back to your challenge: looking back on it, and had i known, i probably would've just bitten the budget bullet and bought a dozen or so 4x8 sheets of the thinnest ply I could find ... I could've drilled holes in each corner and tacked em into the ground with 12" nails and then pulled them up at the end of each day and leaned them up against the house until the next work day weather, etc. permitted. We already have to do that to move firewood several times a year, with a DR PowerWagon… Once that project was done I am sure I could've found other uses for all that plywood or just tried to sell it on Craigslist or something.

Anyhoo, it may sound like a lot of work but, it'd been nuthin compared to what I'm faced with now - ESPECIALLY AS I ALREADY KNOW I HAVE A HUGE BATTLE WITH GOOSE GRASS - in those same areas - LEFT OVER FROM LAST YEAR (but, thanks to SuburbanLife, at least I have the pre-emerg.s, etc. I need for that, alrady procured and on-hand! :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup: )

In any event - *Congratulations on the new roof (there ain't nuthin' like knowing one has a good roof overhead! * :thumbup:


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## Shindoman (Apr 22, 2018)

I'm a contractor. There should be no reason to drive on your lawn. Will they have access to your roof from the driveway? If so they should be able do all their access from there. Are you stripping off the old shingles or putting a new layer over top? If they are stripping then just cover the lawn with cheap plywood for the debris to land on. They will usually strip and replace one section of roof at a time. They will most likely use wheelbarrows to move it to debris truck or bin that should only be allowed in your driveway. Any reputable professional roofing contractor tor should be able to replace your roof without doing any damage to your yard.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

Shindoman said:


> I'm a contractor. There should be no reason to drive on your lawn. Will they have access to your roof from the driveway? If so they should be able do all their access from there. Are you stripping off the old shingles or putting a new layer over top? If they are stripping then just cover the lawn with cheap plywood for the debris to land on. They will usually strip and replace one section of roof at a time. They will most likely use wheelbarrows to move it to debris truck or bin that should only be allowed in your driveway. Any reputable professional roofing contractor tor should be able to replace your roof without doing any damage to your yard.


Thank you. Very helpful. They'll have access to the front from the driveway.

Two layers will be removed, and waterproofing layer and new shingle layer put on. Most likely just the back, not the front. My guess is, dumpster in the driveway, 2 or 3 days to do the project. Biggest issues I can think of if everything is done right, are getting supplies and equipment into the back, and out again, and the potential for debris and nails dropping into the yard, or shingles heating up the lawn if they're not dropped in the right place.

How do you suggest to bring this stuff into the discussion in a way that you don't sound weird, but also to cover all bases and prevent as much damage as possible?

Also, do you think I should get and position plywood ahead of time or something?

And you'd think they'd use drop tarps...but for some reason, no one covers the first few feet of the lawn with these things...just decks and patios. I don't get it.


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## Chris LI (Oct 26, 2018)

For the nail issue, the contractor should be equipped with a magnetic sweeper. If not, direct them to the nearest HD or Lowes.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

Chris LI said:


> For the nail issue, the contractor should be equipped with a magnetic sweeper. If not, direct them to the nearest HD or Lowes.


That's pretty cool.


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## SNOWBOB11 (Aug 31, 2017)

Chris LI said:


> For the nail issue, the contractor should be equipped with a magnetic sweeper. If not, direct them to the nearest HD or Lowes.


If a roofing contractor isn't equipped with one of those I wouldn't use them all together.

@Green I'd just be straight with them. Let them know you've spent a lot of money on your yard and try and keep it looking nice. They should be able to see that anyways when they come for a quote. Remember there trying to get your business so they'll probably be willing to listen to your requests before you put pen to paper and sign any contracts. Don't feel strange asking them. Tell them what you want and if they don't want to do the job the way you'd like it done find someone else that will.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

@SNOWBOB11, yes, money talks. Not only have I spent hundreds of hours, but our family has put in a lot of money over the years for lawn supplies. I don't want to think how much. That's a good angle to use. Thanks.

There goes my early spring Poa triv glyphosate plan...if I start killing spots, the lawn will look awful when the guy comes. Yikes.


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## Shindoman (Apr 22, 2018)

Green said:


> Shindoman said:
> 
> 
> > I'm a contractor. There should be no reason to drive on your lawn. Will they have access to your roof from the driveway? If so they should be able do all their access from there. Are you stripping off the old shingles or putting a new layer over top? If they are stripping then just cover the lawn with cheap plywood for the debris to land on. They will usually strip and replace one section of roof at a time. They will most likely use wheelbarrows to move it to debris truck or bin that should only be allowed in your driveway. Any reputable professional roofing contractor tor should be able to replace your roof without doing any damage to your yard.
> ...


They should load all their supplies and equipment from the driveway onto the roof. Roofers like to position the new shingles at the top of the ridge and walk up and grab what they need as they go. The only concern in your situation
is getting rid of the old shingles that will drop onto the ground. That's what the plywood is for. They may even have old shts. that they re use for this purpose. Don't be afraid to clearly state that you want no damage to any landscaped areas. Get it in writing on your quote or contract. If you hire a well respected professional roofer and communicate clearly your needs, you should not have any issues at all. Get a few quotes and DON'T take the lowest quote unless you feel they are up to the task.


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## Green (Dec 24, 2017)

@Shindoman, thanks again. The guy we're highly considering was recommended by a general contractor we know well and who has done a lot for us. I believe he had him do his own roof a few years ago. So, it's a pre-filtered suggestion, and at the top of the list. Is there a good free website for reviews? Also, if you think of anything else you want to add, by all means.


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