When people in Erin search for a roofer near them, the nearest one is genuinely us: same town, one village over.
Village roofs and county roofs are two different jobs
Main Street Erin and the streets running off it are largely nineteenth and early twentieth century — steep pitches, dormers, decorative gables, tight lot lines and mature trees on top of the roof. Access is the constraint. You cannot always get a trailer where you would like it, the neighbour's driveway is four feet away, and there is usually a tree that has to be worked around rather than through.
Out on the concessions it inverts. Access is easy, the roofs are big and simple, and the problem is exposure: long uninterrupted runs of wind across ploughed fields, and eaves that ice up because a big farmhouse leaks a lot of heat into its attic. Those roofs want their fastening pattern and their eave protection taken seriously, not their access.
Cedar is more common here than the numbers suggest
The Erin countryside has a lot of cedar, partly heritage and partly because people building out here choose it. It is the material most often ruined by a cheap installation — laid flat onto solid sheathing with a non-breathable underlayment, so it can never dry from the back and rots where you cannot see it. If you have cedar, ask whoever quotes you how they are going to ventilate underneath the courses. If they do not have an answer, that is your answer.
We build the air gap in, use stainless fixings because cedar is acidic and eats plain galvanised, and run open metal valleys so debris washes through. More on how we do cedar.
Permits, and the Credit River headwaters
Erin's building department handles permits for the whole town, Hillsburgh included. A like-for-like re-shingle with no structural change does not normally need one under Ontario's ordinary maintenance and repair provisions; structural work, a new skylight opening, a flat roof assembly change or a material switch does.
The other local wrinkle is water. Erin sits at the headwaters of the Credit, much of the town is on private wells and septic, and Credit Valley Conservation has an interest in properties near the river and the wetlands. That does not usually touch a re-roof, but it does mean we pay attention to where your roof water is being sent — a downspout discharging at the foundation on a property with a septic bed is a problem worth ten minutes of thought.
What Erin calls us for
Erin sends us a wider spread of materials than anywhere else on the map, because the countryside here has money and taste in roughly equal measure.
- Asphalt shingle re-roofs — the village core and the newer builds
- Steel & metal roofing — farmhouses, outbuildings and anything taking open-field wind
- Cedar shake & shingle — a real share of Erin's rural roofs, and the one most often ruined by a cheap install
- Flat roofing & skylights
- Roof repair & leak detection — eight minutes from our yard
- Eavestrough, soffit & fascia
Erin roofing questions
How quickly can you get to Erin?
About eight minutes from our yard in Hillsburgh. Erin and Hillsburgh are the same municipality and we are in both most weeks.
Is cedar worth it on an Erin property?
It can be, and there is a lot of it out here. The thing that decides whether you get decades or a decade is whether the cedar can dry from both faces. That means battens or a breathable mat creating an air gap under the courses, stainless fixings, and open metal valleys. Laid flat onto sheathing it will rot from the back.
Do you work out on the concession lines, or just in the village?
Both. Rural properties are a large part of what we do — farmhouses, outbuildings and hobby farms out on the Lines and sideroads. Open-field wind exposure changes how a roof should be fastened, and we price that in rather than pretending a farmhouse is a subdivision house.
Getting a quote in Erin
Erin village is about eight minutes down Trafalgar Road from our yard in Hillsburgh — the two communities share a town office, and we work across both constantly. We come out, get on the roof, measure squares and pitch, look at the deck and the flashing details, and leave you a written quote at no cost and with no obligation to book. If your roof has more life in it than you think, we will say so. Call or text (519) 400-3840.