From Charbonneau shake to newer-home vent leaks, Wilsonville, OR 97070

Shake roofs from Wilsonville's early planned neighborhoods have had a long run, and many are now split, thin and growing moss. Owners usually want something that keeps the warm, textured look the neighborhood was built around, and the HOA often wants the same. Architectural composite in a heavy, dimensional profile is the most common choice. Synthetic slate or synthetic shake products are another, costing more up front but holding their look and shedding moss better than wood. Both need new solid sheathing over the old spaced boards. We bring sample boards and spec sheets laid out the way associations ask for them, so the approval step keeps moving.

Many of these homes also have long roof runs, low-pitched sections over patios, and a few skylights. During a conversion we flash skylights fresh, rebuild valleys with metal, and make sure the attic has enough intake at the eaves, which older shake roofs could ignore because the gaps between shakes let air through. Once solid sheathing and composite go on, that passive airflow is gone, so the vents have to do the job instead.

Wilsonville gets the Willamette Valley pattern: long rainy months, fog along the river, and storms from the southwest that bring gusty, heavy rain. It sits far enough south that Gorge east winds matter less than in east Vancouver, so most wind damage arrives from the south and west. On newer homes, wear shows up first around roof penetrations. Plumbing vents, bath fans and furnace flues were often sealed with rubber boots that crack in summer sun, and the steady rain that follows sends water into the attic. A leak in a ten-year-old Wilsonville house is often a boot, not the roof.

For older homes, we start with a full inspection and attic check, then price composite and synthetic options side by side. For newer homes with a single leak, we trace it from the attic, swap the failed boot or flashing, and check the rest of the roof while we are up there. HOA rules on work hours and parking are common here, and we plan around them. We check City of Wilsonville permit requirements and pull permits where required.