Parapet wall

More roofing & materials terms

• Nail pop

  A fastener that has backed out and is lifting the surface above it - a shingle on a roof, or the painted surface of drywall inside - usually from movement, heat cycling, or a fastener that missed the framing. A few are a repair; pops across a whole slope usually point to an installation or ventilation problem rather than to wind or hail, and that pattern is often not covered as storm damage.

• OSB

  Oriented strand board - an engineered panel of glued wood strands, commonly used as roof decking instead of plywood. It is easy to spot by the flake pattern; it holds fasteners well while dry, but once it gets wet it swells at the edges and loses that grip, so it draws close attention on water and storm claims.

• Peel-and-stick membrane

  A self-adhering roofing membrane, often used as underlayment on steep-slope roofs or as a cap sheet on low-slope roofs, that seals around nails and resists ice dams. It is priced by the square, and where it is required depends on the local code.

• Pipe boot

  The rubber or metal seal around vent pipes that stick through the roof.

• Pipe collar

  The flashing piece that seals a roof where a plumbing vent pipe passes through it, also called a pipe boot. Collars crack with sun exposure, and a failed collar is a leading source of small roof leaks, so it appears as its own line item on a repair scope.

• Plywood

  The wood sheathing panels nailed to roof framing, sold in thicknesses like 7/16 or 15/32 inch and rated for roof decking. Decks are replaced when they are delaminated, rotted, or too thin for the new covering, and the replacement is priced by the sheet.

Common questions