Roofing on Apollo Drive, Algonquin Trail and in Partridge Highlands, Stow, Ohio

What was built on these Stow streets?

Stow kept growing through the 1970s and 1980s on its way to 27,702 residents by 1990. Apollo Drive and Algonquin Trail filled in during the 1970s, and Partridge Highlands followed in the 1980s. The city's median home dates to about 1979, so these streets are the statistical middle of Stow. The houses are bi-levels, split-levels and early two-stories with attached garages.

Why do these roofs have more leak points than a ranch?

Look at a bi-level from the street. The garage roof sits lower than the main roof and dies into the house wall. That joint needs step flashing tucked under the siding. Where the garage ridge runs into the main slope there is a valley. Add a framed chimney chase on an outside wall, two or three plumbing vents, a bath fan vent and sometimes a skylight over the stairs. Each one is a hole or a joint. A ranch might have five such details. A bi-level can have a dozen.

Pitch is steeper too, commonly 5/12 to 7/12. That is still workable, but slower than a ranch, and water moves faster into the valleys.

Which roof is a 1979 Stow house on now?

Its first shingles were 3-tabs that lasted until the late 1990s. What happened next decides where it stands today.

• If the second roof was another 3-tab, it wore out between about 2012 and 2019, and the house is likely on a fairly young third roof.
• If the second roof was an early architectural shingle, it is now 25 to 28 years old and due.
• If the second roof was laid over the first, there are two layers up there, and the next job is a full strip.

Our post on when a 1979 Stow roof is due works through each case.

What should be checked first on a bi-level or split-level?

• Step flashing at the garage wall. Look for stains on the garage ceiling along the house side.
• The valley between garage and house. Granules wash out fastest here.
• The chimney chase. Check its top and its uphill corners.
• Pipe boots. Rubber collars from a late-1990s re-roof are well past their life.
• Upper downspouts that empty onto the lower roof. The shingles under that stream wear in a stripe.
• Attic ventilation. The low attic over a bi-level traps heat unless air can move from soffit to ridge.

Several of these are repairs, not reasons to replace. See Stow roof repair and skylight and chimney flashing.

What do trees and snow do on these streets?

Trees planted with these houses are forty to fifty years old, right at the size where limbs reach over the roof. Stow's long run as a Tree City USA community means those trees have been kept. Expect moss on shaded north slopes and leaf litter in the garage valley. In winter that same valley is where snow drifts and ice builds, because Stow sits in the secondary snowbelt. Ice and water shield in the valleys matters more here than on a plain gable.

Who issues the roofing permit for Apollo Drive and Partridge Highlands?

Apollo Drive, Algonquin Trail and Partridge Highlands are all inside the city, so the permit office is the City of Stow Building Department at 3760 Darrow Road. Roofing is on the city's list of permit work, and the city's guide says contractors register with the city before taking out a permit.

How do you start?

The owner inspects the roof himself and sends a photo report the same day, rated Good, Watch or Replace Soon. If the roof is due, the written price that follows holds for a year. Begin with a free Stow roof inspection, or read about roof replacement in Stow first.