Where a church roof starts to leak
A church roof is rarely one plane. It is a nave ridge, transept gables, a steep tower cone and a run of valleys where all of them meet, and water finds the weakest joint among them. Leaks tend to start at the places that move or change direction: the tower base, a chimney, a dormer cheek, the eave where a low aisle roof tucks under a taller wall.
Those leaks are slow and hard to read. Water enters at one flashing, runs along a rafter and drips into the sanctuary thirty feet away, so the stain on the ceiling is not where the repair belongs. A patch placed over the stain buys a season and hides the real fault.
That is why so many congregations call a second or third roofer. The First Congressional Church on 3rd Avenue in Anoka wrote Austad a letter saying exactly that: no fewer than three other companies had tried to fix leaks in the roof and failed. Their hail damage dated to 2006 and the bell tower work to 2007, and they closed with “I can recommend AUSTAD CONSTRUCTION without reservation.”
Historic roofs, evaluated before anyone quotes
Every church job begins with a free roof evaluation. Someone from the shop on Ryan Lane walks the roof, follows the water back to its source and tells the building committee what is failing, what is sound and what can wait. The same letter from Anoka says it plainly: Mr. Austad was by far the most knowledgeable of the group.
From there the work is whatever the roof needs. Repairs where a repair is honest, a full replacement where it is not, and historic preservation or historic restoration when the building's character depends on the roofing itself. Architectural sheet metal is part of the trade here: flashings, tower caps, cornices and gutters formed to the building rather than bought off a shelf.
The crews work with the systems the building suits, including GAF Timberline shingle, Owens Corning and Fabral metal, under a Minnesota Building Contractor License, BC320318. Austad is licensed, bonded and insured, so a congregation's volunteers and trustees are not carrying the liability.
Keeping the roof dry after the work is done
A church roof does not end with the final nail. Gutters fill with leaves from the nearest oak, snow slides off a steep slope onto a lower roof, and hail finds the same south-west faces every storm. Austad offers roof maintenance so small problems are found on a walk of the roof and not on a Sunday morning.
After a Twin Cities hail storm, a free hail damage inspection tells a congregation whether shingle, metal or flashing has been bruised, split or dented, with the findings written down for the church's insurer and trustees.
If your building is in St Paul, Minneapolis, Woodbury or out toward Anoka, call the office or book an evaluation. The first visit costs nothing, and the answer comes from the people who own the company.
