Roofing in Errington and Coombs

Table C-2 of the BC Building Code lists Parksville at 1,200 mm of annual rainfall. Inland along Highway 4, the same table lists Port Alberni at 1,900 mm. Errington and Coombs sit between those two rows and appear in neither.

A 700 mm difference between two code locations along the same highway changes how we build your roof. It is the difference between a covering that dries between weather systems and one that stays damp under canopy from October through April.

We choose between the coastal row and the inland row, leaning toward inland figures the further west or higher up your property sits.

Acreage lots here carry mature second-growth Douglas fir and cedar, and a roof under that canopy lives a different life from one in open ground. Needle litter fills valleys and gutters faster. North slopes stay shaded through the winter and grow moss that lifts shingle tabs from underneath.

On an acreage lot we keep to the same basics: keep the roof clean and free from debris, keep overhanging branches trimmed back, and clear gutters and downspouts of anything that impedes their function. Zinc or copper strips can help control moss growth.

On a canopy lot the inspection interval matters more than the covering choice. Two roofs of the same age, same product and same installer can be a decade apart on service life because one of them got cleared every autumn.

Neither Errington nor Coombs is incorporated, so building permits fall to the Regional District of Nanaimo rather than to a municipal department. Re-roofing sits on the RDN's published list of work needing no permit, under the wording roofing repairs or replacements, qualified only by no structural changes being made.

Farm buildings on land designated for agricultural use and holding farm status under the Assessment Act are exempt in their own right, which matters on an acreage carrying a barn, shop or equipment shelter alongside the house.

The permit list still catches alterations, additions or repairs to an existing building or structure, interior structural renovations, and installing solar panels. If your re-roof changes the roof line or alters the rafters, you will need a permit for it.