Home repair questions, answered

Because the coating has spent months baking in high-desert sun, and the first heavy storm finds every crack at once. Much of southern New Mexico's yearly rain falls in a few months of summer storms, so a roof can stay dry for most of a year and then leak in July.

The usual leak points on a flat roof:

• The joint where the roof meets the parapet wall.
• Cracked or blistered coating, especially where water ponds.
• Around vents, pipes, skylights and rooftop equipment.
• Canales and scuppers that are clogged or pulling away.

Having it looked at in spring, before the storms, is far cheaper than repairing a ceiling afterwards.

Walk it (carefully) or have someone look: chalky or worn-through coating, exposed base material, cracks, blisters, and areas where water sits after rain are the signs.

A recoat is far less work than a new roof, but only if it happens while the roof underneath is still sound. Leave it too long and the repair list grows.

Find the source before fixing the stain. On a flat-roofed house it is often the roof or a parapet, but gutters, a rooftop cooler line or a plumbing leak can all do the same thing.

Painting over it without sealing the stain lets it bleed back through, and soaked drywall usually has to be cut out. Fix the water, then the ceiling.

Hairline cracks are common and often cosmetic. Cracks that keep growing, cracks wide enough to fit a coin, stucco that sounds hollow when tapped, and cracks near a roof line or window are the ones to deal with - they let water in behind the wall.

Patching and painting together is what makes the repair disappear.

It depends on the paint, the prep and the exposure, but south- and west-facing walls in high-desert sun fade and chalk faster than anywhere wetter. When color rubs off on your hand, or trim and fascia start cracking and peeling, it's time.

Repainting before the paint fails completely means less repair work first.

It can. Homes built before 1978 may have lead-based paint under the newer coats, and federal EPA rules govern how anyone paid to sand, scrape or cut into those surfaces must contain and clean up the work.

Mention roughly when your house was built when you ask for an estimate.

Every job is priced after a free estimate, because what Willie finds on site decides the price. No prices are quoted over the phone or in chat.

Yes. Contact us about the project and Willie will arrange a time to come out and give you a quote, at no charge.

Yes - Willie's Home Repair is licensed and insured.

Some problems can't wait. Call directly for anything urgent and we'll do our best to respond quickly. If water is leaking, shut it off at the fixture or the main first.

Yes. Every job is finished to a standard Willie is happy to put his name on - if something isn't right, call.

Las Cruces, Doña Ana, Anthony and Alamogordo in New Mexico, and El Paso, Texas.

Monday to Saturday, 9am to 5pm.

Over 30 years. Willie's Home Repair was founded in Las Cruces and is still run here by Willie Isaacs.