Manvel’s roofs and remodels, between Highway 288 and Highway 6
Manvel had 9,908 people at the 2020 census, and in November 2021 there were 12,000 lots in twelve housing complexes waiting to be developed. State Highway 288 runs through the northwest part of the city and reaches downtown Houston in 20 miles, and the jobs here range from new roofs on fresh framing to remodels in occupied houses.
Working in Manvel
The W.R. Booth family settled along Chocolate Bayou in 1857. When the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railroad started a line toward Arcola in 1877, a settlement called Pamona grew up, and it was later renamed Manvel after a man who went on to become president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad. The Manvel Post Office opened on September 22, 1892, and the city incorporated in August 1960 with 300 people. It has grown more than thirtyfold since, to the 9,908 counted in 2020.
Subdivisions in Manvel include Rodeo Palms, Lakeland, Pomona, Meridianna, Del Bello Lakes, Bluewater Lakes and Sedona Lakes. Iowa Colony, Pearland, Arcola, Fresno and Alvin are the neighbors, students attend Alvin Independent School District schools, and State Highway 6 and Interstate 69 are the other major roads. If your subdivision has an HOA, its rules on roof color and material are worth reading before a re-roof, and we work from the approved list rather than asking forgiveness later. Chocolate Bayou, where the Booth family settled, is the water we check against on any new structure near it.
A house still under its builder’s original roof is a different conversation from one that has been through several hail seasons. On a new house, we look for installation problems that show up early: missing drip edge, nails set high, valleys laid without a proper weave or cut, flashing that relies on caulk. On an older roof, we look for hail bruising, worn granules and lifted tabs. Either way, you get photos and a plain answer, and if the roof is fine, that is the answer you get, along with what to watch for next spring.
Manvel is incorporated, so a re-roof, a remodel or an addition inside the city answers to the City of Manvel’s permit office, and we check what it requires before scheduling. A Manvel mailing address is not proof of a Manvel lot; outside the city, the questions shift to floodplain, septic and driveway rules set by the county and the state. Flat ground and clay soil sit under every lot here, which is why slab movement and drainage come up on remodels as well as on new work.
The jobs that come up here
Architectural shingle installation puts a dimensional shingle on new work: an addition, a detached garage, a new outbuilding, or a framed house that has never had a roof. Architectural shingle replacement is the tear-off version for an existing roof that is worn or storm damaged. For a Manvel house where hail is the worry, impact-resistant shingles are worth comparing, and we explain what the impact rating on the wrapper actually measures before you decide. On new and old work alike, we match the underlayment and ventilation to the roof instead of to whatever was on the truck. On a newer house we also check the attic ventilation that came with it, since a short ridge vent over blocked soffits ages a young roof early.
Custom bathroom remodeling builds the bathroom around the people using it: a curbless shower for a parent, a vanity at a height that suits a tall household, storage where it is actually needed. Family room remodeling reworks the room where everyone ends up, sometimes by moving a wall, sometimes by changing the ceiling, the lighting and the built-ins. Both start with measuring what is there and checking the slab and the walls before we draw what will be. You get a drawing and a written scope before any demolition, and changes after that point are priced in writing before they happen. If your HOA wants to see exterior changes too, such as a new window, we build its review into the schedule.
- Architectural shingle installation Architectural shingles are two layers of asphalt laminated into one heavier, thicker shingle, cut so the roof shows shadow lines instead of flat rows.
- Architectural shingle replacement Plenty of older Houston subdivisions were built with three-tab shingles, and many of those roofs are at the end of their run.
- Custom bathroom remodeling Builder bathrooms are designed for nobody in particular: a short vanity, a shower head at one height, a tub every house gets.
Plenty of roofs we look at need a repair or nothing at all. If that is yours, you will hear it from us first.
My Manvel house is fairly new. Can the roof already have problems?
Yes. Installation mistakes show up early: missing drip edge, nails set too high, valleys done wrong, flashing that is mostly caulk. We check for those along with storm damage and tell you plainly what we find, with photos of each spot.
Does the City of Manvel need a permit for a bathroom remodel?
Work inside the city that changes plumbing, electrical or walls generally needs one, and the City of Manvel’s permit office sets the requirement for your project. We confirm it for your address and put the inspection dates into the schedule. A cosmetic refresh with no plumbing or wall changes may need nothing, and we confirm that too.
My subdivision in Manvel has an HOA. Who handles the approval for a new roof?
You submit it, since it is your house, and we give you everything the HOA asks for: the product, the color and the spec sheet. If they want a change, we price the change before anything is ordered. Most approvals are paperwork; trouble comes only when somebody skips them.
For a Manvel roof, what does a shingle’s impact rating actually mean?
It reports how the shingle performed when steel balls of a set size were dropped on it in a lab. Class 4 is the highest rating. It is a useful comparison between products, and no shingle is hail-proof, whatever a brochure suggests.
How do you protect a Manvel family room floor during a remodel?
Floors outside the work area get covered, dust walls go up with zipper doors, and we run air filtration where the work makes dust. The crew cleans up at the end of each day, so you are not living in a construction site after dinner.
Close by
We also work in Iowa Colony, Pearland, Arcola, Fresno, Alvin. The whole list is on the Brazoria County page.
We are based in Cypress and work across twelve counties around Houston. Leland Cannon retired from the Army as a First Sergeant; Geoff Schardien served in the Air Force. The scope you get is in writing, and the person who wrote it answers the phone.