Roofers replace shingles. General contractors repair the structural framing system underneath them. When a sagging ridge, failing rafters, or rotted sheathing substrate is the problem, resurfacing the roof does not fix it. APCON LLC repairs the structure that has failed — rafters, ridge board, collar ties, sheathing substrate — then coordinates with a licensed roofing contractor to restore the surface once the structure is stabilized. Fixed-price contract. Permit coordination included. 5-year written structural guarantee.
Attic access, rafter-by-rafter assessment, moisture meter readings at sheathing faces and rafter tops, ridge board and collar tie evaluation, ventilation assessment. Written findings and fixed-price structural proposal. $350 credited in full if you proceed.
Most homeowners who call a roofer about a sagging ridge or soft sheathing get a surface quote. That is because roofing contractors are licensed under WAC 296-200A-016(56) for surface work — shingles, underlayment, flashing, gutters. They are not licensed under WAC 296-200A-016(23) for structural framing repair. The result is a predictable gap: the surface gets replaced, the structural problem underneath it does not get addressed, and the same failure recurs.
APCON LLC holds Washington State General Contractor License #APCONL*825QO and performs roof structural framing repair directly. The scope is the wood structure that forms the roof geometry and carries its loads: rafters, ridge board, collar ties, hip and valley rafters, ceiling joists at bearing, and the sheathing substrate. When those members have failed due to dry rot and moisture intrusion, we repair the structure. When the surface roofing must then be restored to reseal the building envelope, we coordinate that work with a Washington State–licensed roofing contractor.
In Pacific Northwest homes, the dominant mechanism for roof framing failure is not a surface leak — it is attic condensation. Inadequate attic ventilation traps interior humid air in the cavity between the insulation and the roof deck. In Western Washington's cool, damp climate, that trapped humid air condenses on the cold underside of the roof sheathing with every temperature drop. This condensation cycle — invisible from below and from above — deposits moisture on rafter tops and sheathing faces repeatedly over years, creating the sustained humidity conditions that establish and propagate fungal decay without any active water entry from outside.
The result is a structural problem that a new roof surface will not solve. This page covers what we do and what we coordinate. See our pre-listing inspection repair page for how roof framing findings fit into a transaction preparation scope.
We repair the structural framing system that has failed due to dry rot or moisture intrusion: rafters, ridge board, collar ties, hip and valley rafters, blocking, and sheathing substrate. This is GC framing scope under WAC 296-200A-016(23).
Roofing surface restoration — shingles, underlayment, ice and water shield, flashing, gutters — is a specialty trade under WAC 296-200A-016(56). Once the structural framing is stabilized and permitted, surface roofing restoration is coordinated with a Washington State–licensed roofing contractor. APCON LLC does not perform surface roofing work and does not hold a roofing specialty license.
This is the mechanism most homeowners — and most roofers — miss. A new roof surface does not interrupt it. A structural repair without ventilation correction does not prevent recurrence.
Humid Interior Air Rises
Interior air — carrying cooking, bathing, and occupancy moisture — rises into the attic cavity through ceiling penetrations, recessed lights, and inadequate air sealing at the top plate. In Western Washington homes built before 1990, attic air sealing was rarely a construction priority.
Condensation on Cold Sheathing
The interior humid air meets the cold underside of the roof sheathing — cooled by exterior winter temperatures. Dew point is reached at the sheathing face. Moisture condenses directly onto the sheathing and the top edges of the rafters bearing against it. No roof leak required.
Decay Establishes Over Years
Repeated condensation cycles maintain wood moisture content above 19% — the threshold at which fungal decay organisms become biologically active. Over three to ten years, rafter top edges and sheathing faces develop active decay that progresses inward and downward, invisible from below until rafters visibly sag or sheathing delaminates.
A forensic diagnostic that identifies condensation-driven rafter decay without assessing attic ventilation is an incomplete diagnostic. Replacing the structural framing without correcting the moisture mechanism that caused the failure produces a temporary result — the new members will accumulate the same decay on the same timeline as the ones they replaced. Our written findings document the ventilation condition and identify whether ridge vent, soffit vent, or vapor control modifications are required as part of the complete repair scope.
These are the observable conditions that warrant a forensic attic assessment. Surface appearance of the roof does not correlate reliably with structural condition below it.
Visible Ridge Sag Viewed from Exterior
A roof ridge line that is visibly curved, dipped at a point, or progressively drooping has experienced structural failure at the ridge board, the rafter pairs bearing into it, or both. This is not a settling issue — it is active structural compromise. A sagging ridge is not self-limiting. Without repair, the geometry continues to degrade, increasing the load on adjacent members and accelerating the scope.
Dark Staining or Soft Wood Visible from Attic
Viewed from the attic, active rafter decay presents as dark brown or black discoloration along the top edge of rafter members, white mycelial fungal growth on sheathing faces, or wood that compresses under hand pressure. Any rafter that crumbles at the top edge or at the bird's mouth bearing cut has lost structural cross-section and cannot be assessed as serviceable without quantified measurement of remaining solid wood.
Ceiling Staining Without Active Roof Leak
Interior ceiling water staining that appears in winter or during cold weather — but cannot be traced to an active roof surface leak — is a strong indicator of attic condensation accumulation sufficient to wet the sheathing above the ceiling finish. The moisture source is inside the building, not outside it. A new roof surface will not eliminate the staining because the condensation mechanism does not require a surface defect to generate bulk moisture.
Inspection Report Citing Attic Framing Decay
Pre-listing and buyer inspection reports that use language like "rafter rot," "sheathing delamination," "attic moisture damage," or "fungal growth on roof framing" document a structural condition that generates lender and buyer concern at every subsequent transaction. Roof framing deficiencies are among the conditions that most consistently trigger conventional lender repair requirements before funding. Completing structural repair before listing removes this friction entirely.
Wavy or Uneven Roof Plane
A roof surface that shows irregular undulation — not the uniform plane of a properly framed and sheathed roof — indicates that sheathing panels have delaminated or that the rafters beneath them have deflected beyond their design tolerance. This is visible from grade on a clear day with a low sun angle. Roofers frequently attribute this to sheathing issues and replace the surface; without rafter and substrate assessment first, the replacement installs over the same structural deficiency.
High Attic Humidity Readings in Winter
An attic relative humidity reading above 70% in winter — measured during a diagnostic with a calibrated meter — confirms an active condensation risk condition regardless of whether visible decay is present yet. At sustained RH above 80%, fungal decay organisms activate in wood. An attic that measures above threshold is one where the decay process is either already underway or will begin within a predictable timeline. This is the most actionable pre-failure indicator available.
Structural framing repair and surface roofing restoration are sequential scopes, not simultaneous ones. The structure must be repaired and permitted before the surface is restored. We manage both sides of that sequence under one GC contract.
Forensic Diagnostic
Attic access, rafter-by-rafter probe assessment, moisture meter at sheathing faces and rafter tops, ridge board and collar tie evaluation, ventilation inlet and outlet measurement, identification of condensation vs. bulk water origin. Written findings. $350 credited 100% toward repair contract.
Written Findings & Proposal
Member-by-member scope: rafter count requiring sistering vs. full replacement, sheathing square footage, ridge board linear footage, collar tie installation count, ventilation correction requirements, permit determination, and surface roofing coordination scope. Lump-sum fixed price covering both GC structural and coordinated roofing trades. No open-ended items.
Structural Build
Rafter sistering or full replacement with pressure-treated or kiln-dried framing lumber per IRC span tables. Ridge board repair or replacement. Collar tie installation per code. Sheathing substrate replacement where required. Blocking and frieze block repair. Ventilation correction. Permit inspection coordination. Surface roofing restoration by licensed roofing contractor once structure passes inspection.
Documentation & Guarantee
Written 5-year structural guarantee on all framing work. Permit final if applicable. Photo documentation before and after. Written project record for disclosure packages, lender repair requirements, and real estate transactions.
All structural framing repair performed by APCON LLC under License #APCONL*825QO carries a written 5-year guarantee against defects in workmanship and materials. The guarantee covers the structural framing scope only — surface roofing warranty is provided by the licensed roofing contractor performing that scope. Both are delivered as written documents at project completion.
A new roof surface installed over compromised framing is a cosmetic repair over a structural failure. The decay beneath it continues. The outcome is predictable and costly.
New Roof Surface Fails Prematurely
Shingles and underlayment installed over deflecting or decayed rafters will not maintain their geometry. As the structural members continue to lose cross-section and deflect further, the surface above them buckles, cracks at fastener points, and loses its weathertight seal. A $15,000–$25,000 roof replacement installed over unrepaired framing may develop surface failures within five years of installation — and the contractor who installed the surface is not liable for the structural condition beneath it.
Ridge Sag Becomes Geometry Failure
A sagging ridge board that continues to degrade places progressively increasing compressive load on the rafter pairs bearing into it and increasing outward thrust on the top plates of the exterior walls below. At an advanced stage, ridge failure is not a roof repair — it is a structural reconstruction that involves wall framing, temporary shoring, and significantly greater scope than early-stage rafter repair. The difference in cost between a ridge board repair at first observation and a ridge reconstruction after three years of deferred repair is not incremental — it is a multiple.
Decay Propagates Into Wall Top Plates
Rafter bird's mouth bearing cuts sit directly on the wall top plate. When the rafter bird's mouth decays, moisture transfers into the top plate below it. Top plate decay at the eave line is a wall framing failure that requires opening the exterior wall assembly to repair. This is the pattern we most frequently observe when a roof framing diagnostic is deferred — the original rafter scope has expanded downward into the wall framing by the time assessment occurs. See our dry rot remediation page for the full scope of decay propagation.
Transaction and Financing Exposure
Documented roof framing decay in a pre-listing inspection report is one of the conditions most consistently flagged by conventional lenders as a repair requirement before funding. Buyers are instructed to request structural repair completion and written documentation before closing. Completing structural repairs before listing — with written permit documentation and a 5-year guarantee — eliminates this leverage point entirely and produces a disclosure package that positions the property as maintained, not deferred.
This is the clearest way to understand who does what on a roof framing repair project. The delineation is not arbitrary — it follows Washington State licensing law exactly.
APCON LLC holds Washington State General Contractor License #APCONL*825QO, general liability insurance, and contractor bond. All structural roof framing work is performed directly under this license per WAC 296-200A-016(23). Surface roofing restoration is coordinated with appropriately licensed roofing contractors under GC oversight — subcontractor minimum invoice threshold for coordination: $3,000. APCON LLC does not hold a roofing specialty license and does not perform surface roofing work directly.
Older Craftsman and bungalow housing stock in University Place and North End Tacoma carries a high incidence of unvented or under-vented attic cavities — the primary driver of condensation-based rafter decay in this market. Gig Harbor properties with complex roof geometries — multiple hips, valleys, and dormers — present the highest concentration of valley rafter failure we assess in Pierce County.
Roof framing decay rarely occurs in isolation — the same moisture mechanisms that affect attic framing affect other structural assemblies in the same building envelope.
The questions that determine whether this project gets scoped correctly or gets deferred until the scope doubles. Answered directly.
Licensing & Regulatory Compliance Notice — Realty Repair Co. is a registered trade name of APCON LLC (Washington State General Contractor License #APCONL*825QO). Roof structural framing repair — including rafters, ridge board, collar ties, hip and valley rafters, blocking, and sheathing substrate — is performed directly by APCON LLC under GC license as structural framing work per WAC 296-200A-016(23). This scope does not require specialty trade licensing.
Roofing surface restoration — shingles, underlayment, ice and water shield, flashing, gutters, and surface roofing components — is a specialty trade under WAC 296-200A-016(56). APCON LLC does not hold a roofing specialty license and does not perform surface roofing work directly. Once the structural framing is stabilized and permitted, surface roofing restoration is coordinated with a Washington State–licensed roofing contractor under GC oversight. All electrical work encountered in connection with a repair project is performed exclusively by licensed electrical contractors per RCW 19.28. APCON LLC does not hold specialty trade licenses for electrical, plumbing, or HVAC and does not perform specialty trade work directly in those categories.
It is a cosmetic layer over an active structural failure. A forensic diagnostic goes into the attic, reads moisture at every rafter, and defines the exact framing scope — before the ridge drops further, before the top plates absorb the decay, and before a $6,000 repair becomes a $30,000 reconstruction. $350, credited 100% toward your repair contract.
WA GC License #APCONL*825QO · Lump-Sum Fixed Price · 5-Year Written Guarantee · Roofing Contractor Coordinated