Imagine, you’re due to being on the sidewalk, taking a look at an average house. You see the siding, the windows, the top door, and far above, you observe the roof. Does the cover have asphalt shingles? Wood shakes perhaps? Maybe it’s crafted from metal or rubber tiles? What the thing is is where the attention goes, but it’s whatever you don’t observe that really matters. There’s more to roofing than what you know already. So let’s speak about what proceeds, within the shingles. The Roof Deck We figure out how to crawl before we walk, when talking about roofing let’s get started with square one, the top area of your homes which is made from wood. Your wood roof deck is similar to an automobiles metal body. It is placed on top with the basic house frame to present a floor on which to fit Shingles. Without a roof deck set up on your house, there would be nowhere to put in your Shingles. And of course with no shingles, your homes roof deck would rot away as a result of exposure for the sun, rain, snow and ice and etc...not only a comfortable home by any means! On Newer Houses, sheets of plywood or OSB boards are fastened together with wooden trusses within your attic to form the cover deck. Plywood or OSB boards are set up on a staggered formation with small spaces totally to allow wood to be expanded and contract because the wood heats in the summertime and cools in winter. Older homes frequently have lengths of 2" x 6" installed rather then plywood or OSB board. When the time comes that you replace your Roof System, be sure you have your Calgary Roofing Contractor replace every damaged wood. Remember, if your homes deck is rotting or damaged by any means, people walking on the roof could potentially crack or break from the wood, causing further damage to your roof system, including to the shingles...and to your person who walked on it! However, most roof decks can withstand a modest amount of exposure to water or ice before it has to be replaced. Metal: Drip Edge and Rake Edge Drip edge and Rake edge will be the first the main Roof System to get installed. It can be a long and narrow part of metal that's installed along each side of your Roof Deck, ie: on the eaves trough and over the gable ends. Some area local building codes have to have the installation of Drip Edge and Rake Edge along with building codes don't. Check with a nearby city building offices to uncover. In Alberta one example is, the Building Code does not need the installation of Drip edge or Rake edge. Therefore many new homes and/or low quality roof systems don't have drip edge positioned in order permitting for less expensive roof prices. We recommend however that Drip edge and Rake edge be set up on every Roof System, no exceptions. Drip and Rake edge can be found in a variety of different colors and sizes which enable it to be custom built for your needs of the roof system. Installing a suitable drip edge often saves hundreds and occasionally thousands of dollars when your homes system needs replaced. If your Roof System will not currently have drip or rake edge installed, don't panic, you'll survive very well. Just be conscious of when your homes needs to become replaced, the Roofing Contractor you may have to replace some of the wood Roof Deck by using an as needed basis. Metal: Chimneys and Skylights Arguably the main part of every complete roof system. The metal positioned in the valleys, chimneys and skylights make brunt of water flow on every roof. Poorly installed, a new roof system can create a waterfall out of the living room. Every chimney and skylight needs what exactly is referred to as “a back pan”, which includes sheet metal folded around a 90 degree angle (with regards to the slope of the roof) and tucks in the shingles and up in the siding, stucco or counter flashing about the chimney or skylight. Every back pan wants a small 2” portion of metal herniated 1” or higher from spare on both of the chimney or skylight to divert water from the corners. Water should hit the metal back pan and also be directed away on each side where it might continue its encounter the eaves trough. Metal: Valleys In the same way water runs on the valleys between two mountains, water runs across the valleys on the roof peaks. Valleys generally get the highest concentration of water flowing through them, therefore installing them correctly is important! As mentioned from the Leak Barrier section, valleys have leak barriers installed underneath them. Even though some Building Codes tend not to require a real leak barrier being installed, we recommend installing one always in every valley. A word of caution: Many roofing companies install valleys within a style known as 'closed'. A closed valley includes Shingles woven inside valley, instead of an 'open' valley which includes sheet metal running all the way through. Both the 'open' as well as the 'closed' design of installation are acceptable with the most Building Codes and also most manufacturers, however, the 'open' style installation has consistently out performed the 'closed' style...and charges exactly the same price to setup. Ask your Roofing Contractor make use of the 'open' design of installation to your roofs valleys, this can save you from the need to replace houses roof system prematurely as well as can avoid headaches inside long run. Typically, an 'open' valley is installed using a 30 gauge sheet metal, 4' wide, being released in 10' sheets. This metal might be ordered in every color to fit the shingles on the roof system. Leak Barrier Think of your leak barrier being a "second layer" of protection for the Roof Deck. A backup plan, if you'll, as well as a protection against moisture increase. Leak barriers are nearly always placed on top with the Drip Edge and Rake Edge metal along eaves trough areas, gable areas and valleys because from the risk these areas pose for leaks, ice accumulate, shingle deterioration and water back flow. If you've ever looked at your homes during winter, you'll notice how ice and snow builds up over the length of your respective eaves troughs and inside your roof valleys. As with Rake Edge and Drip Edge, some Building codes require Leak Barriers to get installed and a few Building Codes will not. In Alberta, the Building Code takes a leak Barrier to be set up on all eaves trough and valley parts of a Roof Systems as a consequence of issues related to such snow and ice increase. As an optional upgrade, some top quality roof systems have leak barriers placed on top from the entire Roof Deck (instead of only across the special areas we only mentioned) where ordinarily a standard Roof Deck Protection would as a rule have been installed. Virtually all roofs in Calgary, Alberta have leak barriers installed, and plenty of different sorts of leak barriers come in today's market, each offering some other level of reliability, functionality and warrantee and made by many different manufacturers. Choosing a proper Leak Barrier and setting it up properly is a step in every Roof System. Speak along with your Roofing Contractor to understand more about leak barriers, choosing the right one and choosing a Professional Roofing Contractor to setup it. Roof Deck Protection Roof Deck Protection can be quite similar to a Leak Barrier. The difference is the fact that Roof Deck Protection is attached with the entire Roof Deck area rather than only on "special areas" when we mention from the Leak Barrier section. Typically, Roof Deck Protection is usually a step lacking in quality than the usual Leak Barrier. As with Leak Barriers however, there are many different kinds of Roof Deck Protection on the market to choose from between basic felt/tar paper to advanced plastic woven sheets of rip and wrinkle proof material. Choosing a reliable Roof Deck Protection is an important a part of a quality Roof System. A word of caution; most roofing companies use felt paper as Roof Deck Protection. Although using felt paper is usually a standard and acceptable practice, some issues can arise if your felt paper becomes wet during or following installation. Ever notice how paper will curl gets hotter dries after that it was wet? In a similar way, felt paper can curl if water or excess moisture touches it. For this reason, and since the cost is fairly small, we recommend installing a larger quality Roof Deck Protection including a GAF/ELK Deck Armour. For a relatively small additional cost, you may be rewarded using a much more reliable Roof Deck Protection. Ask any local trusted Roofing Contractor about which under-layer would be best for ones Roof System any why. Conclusion So there it truly is, life under the shingles. See how much continues behind the scenes? Professional roofers know these things inside and out and may help immensely in ensuring a roof strategy is reliable for quite some time. Product suppliers for instance GAF/Elk and IKO will help answer specific questions regarding products also. All the best using your roofing project, please remember, be proactive, make educated decisions. Article Submitted with a Calgary Roofing Contractor: Eric Gilbert from The Roof Hospital
