Roofing/Siding Education

Benefits of Doing Your Roof

We know most people are not excited about doing roof. Most people look forward to new kitchen or new bathroom, but regard a new roof as an unavoidable necessity.

Here are some things to get excited about!

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3. If you are selling your home. If your roof is older, you will, most likely get a higher price for sale. This is because many buyers use roof condition to negotiate the price, and frequently negotiate a lot more off the sale price than what the roof would actually cost you to do yourself. We then extend your Roof Warranty to your buyer, and this takes all negotiating about roof off the table. This almost always works out in your favor.

What to look for that shows you need a new roof.

If you have a leak… you may need a new roof, or only a roof repair. We will be able to determine this. We will not recommend a new roof if you only need a roof repair.

If your insurance company tells you that you need a new roof. Probably the second easiest way to help you decide!

If you are missing shingles, or if you find shingles in your yard even though you don’t see any missing shingles.

If you have lift. Lift is a roofing term that defines the situation where the seal between each shingle is broken and you can see the shingles “lifted” slightly at the lower edges of each or some shingles.

Your Experienced Roofer

5 East Main Street Unit 446 Yaphank NY 11980

(631) 410-6700

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Roof Algae Solution

We can install zinc or copper strips at peak.

What appears to be a dirty roof frequently is actually a type of algae. This can be solved very simply with zinc or copper installed at peak.

These metals dissolve a small amount of zinc or copper into rain water. As the water runs down the roof, these metals kill most moss or algae. We do not recommend roof shampooing/scrubbing/power washing, as it can damage shingles. See photo of copper skylight keeping roof clean below skylight area. This demonstrates the power of copper or zinc to stop all algae growth on roof.

Common roofing problems & Installation Errors.

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Incorrect nailing pattern with nails installed too close to joint of the 2 shingles above it.

Less than 4 nails per shingle (we install 5/6 nails per shingle. Tamko Titan shingles have 160 mph warranty with 4 nails/shingle.)

Valley shingles installed incorrectly. Generally, the smaller/lower/lower pitched roof gets installed first, so that this roof’s valley shingles are layed under the roof with the higher volume/velocity of rain water.

Incorrectly nailing valley shingles by nailing too close to valley.

Missing step flashing on walls.

Recommended to install Ice & Water Shield at roof to wall junction. Half sheet on roof, and half the sheet up wall, under step flash and under house wrap/foam insulation. House wrap to be installed over tops of step flashing.

Not installing Ice & Water Shield in all required areas to code. Valleys, Roof Penetrations, Skylights all require Ice & Water Shield. Also, Building Code requires 2 foot minimum Ice & Water Shield past wall of house to prevent Ice Damming. If your home has soffit over 1 foot, this requires 2 courses of Ice & Water Shield to meet Building Code requirements. We have seen many companies cheat on this, frequently using only one course at gutter line and ½ sheet of Ice & Water Shield at rake ends of house.

Roof Job Checklist

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1. Strip roof down to wood.

Recommended always rather than do layover roof. Far superior results. Shingles will last longer.

2. Nail/refasten all loose sheathing/plywood.

No sense installing new roof over loose plywood! (almost never done by most roof companies.)

3. Metal drip edge on all edges of the roof.

This protects edge of sheathing and fascia boards from wind driven rain. (This step is skipped by most bargain roofers and many companies only put drip edge at gutter line, neglecting all the rakes of your home. This leaves plywood and fascia vulnerable in these areas.)

4. Ice & Water Shield.

This is a rubberized, peel & stick membrane that goes in all the problem areas of your roof. That includes all edges, valleys, roof to wall junctions, chimneys, crickets, skylights, roof penetrations, roof vents, and low slope areas. (Bargain roofers will frequently not do any edges, or if they do, they may cut roll of Ice & Water Shield in half and only give you 1-1/2 feet of protection at roof edge. BUILDING CODE Requirement is 2 feet minimum past the exterior wall of the house. This requires FULL width Ice & Water Shield, and, if you have large soffits over 1 foot, it will require 2 courses of Ice & Water Shield to meet building code.)

5. New pipe boots.

6. Ridge vent at peak

sometimes thermostatic fan, either electric powered or solar powered.

7. Intake ventilation at base of roof.

This is necessary in homes without soffits. If your home has a soffit, it should be verified to have proper ventilation. Many times, the contractors who installed siding in past did not cut holes in original plywood soffits before they installed the vented vinyl soffit you see. On almost every house where we have opened siding, this was the case. It is typical of the lazy approach which most contractors have towards their work, because homeowners are not educated. With Experienced Contracting, you will receive an education about the work we do for you, so by the end of the job, you will know exactly why you hired us to work on your home!