Category: Materials

Materials
All you need to know about Roof Valleys

You should install a metal valley on the roof. You can go to a “Double Weave” or a “California Cut” valley if you want to, but a metal valley is far nicer looking and it’s definitely more durable.
No matter what surface finish you use for a valley, the underlayment is done the same way. The Building Code calls for No. 30felt to be run down the flow line of the valley and the standard No. 15 felt laid into it from the sides. A better alternative to No. 30 felt is modified bitumen or rolled roofing.
Modified bitumen comes in a roll and is heavier and more expensive than rolled roofing. As you saw when we flashed the chimney, I prefer to use the modified bitumen.
Rolled roofing is either asphalt and fiberglass or a rubberized compound. It has a grit surface like shingles. Rolled roofing is designed as a finished roofing surface itself. It is approximately 40 inches wide and rolls out like the roofing felt. Rolled roofing is thick and tough. It won’t tear, it won’t get a hole punched in it, and it won’t fail in the valley.
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Materials
Roofing Caps, Ridge Valleys and Vents

Roofing Caps and Vents

The ridge of a roof is another trouble-prone area. In a severe high wind (such as a hurricane), the wind buffeting the side of a house takes the line of least resistance and races up and over the ridge of the roof. The result is that the shingles along the ridge are hit with a greater force and experience more severe pressure than the shingles anywhere else on the roof. The treatment of the ridge and laying of the cap pieces require special attention. On a complete tear-off or brand new home, everything should be double-overlapped on the ridge, starting with the roofing felt. Lap 1 foot of the felt from the rear roof over the ridge and staple it to the front sheathing. Lap 1 foot of the felt from the front roof and staple it to the felt underlayment and sheathing on the rear roof. You will overlap the tops of the courses of shingles the same way you do the felt. Let me point something out. More…
Materials
Selecting Your Roofing Materials

Select proper material for your roof. Learn the pros and cons of each.

SHINGLES.
Stay away from the standard twenty-year shingle. Use a heavier duty, self-sealing, twenty-five-year, three-tab shingle. Most manufacturers’ thirty-year and thirty-five-year shingles are dimensional shingles with the rough surface that simulates a wood shake roof. I don’t have scientific data to prove it, but it’s logical that the rough surface gives extremely high winds a place to begin tearing off the roof. I suspect that the wind resistance caused by the rough surface more than offsets the strength of the extra thickness of the thirty- and thirty-five-year shingles.
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