What Kind of Roofing Do I Put on My Roof?

Cold weather, rain and snow is on the way. Therefore it may be time to think about a new roof. Choosing the material and the installer wisely may be as frustrating as choosing a new fishing pole or golf club.

This may help:

Three tab shingles are the least expensive but look sort of plain. Architectural shingles are heavier, have a long warranty and look much better. We used to call them “fake shakes”. Metal resists staining, lasts a long time and has a nice long 50 year, warranty. 29 gauge is thinner than 26 gauge...go figure... but it's true.

We only use 26 gauge with 30 pound felt under. The difference between 15 pound and 30 pound felt isn’t much in actual cost but 30 pound takes more abuse and holds tight when men walk on it while installing the roofing.

Which one is best for your home?

If your roof has a low pitch metal may be your best choice, while with a high pitched roof either metal or shingles are ok. Metal comes in many colors that reflect the sun and can reduce the attic temperature a measurable degree.

On the other hand, if the roof is “cut up” and has lots of valleys and ridges, you may want to go with shingles. On such roofs metal looks more cut up and busy than asphalt shingles. Also, if you have trees hanging over your home you may want to avoid metal. It is a little harder, costly and slower to get metal repaired if a limb or tree falls on it.

On some roofs, metal roofing and architectural shingles and metal roofs may cost about the same once the job is done. Therefore, if you want the reflectivity of metal with the ease of repair that comes with an architectural shingle, you may want to look for a reflective architectural shingle rather than metal.

 

 

Applying shingles

 

If this is a project you are taking on as a Do-It-Yourselfer, take a few minutes before applying the new shingles to examine the decking on your roof. If it feels weak, bouncy or mushy it likely needs to be replaced before a new roof is put on.

 

Also, make sure you have called your insurance company before beginning a roofing project. Many times insurance will cover the cost of a new roof, so even if you are in doubt give them a call just to make sure.

 

If you are looking for a contractor to help with your roof project, ask some questions before giving them the job to make sure they:

 

1. Take off existing shingles if need be, dispose of them for you, and check out your decking before applying 30 pound felt and the shingles they have helped you choose for your home.

2. Prime the facia board and cover it entirely with metal facia to make it last as long as the metal roofing. This should always be done but many times isn't.

3. Have the skills repair any eve damage or rebuild your roof if need be.

4. Will be there ASAP if a leak in your roof appears. Companies like Mid South who have been around 30 or 40 years and are not going anywhere will be the best bet for quality guarantees like this.

 

 

For more information about Mid South Builders a free estimate or for advice about roofing, call us at 479-601-2002 or visit our Website.

You can also email us at midsouthbuilders@gmail.com

 

 

Call Mid South for all your roofing needs, including: METAL, SHAKES, ALL SHINGLES, EVEN TILE ROOFING.

Common Roof Issues

This week we had a question sent to us about roofing:

Question:
Should the cellophane strips be removed from architectural shingles during installation or left in place?
I had my roof redone 10 years ago and the contractor left the cellophane strips on (rather than exposing the tar underneath). Every wind storm some come shingles come off of the roof. I fix
this by using globs of asphalt calking to glue down the corners of every shingle that seems loose. Now I have no more trouble with those particular shingles, but do have lines on the roof where the tar I applied got warm and dripped.
Whenever I put on a new shingle I also take off the cellophane strip to stick down the edges (unlike what the contractor did).

What's the proper way to install those puppies?

Answer:

No need to take the plastic strip off during installation. It's just there to keep the shingles from sticking together in the bundles. The tar dabs to "glue down" the shingles to each other will be where they are supposed to be during nail down and not covered by the plastic.

A roofing problem like yours happens every now and then for several reasons. One of the following

may apply your particular roof:

 

The tar dabs melt and glue down pretty well in hot weather but in cold weather they do not glue down until a warm day comes along, letting shingles fly off in a heavy wind before the warm day.

To mitigate this issue, in cold weather tar caulk can be applied just under the shingles, especially on the Northwest side of the roof.

 

According to the National Roofing Contracors Associacion (http://www.nrca.net/consumer/types/asphalt.aspx)

"Both 3-tab asphalt shingles and laminated asphalt shingles contain a strip of factory applied adhesive that is activated by the sun's heat after installation and seals each shingle to the next course. The seal strip also provides much of a shingle's resistance to wind uplift. Shingles with factory-applied adhesive have a strip of clear polyester film applied to each shingle to prevent the sealing strips from bonding the shingles together when packaged. When the shingles are installed, the self-sealing strips will not align with the plastic film strips and will bond to adjacent shingles. For this reason, the plastic film strips do not have to be removed." 

 

Concerning the issue of your shingles, there may be other potential reasons this is happening:

1. Sometimes shingles are flawed when they arrive. They may old with dried out tar dabs. I had

one customer buy from one of those discount stores and this happened. I found out they were a color close out shingle...no telling how old they were.

 

We always buy from "active" roofing suppliers who are selling enough product that there is less chance of getting old shingles and being stuck with them. By going with "active" suppliers we get good shingles and don't get a mix match of dye lots.

On a side note, getting a mix match of dye lots happens when less active suppliers send out an order of shingles that were returned from order "over" orders. If shingles come from several dye lots, times of manufacturing, etc there may be several colors on one truck going to a customer resulting in those streaks you see on many roofs.

 

2. Sometimes the applicator can also push the shingles to close together and pucker them...not letting them set down flat as they should. If shingles are puckered they will be more likely to catch wind and come off.

3. Some contractors use staples to put shingles on a roof. We never use staples. It is easy for the installer to use too much air pressure on the air stapler, nearly driving the staples all the way through

the shingles. I have replaced several roofs where half the roof blew off in one piece and left every staple in the roof decking. Nails may cost twice as much a staples but an extra $75 spent on a customer's roof is well spent. We never, ever never use staples. Nails pull the shingles down

better onto the felt. 

 

4. The next potential problem many homeowners have is the roofing felt. After felt is applied it can wrinkle if it rains, turns cold, etc before the shingles are nailed on. Shingles should not be applied on badly wrinkled felt. This doesn't let shingle lay flat... since they are nailed over the wrinkles.

5. One last potential problem could be the wrong length of nails or the lack of nails. Sometimes we have found roofs done by previous contractors have nails that are too short on 1 or 2 layers of shingles. Sometimes shingles also do not have enough nails. There should be 4 nails in every shingle applied to a roof.

 

6. If a roof is installed on a day that is drastically too cold for the job or the roof is installed in the rain, it is much more likely problems will occur later.

 

 

 

I have had a few shingles come off on a house or two in some windy storms. It is usually right in the same place on the roof. On one big house in Centerton it was always the NW side near the same valley. We calk-tared the replaced shingles down every time and this finally quit. I decided there must have been a wind increase in that area of the roof when the wind came in just right.

Most of the time, just a few shingles will come off just a few times and then it quits, even if the roof has the above issues.

For more information about Mid South Builders please visit our Website. We'll be glad to answer any roofing questions you may have or give you a free estimate on roofing or any other project you may have.

You can also email us at midsouthbuilders@gmail.com or call

479-601-2002