Ridge vents are installed at the peak of the roof, typically running its length. They are designed to allow air to circulate underneath the roofing so as to prevent moisture buildup. To give you a clearer idea of the role that ridge vents play in a roofing system, here are three of their biggest advantages.
In combination with wind, a ridge vent can create a ventilation system in your attic. It ensures that fresh air circulates continuously, which is critical to preventing mold and mildew from growing in areas like the attic crawl space and the underside of the eaves.
Ridge vents are typically constructed with air space, which enables proper air flow at the top of your home and below your roof. If you’re planning for a roof replacement, your roofing contractor can ensure that the ridge vent will function correctly and provide sufficient air flow.
Ultimately, ridge vents offer additional protection against some common culprits behind roofing problems. Moisture can cause extensive water damage. Without fresh air to get rid of moisture, your roof and attic will become more vulnerable to mold and rot.
Excess heat is another issue that vents can address. If air is not being drawn into and exhausted out of the roofing structure, excess heat can potentially build up in areas like the attic and lead to premature aging of the roof.
If you have questions about your ridge vents or need help installing or repairing, contact us. We always offer free roof inspections with our visits.
Often, home and business owners are undecided on whether to repair or replace a roof. Both options, however, are viable depending on the age and condition of your roof. In this post, we discuss when its ideal to repair or replace your roof.
Roof damages can be quite subtle, which is why you should schedule annual inspections with a reputable ClearCoat Roofing Contractor. You should also have your roof inspected immediately after any catastrophic event. Before picking out the repair or roof replacement materials, make sure you go through any HOA Roofing requirements.
Although the new roof is quite an expense, it is bound to last for decades.
Contact ClearCoat Roofing, we are a reputable licensed provider. And we offer free roofing inspections, always.
Letting professionals handle your roof replacement project means putting the protection of your home into someone else’s hands. Understanding what a roof replacement entails, may help put your mind at ease. The following are some basics.
You no doubt want the highest quality materials used for your home, but you may not know what those are. Speaking with your residential roofer about the options available can help you make that decision. Some materials commonly used for home roofs include asphalt composition shingles, metal roofing, wood shakes, and slate roofing. These materials come in different colors as well, so you can match a variety of exterior home features to your roof.
One thing you don’t want to do is trust the job to someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing. Contacting a professional residential roofer will ensure the job will be done correctly and last a long time. You want a company that does what they say they’ll do, as well as exceeding your expectations. Look for a roofing company with a great reputation that hires roofing professionals and ensures they are properly trained. With all these components pulled together, your roof will get done correctly.
The cost of your residential roof replacement project will depend on the size of the job, the materials used, and the pitch of the roof. Speak with your roofer about the specifics of the job to truly understand what you’ll be expected to pay by the end. If the cost doesn’t work with your budget, you can work out a different arrangement beforehand to ensure you receive a nice roof within your price range.
Understanding a few basics of residential roof replacement can get you ready to face the project head on. Contact us today to get your roof replacement scheduled.
We offer free roofing inspections with any visit.
Check our our reviews to learn more about us.
Looks can be deceiving. For instance, there are few things as lovely as icicles hanging from roof eaves and gutters. In some regions, they dangle for months, like crystal jewels, sparkling in the sunshine. And yet, in many cases, they signal that the roof may have a problem with ice dam buildup that needs attention before water seeps into the house.
Ice dams form at eaves and gutters and prevent snow - and ice meltwater from leaving the roof. Ice dams are simply ice buildup that dam water on your roof.
They’re often caused by a temperature imbalance in the attic. As heat rises in the house and makes its way into the attic, the upper portion of the roof may warm faster than the lower portion at the eaves without proper airflow.
If the upper portion becomes warm enough to melt snow (above 32°F) while the lower portion remains below freezing temperatures, snow will melt, flow down the roof, and refreeze before it can flow off the edge.
This can also be compounded by naturally rising ambient temperatures during the day and falling temperatures at night. What results is a dam, which will hold the remaining water, snow, and ice on the roof.
Insufficient or deteriorated attic insulation can allow warm air to move from the heated areas of the house to the attic space.
Properly balanced attic ventilation helps slow snow melting by allowing cold air to enter the attic space, in turn driving out warmer air. This reduction in warm attic air helps decrease the chance of snow melting on the roof.
Almost all roofing materials are designed to shed water. As ice melts and refreezes, it can damage the shingles and other parts of the roof system. When a growing ice dam pushes water back up the roof slope, that water may flow under the roof shingles and penetrate into the roof surface or house below.
That’s why GAF factory-certified roofers will always recommend a layer of strong protection like WeatherWatch® or StormGuard® Leak Barrier. These products help prevent leaks due to water backing up in your gutters, wind-driven rain, and, of course, damaging ice dams. They are self-adhering membranes that seal around fasteners and the edge of the roof, helping to protect the most vulnerable areas of your roof against leaks.
Here are 3 steps you can take to prevent ice damming this winter:
Depending on the size and accessibility of your roof, you can use an extendable snow roof rake to (carefully) pull fresh snow off the roof before the melt-and-freeze cycle even begins. Snow and ice removal can be dangerous work and if done improperly you might risk injury to your shingles – or more importantly – yourself! We strongly encourage you to engage the services of a professional to assist with snow rakes and ice dam removal.
Ensure you have a properly-balanced attic ventilation system that allows fresh air to continuously move through the attic space under your roof. To find out how much ventilation you should have, use our ventilation calculator.
Proper attic insulation will do more than prevent ice dams; it can also help reduce your heating costs by keeping warm air in your living space, where it belongs.
Contact us if you have any additional questions about what causes ice dams or if you need assistance with any ice dam removal. We always offer free roof inspections with every visit.
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No one ever wants to find water leaking from their ceiling, as this is often a sign that your roof is leaking. Whether you are home when the leak starts or come home to it, it is important that you take immediate action to avoid further damage to your home.
If you find water dripping from a bulge or discoloration in your ceiling, it’s likely that water is pooling on the other side of that bulge or dark spot. Grab a bucket, trash can, or some sort of container and place it under the site of the drip or leak. You may even want to consider propping up a board inside the container so the drips hit the board and not the accumulated water. This will minimize the repetitive dripping sound.
Next, take an old screwdriver, locate the center of the bulge where water is accumulating and puncture it right in the middle. I know it might seem strange to punch a hole in your ceiling to stop a leak, but the new hole will allow the water to drain smoothly and relieve pressure on the rest of your ceiling. If water accumulates and pools, the entire ceiling could collapse.
If you are confident you know where the leak is coming from and can safely get to the source, cover the exterior surface with a large tarp. If you can’t reach it, or feel unsafe doing so, it would be best to immediately contact us to handle that for you. We do offer emergency tarping services for minimal cost to the property owner, just contact us.
As you may already know, unfortunately if your roof is actively leaking due to weather, we can not repair the leak until that weather has stopped. The tarping service will act as a temporary fix to minimize the damage inside your home until our staff can fix the problem.
One of our experienced roofing professionals will inspect your roof both from the exterior of the roof as well as the inside of your home, typically through the attic. Inspecting the underside of the roof decking can show signs of water damage, however it is not a foolproof method so inspecting the roof for damage is needed as well.
It is important to act quickly when it comes to a roof leak. Leaky roofs never fix themselves or get better on their own. Even if the leak isn’t bad yet. Get it fixed now. Often we hear from homeowners that they noticed a stain on their ceiling or possibly some bubbling for awhile but thought it was nothing serious. Avoiding the issue will not fix a leak in your roof. Many times by the time you notice damage within your home it is already too late. The National Roofing Contractors Association recommends inspecting your roof twice a year, in the fall and spring. Here is what to look for to prevent a fixable issue from turning into a damaging and costly repair:
Roof leaks are typically just signs of a much larger problem. Both danger and the probability of structural damage increase if unaddressed. Regular inspections are your best defense against a leaky roof. Be aware, search for leaks, and talk with our contractors about the condition of your roof regularly.
Understanding a few basics of residential roof replacement can get you ready to face the project head on. Contact us today to get your roof replacement scheduled.
We offer free roofing inspections with any visit. Read our reviews to learn more about us.
Have you ever walked outside on a cold morning and noticed the frost that covers the ground? You might have to scrape your car before you can drive, and your grass may look like a sparkling wonderland. Direct your view upward to have a look at the roof. Is there frost on it? Do you know whether frost is good or bad for your residential roof? How do you know when to worry?
The frost itself that collects on your roof isn’t necessarily good or bad. Roofing materials are made to withstand the weather, and roofers who work in cold environments know which materials will hold up best. As long as your roof is in good repair, you shouldn’t have to worry about water damage.
The fact that there’s frost on your residential roof could actually be a good thing. If you look around and notice all your neighboring houses have frost, but yours does not, it could be an indication that your attic insulation isn’t quite up to par. The frost may be spotty, which also means the insulation isn’t properly in place. Without proper insulation, the heat that should be warming your home is leaking out through the attic and the roof, which is melting the frost.
If there’s a lack of frost on your roof, there could be cause for alarm. You should only worry if your neighboring houses have the same amount of sun exposure as yours. For example, your neighbor’s house might be blocked from the sun by tall trees or a taller building, while your home is in direct sunlight. As soon as the sun hits, your frost could melt away, but will remain on your neighbors due to the shade. If that’s the case, you would not need to worry.
If your house is not in direct sunlight, and everyone else has frost, you should contact a roofer to see if there’s a problem with your roofing and insulation. Contact us, and we will provide a free roofing with no obligation.
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When you install a new roof, the last thing that you want to happen is for the roof to fail. Unfortunately, when a contractor does a poor-quality job, this is exactly what happens. Here are some of the most common reasons for roof failure.
Good ventilation keeps a roof in good health. You should have a ventilation system that pushes heat and moisture out during the summer. This will minimize expansion due to temperature changes. Also, it will keep your attic cool throughout the year.
When it comes to home renovation, it is important that the projects are finished right. Even with the best materials, if the roof is not installed properly, it is not going to function correctly. You need to ensure that your roof is installed right the first time, by a contractor who knows what they’re doing.
When it comes to choosing materials, you want to take more than cost into consideration. Even if the low-cost products look appealing, you need to keep in mind that the lower costs can also mean lower quality materials. When you have high quality materials, your roof is more likely to last.
You need to protect the protrusions where exhaust pipes, chimneys, and dormers connect to the roof. These areas are prone to leaks and other problems. Metal flashings are the best way to seal this area. You do not want to use caulk or any other type of sealant. These products degrade over time.
Roofs can fail for a number of different reasons. If you want to make sure that your roof doesn’t fail, then you’ll have to invest in regular maintenance and inspections. The higher quality the job, the more likely you are to have a roof that lasts.
Understanding a few basics of residential roof replacement can get you ready to face the project head on. Contact us today to get your roof replacement scheduled.
We offer free roofing inspections with any visit. Read our reviews to learn more about us.
Most people are familiar with at least one acrylic plastic, Plexiglas. Plexiglas is an all-acrylic material, usually associated with a polymeric, plastic material that is extremely durable, and has excellent weathering properties, and is very resistant to ultraviolet radiation from sunlight and the adverse effects of weathering. Plexiglas is an all-acrylic material, meaning that it is composed entirely of highly durable building blocks called monomers. While this is a clear sheet of the acrylic plastic, most acrylics are blended with other materials to create other easily recognized products such as paint, adhesive or caulk.
Acrylic polymers can be formulated to be tough and hard, and also very flexible. Plexiglas impact resistance is one example where it is used in banks to provide bulletproof shields. But acrylic polymers can also be manufactured to be flexible, to be tolerant of movement at low temperature, very elastic in their behavior.
In the mid-1950’s, acrylic technology developed to the point where these polymers could be incorporated into waterborne emulsion. This created the advent of the acrylic latex waterborne house paints. In the mid-1950’s, an excellent highly durable house paint was based on solvent-based alkyd chemistry. In the 90’s the most widely used, highly durable house paint material is a waterborne acrylic material.
The key feature of acrylic materials is that they can be used for a wide range of applications, but you need to use the right acrylic for the job. Polymers that you would use to make adhesives would not necessarily make good floor polishes. The polymer chemistry that’s used to make elastomeric roof coatings would not necessarily do well as a leather tanning material. The acrylic used for house paint would not necessarily make an excellent caulk or sealant. But they’re all acrylics. So the key thing here is the right acrylic for the right job.
Acrylic polymers have been engineered that are specifically designed for roof applications, and specifically for roof coatings. Coatings manufacturers have tried to use house paints on roofs but these were too brittle. Formulators also tried to use caulk and sealant technology to make elastomeric roof coatings, but they have not been totally successfully - resulting in failures. Today the technical requirements for a successful roof coating are fully understood.
Acrylic roof coatings refer to a liquid-applied monolithic (seamless), fully adhered, elastomeric membrane that’s formed in situ on the roof. These coatings are applied 5 to 10 times thicker than a house paint. Typically, the thickness of an exterior house paint is 3 mils, .003 inches. For elastomeric roofing applications, these would be 15 to 30 mils. So we’re talking about membrane-like materials. EPDM is often 45 mils; HypalonR and PVC are 60 mils. However, with these coatings the membrane comes out of a can. That’s why the term formed in-situ on the roof is used. It’s applied as a liquid. As it dries, it forms a tough membrane, like EPDM and like HypalonR. But, unlike those materials, it has no seams. No field or factory seaming is necessary. Moreover it is also fully adhered. These coatings are not mechanically attached like other types of single-ply membranes.
Roofs are dynamic environments, meaning they expand and contract. We look at a building, and we don’t think it moves. In a microscopic examination, roofs are dynamic. There’s thermal expansion, seismic expansion, the weight of snow and rain loads, wind uplift and “flutter” and vibrational effects that subject roofs to movement. The coating must be able to tolerate that kind of movement at roof temperature, and high temperature, in the summer, low temperature in the winter. Roofs must also tolerate foot traffic resistance. People are going to be walking on these roofs. They will be servicing HVAC units, cooling towers, satellite dish antennas; all kinds of equipment that’s placed on a roof. The roof must be able to withstand foot traffic and the abuse from maintenance and repair crews.
However, these Elastomerics are not caulks or sealants. While they must tolerate expansion and contraction, and the dynamics associated with the roof, just like a caulk or sealant. But, caulks and sealants don’t require resistance to standing water, impact resistance, or reflectivity properties.
Allow our consultants to answer any questions or offer a free inspection. We also offer Gonano clear coating technology, a more advanced type of coating.
Contact us today if you have any questions about getting started.
An applied coating of roof sealant is a vital part of asphalt roof installation, but this part of the project is one that should be revisited periodically during the lifespan of the roof. Some homeowners never think to get their roofs resealed.
While some may never experience a problem with the condition of their roofing system, not going for a reseal can be a costly oversight for others. Since a total replacement of this part of your home can be very expensive, it is important to at least explore the issue.
Many roofs can last ten years or more without any problems. However, applying a good coating every five or eight years can help to expand the lifespan of roofing by at least half. This lengthened time of usefulness can save the homeowner a lot of money.
Still, there are many factors to consider when determining how often to reseal, including not only budget, but also the quality of sealant applied, the condition of the roofing, and the climate of the region.
Since sealing can make roofing last longer, the coating can prove to be a worthwhile investment, but what are the actual benefits? This is one part of the house that is highly prone to exposure to weather conditions.
Due to the variety of factors that can influence the effectiveness of various coatings, there is no one set best type of sealant for asphalt roofing. Instead, the weather conditions and needs of the building must be taken into consideration.
Still, one of the top most important considerations to make is how effectively the sealant will be applied. Even the best coating will give substandard performance if it is not installed correctly, resulting in leaks and other issues.
The most effective way to ensure your roof sealant gets properly applied is to schedule a free inspection.
We are happy to answer any questions you have about sealing your roofing surface.
Traditionally, there has been only one solution to persistent roof problems—making the costly investment of a complete roof replacement. ClearCoat Roofing offers another option—roof preservation services.
Tearing off and replacing roofs when there’s still useful life in them is costing consumers millions of dollars when a simple solution exists that can alleviate much of these costs—as well as the accompanying headaches—roof preservation. The average roof is replaced seven years sooner than necessary because most roofers focus on costly replacements, not repairs and maintenance. Just because your roof looks old and worn, has black stains, a leak or is missing some shingles, doesn’t mean it can’t be repaired!
Roof preservation can be performed on over 95% of older roofs, extending service life by up to 15 years. Shingle sealant process has several benefits. It’s much less expensive than replacing an entire roof and represents an excellent value by protecting an existing investment. Unlike roof replacement, roof preservation can usually be done in one day and there is little disruption to those living in the house. Preserving the existing roof saves tear-off costs, meaning little to no mess, a lot less noise, and thousands of dollars saved. It also saves waste disposal costs and is environmentally responsible.
According to a 2014 Angie’s List Survey, the average cost of a new roof is $11,095. But roof preservation costs an average of $3547, approximately one-third the cost of replacement! Our money-saving roof preservation can be completed at a fraction of the cost of a new roof.
Tearing off and replacing a roof is expensive, labor intensive, time-consuming and disruptive. Roof preservation offers you a better option while offering substantial savings. Roof preservation is not only an efficient, cost-effective way to make a good roof better, but also helps extend the interval between expensive roof replacements.
All of our work is priced up front—not performed on a time and materials basis. You’ll never experience an “invoice surprise” with Clear Coat Roofing.
Because we stand behind every roof preservation, we offer a warranty and leak-free protection, just like a roof replacement. All jobs are backed by a transferable leak-free warranty—a huge benefit if you are considering selling your home in the future. So not only do you get a like-new roof at the fraction of the cost of a roof replacement, you get a warranty to further protect one of your most important investments, your home.
Allow our consultants to answer any questions about shingle sealant or to offer a free inspection.
Contact us today if you have any questions about getting started.
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