Know What Your Roof Wants To Tell You

February 18, 2018

As with other things, change is constant and roofing is not an exemption of that. Trends and characteristics of a roof when you built your house a decade ago may not be the same as the present. Here are a few things your roof wants you to know about modern and durable roof design.

Things to Know Before Getting a New Roof

• Get “dried-in” as soon as possible. Get the framing/nailing inspection as soon as you can and get the roofing sub-contractor on the job.  If nothing else, get the paper on the roof to start drying out the project.
• Design your roof details to handle multiple conditions to make sure that it can handle diverse weather and environmental conditions.
• Know the properties of metal. Understand how metal is “broken” (which actually means to bend), understand how much it expands, what lengths it comes in, whether it can be delivered to the site in rolls and cut to appropriate length and others.
• Think through the venting during the design stage. The method of venting is very important to the look of the finished structure; lack of planning in this area can lock you into some very unpleasing solutions. There are many options to be considered and many of them lend a clean, modern look to the project, but they need to be planned for well in advance.
• Think through the downspout design. Too many bends within a downspout run looks ugly. It would be best to troubleshoot the downspout locations and design with the windows and operable windows.
• Avoid using mechanical fasteners on the fascia. Fasteners used on larger areas of sheet steel cause oil-canning of the material and nothing looks sloppier than unintended oil-canning. Instead, use integral metal connections. The roof installer will need some heads up on this and it is always best to detail it out.
• Do not skimp on a roof hatch. More and more, homeowners are including roof terraces in their homes. The detailing and waterproofing of the required roof access hatch is a big deal aim for a product that provides weather proofing and security for generations.
• Use custom gutter sections. The handful of standard gutter details out there look terrible and they always seem to be overly complicated with their ornamentation and flutes that looks very un-modern. Custom gutters can be made in square profiles and align the seams with other elements at the exterior for an intentional aesthetic.