Roofing: Not as Simple as You May Think
To the average homeowner, roofing is just as simple as many other home improvement projects. After all, all you have to do is take off the old one and put on the new one, right? While that may be the case with paint, roofing is far more complex than most people realize. Hence the need for licensed, professional roofers. To give you a little insight into the intricacies of roofing, let’s take a closer look at the process itself.
Step One: Create the Support Deck
The first thing to do when building a roof is to create a sturdy and solid support that. Without the right support deck, the roofing structure can fall apart during and after construction, making the work surface too difficult to work with. Once the support deck is constructed, it is important to inspect it to make sure there are no signs of deterioration, writing, or loose nails anywhere. If these are discovered, the necessary repairs must be made before work can continue.
Step Two: Apply the Felt Underlayment
Felt underlayment is then applied to the work surface to create a flat, even surface Ruth. If the roof already exists making sure that the felt underlayment is intact is part of the repair process. Without the solid underlayment, the shingles will not be able to adhere to the roof surface.
Step Three: Metal Work
Extensive metalwork may be required to install drip edge is in gutters around the perimeter of the roof to ensure the end result is a starting even roof. Metalwork will also reduce the risk of leaks, dents, and cracks as a result of environmental effects and pressure on the roof.
Step Four: Apply the Shingles
After the underlayment has been applied to the Foundation and the metal work is complete, the shingles are applied. This is done with a combination of roofing nails and cement to attach the shingles to the roof and to each other. These methods will employ a number of techniques to ensure the shingles are laid out exactly as needed, and the exact number of shingles necessary are used to protect your roof over the long term.
Step Five: Clean Up and Inspect
The final step of the roofing process involves cleaning up everything and inspecting it. It will need to be inspected both up close on the roof, and down at ground level with binoculars to make sure there are no cracked, loose, or missing shingles.
Only a team of qualified professionals will understand how the process applies to your roof. There are special considerations for pitch (the angle of your roof), the type of weather your home experiences most often (areas with a lot of sun exposure are treated differently than areas with lots of snow), etc. While the do-it-yourselfer may be able to make small patches in the roof as a temporary fix, leaks that are damaging the support structure could lead to costly repairs in the long run.
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