When it comes to your roof, it can be hard to know what to do in some situations. As a result, many homeowners have questions about how to handle roof repairs, replacement and other common occurrences. Here are some of the most commonly asked roofing questions and their answers to help you make educated decisions for your home’s roof.
If your roof currently has two layers of shingles, do they need to be taken off before re-roofing? Isn’t more protection offered if there are multiple layers?
This is not exactly true. Many people believe that if they simply place new shingles over the old ones, the roof is as good as new. However, you can think of this like old pizza. If it has been sitting around in your fridge for a few days, chances are you wouldn’t sprinkle a little more cheese on it and call it new, right? While one shingle layer over an old one is acceptable, two just won’t work. In fact, two layers of shingles is going to put unnecessary weight on the roof and may cause serious structural issues.
If condensation shows up in between the roof and insulation while construction is happening, can builders just install sheetrock to absorb the moisture or do vents need to be installed?
In this situation, your builder is going to know the best course of action to take. Any quality builder is going to understand that roof insulation needs at least two inches of air space between the insulation and the roof sheathing. Different venting products that can be used include vapor barrier, ridge and soffit. The builder will have to overlap all the seams well to prevent any gaps. If you have hired the right roofer, they may also use caulk or foil tape at the seams to provide even more protection.
Can you install ridge vents on a roof with a low-slope?
This depends on how low the slope actually is. While ridge vents are beneficial, if the roof has an extremely low slope, such as 4:12 for example, then virtually any type of weather may blow into the home through the ridge vent. At this point, it is best to use a soffit vent or gable vent.
When you take some time to understand roofing and the importance of installing the proper features and components, you can feel confident that the roof installed will provide adequate protection for your home. Don’t rush into any decision without knowing the facts as this may wind up being a costly mistake down the road. Contact the experts at Pyramid Roofing today for help with all of your roofing questions!
