Important Facts when re-roofing
Do I need to replace my roof?
This is the most common question the
homeowners will ask themselves when they
see neighbors getting their roof done.
As a responsible roofing contractor, we
will advise the customers to look for
signs of aging, deteriorating roof
shingles and even damaged / water stain
marks on the ceilings and walls. If the
roof is around 15 to 20 years of age,
it may
be nearing the end of its life depending
on the quality and warranty of the roof.
There is also some variation based on
sun exposure, shingle color and
ventilation under the roof. Next quick
evaluation would be the roof appearance.
If you have shingles that have broken
off, look buckled or warped, or have
lost some granule surfacing, it is
probably time to consider a replacement.
Finally look for signs of water leaks
inside your home, the leaking can cause
structural damage to the rafters and the
boards on top of them, not to mention to
your ceilings and walls. It is much less
expensive to replace your roof before
you see leaks.
Remember,
you do not wait until leaks to replace
your roof so it is wise to inspect the
roof shingles regularly. Here are some
signals that your roof system is not
protecting your home:
What to expect before and after your reroofing job?
Quite often, the impression people have for roofing work is
rough, messy, dusty, noisy or even chaos; but not
true if you can have a professional roofing company
and personnel to do the work. At city roofing we are
professional grade. We are all properly trained and updated
with the latest roofing knowledge and technology, with over
15 years trade experience and customer satisfaction
commitment we know what roofing is all about and what to do
with our customers. We look forward to serving you and hope
your re-roofing experience will be pleasant and
satisfactory. The following is a list of information you
need to know BEFORE and AFTER the re-roofing process.
1.
In general it takes 5 to 7 days to start a job from the date
a contract is awarded to City Roofing & Aluminum co.
2.
You will be notified (1 to 2) days prior to starting date,
but weather is the only factor that may delay the process;
we will definitely let you know if any changes or
rescheduling.
3.
Materials and our disposal trailer will be delivered the day
before the job begins, we will need one parking space for
the duration of the job. Please b sure any vehicles are
removed from the garage.
4.
The crews will be banging on the roof, there will be noise
inside the house and out that you are not accustomed to.
Also while we are loading and moving materials, it will
cause minor vibrations to the interior walls and the
ceiling; we suggest any loose wall decorations and pictures
should be removed prior to the job. Our site supervisor will
be happy to assist you if needed.
5.
We will make every attempt to protect your property such as
covering up the landscaping work, air conditioning unit,
your beautiful deck and patio furniture and the stone or
interlocking driveway. Tarps would be spread out all around
the house wherever loose debris might fall. Moreover we will
also look after your neighbor’s property to ensure proper
protection and clean-up.
6.
There will be debris falling from roof tear off. We ask you
take precautions while we are there and stay clear of the
debris until we have a chance to remove them. For safety
regulation we will not permit anybody to come close to the
job area.
7.
You may find nails. The average home uses 12000 nails on the
roof. Our crew uses magnetic brooms to collect any nails on
the ground and grass. We will double check the grounds
before leaving the site; as well our driver does an
inspection on the driveway when he removes the disposal
trailer.
8.
Your gutters will be cleaned when the job is done. It is
part of our job to clean up the gutters since clogged drain
will result in basement leaks.
9.
Each of our crews has 6 to 7 crew members, that is why we
can get most of the roof job completed in 1 day.
We thank you for taking time to let us inform you of the
roofing process, we pride ourselves in making this process
pleasant, rewarding and educational for our customer. If you
have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact
us.
Hiring a contractor?
Your home may be your most valuable financial asset. That’s
why it’s important to be cautious when you hire someone to
work on it. Home improvement and repair and maintenance
contractors often advertise in newspapers, the Yellow Pages,
and on the radio and TV. However, don’t consider an ad an
indication of the quality of a contractor’s work. Your best
bet is a reality check from those in the know: friends,
neighbors, or co-workers who have had improvement work done.
Get written estimates from several firms. Ask for
explanations for price variations. Don’t automatically
choose the lowest bidder. Here are some tips when hiring a
roofing contractor / renovator.
Ice Dams prevention & Ventilation of Lower slope roof?
Ice dams
are a common cold weather problem caused by snow melting over heated
portions of a building and refreezing at colder portions of the roof,
creating a dam. Water produced by subsequent melting then backs up under
the shingles, eventually causing damage to insulation, interior
finishes, and more. The snow melts due to heat loss into the attic from
inadequate insulation, air leakage, and/or inadequate ventilation.
Ice dams may seem harmless at first, but they are known to cause
thousands of dollars in
roof
leaks, structural damages and repairs of
your home, and can create dangerous mold growth, which can cause or
aggravate allergies, asthma and other respiratory diseases.
Fighting ice dams can be costly, and you also need to know how to
approach the problem, to make your efforts more efficient, to
permanently eliminate ice dams.
Although ice dams are common on most roofs in the northern regions of US
and Canada, they cause most damages and leaks to
Low Slope roofs, as it is much
easier for water to “travel” up the low pitch roof vs. steep roof.
Additionally, you may see many roofs in New Hampshire, northern
Massachusetts, as well as other parts of the country with 2 x 2 feet
aluminum pans locked together along the eaves of the roof. These metal
sheets are installed so that ice formations would slide off, and ice
dams would not build up. This may work for steep roofs, but on a low
slope, the ice dams can form in the center of the roof as there is not
enough pitch for water to run off.
Eave Protection?
One question always comes across home owner’s
mind when re-roofing is how much of roofing underlayment do I need?
The answer is quite complicated since it depends upon different
roof pitches and structures, it also has to do with the local building
code requirement. According to Ontario Building Code 9.26.5
(Eave protection for shingles and shakes), 3’ (36”) of eave
protection in the form of fiberglass base sheet or self-sealing membrane
(ice & water shield) is needed to be placed on the bottom of the roof’s
eave areas starting from the gutter up in order to prevent any possible
ice damming, however certain roof pitches for example, on slopes of 1 in
1.5 or greater (i.e. on slopes 8:12 or above), do not require to install
any eave protection since it is steep enough so that ice dam is not
likely to happen. Besides, no eave protection is needed over unheated
areas such as garages, carports and porches. At City Roofing we follow
strictly the building code requirement and often we even excess the code
by installing extra layers or rolls on the eaves to protect your home
when necessary, and all these will be at no extra cost.
Roof Deck
Solid Roof Deck
In order to have a long lasting roof, you need to have a solid and sound roof deck to support. It is meaningless to replace you roof with the best options such as premise shingles and quality accessories without a healthy roof deck under. Roof deck consists of many sheets of plywood or sheathing materials put together by metal clips and long spiral nails, they usually have a life span of 30+ years depending upon the attic ventilation in the past. As discussed, the roof deck can rot, warp, deteriorate and even delaminate due to poor attic ventilation; as a result, there is no strength left in the roof structure and if new shingles are ever installed, it will be a disaster.
At City Roofing we emphasize a strong and solid decking every time we replace a roof, we will inspect all the plywood or roof boards and replace any damaged or deteriorated pieces. Most of older houses with 2 to 3 layers of roofing materials on will need some or all sheathings replaced because of excess weight or poor attic ventilation that warps or sags the wood deck. We will advice the customer that it is a must to replace part or all roof sheathing if necessary, otherwise there is no point to put a new roof on since a poor deck will definitely affect and shorten the lifetime of shingle; as a result a costly repairs or even another complete replacement may be needed really soon.
Skylight & Flashings
SKYLIGHT
It seems that most home owners worry about skylight leaks on the roof,
mainly because it is the biggest roof opening or they may have had a bad
experience with skylight leaks repair. At City Roofing we never have any
leaks with our skylight works, we know how to waterproof you skylight
and guarantee it 100% NO LEAK.
First we inspect roof
skylights for any potential defects and damages since most skylights
last as long as the roof lasts, then we will strongly recommend customer
to replace it if necessary; often it costs only the price of the
skylight to replace while we are working on the roof. We will not only
pay special attention to the installation of skylight but also to add
waterproofing membrane (ice & water shield) around and re-flash the
skylight with new metal flashing and back to ensure complete water
tightness.
SUN TUNNEL
We also install new skylight and sun tunnel.
Metal flashing
1) Metal valley flashing
At City Roofing & Aluminum
co. we install only metal valleys on our roofing projects. The "valley"
is the section of the roof where two slopes meet. Most older homes and
newly constructed homes are installed with a roll roofing material
valleys. In time, the roll roofing will fail due to the heavy water
runoff thus, shortening the useful life of your shingled roof from 20
yrs. to 10. Today building code for roof valley has changed, metal
valley flashing is highly recommended over other materials for valley
construction.
At City Roofing we standardize the way we do
valleys for all our roofing projects. The installation of both 36" ice &
water shield completely covering the exposed valley area, and the use of
24" pre-painted metal valley flashings, insures that our metal valley
will outlast the asphalt shingles on your roof. Our metal valleys are
left exposed so to allow for speedy run-off of water. That is another
reason why we dare to attaches a ten-year warranty to the workmanship on
our roofing contracts, compared to the two-year warranty found in the
new construction industry.
2 )Wall and Chimney metal
flashing
Wall
and Chimney metal flashing is the metal pieces that go along the area
where the shingles meet the brick wall. It functions as a protective
metal covers for these leaky trouble area, as well new metal flashings
will enhance the appearance of your house along with the roof shingles.
At City Roofing we use only top quality pre-painted metal such as zinc
coated aluminized color steel and heavy gauge aluminum coil to flash all
your roofing needs.
Attic & Ventilation?
Roof / Attic Ventilation
One of the factors causes premature roof wear is improper or lack of
attic ventilation. Building code standard
requirement for roof
ventilation is to provide 1 square foot of intake ventilation and 1
square foot of exhaust or outflow ventilation for every 300 square feet
of attic space, provided the area is insulated with a vapor barrier. If
the area is insulated without a vapor barrier, the requirement doubles.
Proper attic ventilation will
extend the life of a roof along with reducing problems as it helps
balance, or minimize the temperature differential between the air in the
attic and the air outside. Simply stated; Proper roof ventilation will
remove moisture and heat from the attic.
Without adequate ventilation, moisture rises with
the hot air and forms condensation on the inside of the roof deck. This
moisture is released into the air inside the house from bathing,
cooking, plants, laundry and other causes. When the condensation forms
on the roof deck, it begins to rot the wood and introduces mold spores
into the air, as well as damaging the wood structure of your roof. The
result, if the problem is not noticed and repaired, can be destruction
of all or part of the roof deck and creation of unhealthy air inside the
house. In some extreme cases, condensation can be bad enough to cause
water dripping mistaken for a leaking roof, and bad mold spots appear on
the interior ceiling.
Soffit vents are placed at the lower extremes of the roof and
provide the air intake ventilation to the attic. Fresh air moves into
these vented soffit holes and exhausts the hot and moist air through the
roof vents, it is this circulation process that makes attic ventilation
complete.
Several types of roof vents can be used to properly ventilate the roof of your home. The
regular dome shape roof vent is the standard for home builders and
contractors. Better quality and more efficient roof vents can be
installed to enhance the attic ventilation, wind turbine vents utilize
the wind and air convection to remove large amount of heat and moistures
from the attic; roof ridge vents are placed along the horizontal ridge
line of the roof to dissipate the stale air; power attic fan along with
its thermostatic can effectively balance the temperature and humidity in
the attic.
All in all, maintaining proper attic ventilation will not only increase
the lifetime span of the roof but also provide a healthy indoor
environment for your family.
License + Insurance?
A general rule of thumb to hire a roofing contractor/ renovator is to
check if they are licensed to do their work, all contractors need a
metro renovator license to carry any kind of renovation work
interior or exterior in Greater Toronto Area;
in City of Mississuaga they must have separate municipal license
to perform works.
Next you will need their proof of
general liability insurance coverage. This coverage is mostly in the
range of two million to five million dollars, it protects the customer’s
property and interests during the period of the renovation in case of
any unexpected accidents. Another type of insurance coverage is also
important for the home owner to look for is the
W.S.I.B. coverage (Workplace
Safety & Insurance Board), it protects you as a customer from any
lawsuits involving bodily injuries or deaths that might occur during the
project. Every contractor or renovator must have this insurance coverage
because it is the law and is mandatory.
All home owner should always ask
for a copy of all these documents and do not just rely on contractor’s
verbal answer.
At
City Roofing we carry all
municipal licenses and necessary insurances to give our customer a peace
of mind. In addition all of us receive updates and training from CSAO
(safety authority) to enforce all safety regulations in our job site.
Since we know SAFETY is
always a priority.