Construction & Contractors Blog
If your long-term plan is to live in your home for the next few decades, and your home is in need of a new roof, you should consider installing a metal roof on your home. An architectural metal roof is designed to last for half a century or more, making a metal roof a great investment if you plan on living in your home for decades to come.
Install Underlayment on Your Entire Roof
You can't just slap the metal on top of your roof deck and expect your roof to last. If you want a lasting roof, you need to make sure that a layer of underlayment is applied between the wood roof decking and the metal roof.
You want high-quality underlayment installed over your entire roof surface. According to building code, roofers are only required to install underlayment along the exterior wall line, and many roofers will then install felt above the roof edge.
However, felt doesn't protect against water leaks, which is why you need to let your roofer know you want underlayment not just on the edge of your roof, but over the entire structure.
Use High-Quality Underlayment
With a metal roof, you don't want to use peel and stick membrane, which is one of the most common types of underlayment used on residential roofs. When you are installing a metal roof, you want a membrane that will be able to handle the heat your metal roof generates.
That means investing in a metal roof that has higher thermal stability. With a metal roof, you want to use a rubberized asphalt or butyl rubber underlayment that can withstand high thermal temperatures.
This will help keep heat from getting into your home and will help prevent your roof from getting damaged by heat.
Install a Standing Seam Roof
When it comes to installing a metal roof, if you want the roof to last for a long time, you are going to want your roofing installation service team to install a standing seam roof. With a standing seam roof, the panels are installed and fastened along the vertical seam, and then each seam is covered up by another panel.
Don't go with exposed roof fasteners, which increase the chance of your roof leaking, and also increase the chance that your roof will not last as long as you want it to.
Use Brackets for Add-Ons
If you intend to attach any add-ons to your roof, such as solar panels or even a satellite dish, make sure the add-ons are installed using brackets, and not using exposed screws.
Exposed screws damage the metal and can lead to roof leaks. Brackets, on the other hand, attach to the vertical seams on your roof and don't create compromising holes in your roof.
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28 May 2020
My name is Debbie Greenberg. I’m a single woman who owns her home, and like most homeowners I dread home repairs. I’m not very handy with do-it-yourself projects around the house. I can do a few minor repairs when necessary, but for the most part I have to call in a professional. Last year I had a leak in my roof. When it rained, water would leak into my kitchen. What appeared to be a simple fix turned out to be anything but simple. It took over four months to finally identify the problem, and double the money I was initially quoted to fix it. The problem ended up being that the flat part of my roof didn't have shingles, but a sheeting material. I learned a bit about home roofs along the way, and that is what I want to share with you.
