Delaware Roofing Info & Tips

Archive for December, 2009

Your house will tell you when it needs repairs. For instance you will know that your shingles on the roof will need replaced with these few simple hints. Water leaks on your ceiling, not able to keep the temperature regulated, change in your energy bill, mold on or around the ceiling. You can also check your attic for water leaks, mold and weather damage. However, the easiest and most obvious way to know your roof shingles need to be replaced is when you see bumps and missing shingles.

Roof shingles have a warranty of 10 to 30 years, if you do not know what the warranty is on your shingles you can inspect your roof yourself. However, you can also hire a licensed roof inspector to examine your roof. They will tell you about how many years you will have left on the majority of you roof shingles. They can also locate where you need to replace your shingles at around your roof. If needed.

Depending on the weather conditions your shingles can cup up, twist, and begin to curl, this can cause damage to your home. You will find your roof plywood damage when water and wind gather behind the shingles and cannot escape. The older the shingles the sooner they will start to ruin and wither away.  The shingle tabs will start to shrink and start to space apart causing gaps in-between each one. Windy environments can break and tear shingles straight off the roof. If you are in a windy environment, you want to make sure to check your shingles once a year to prevent major damage to your entire home.

A few steps when checking to see if your roof shingles need replacing is to inspect each row. You can visually check each row however using a hammer or crow bar to sift through the shingles will help you to find the shingles that need to be replace more accurately. With a light touch, push or by lightly lift up on each row you can look for wavy and rippled formations all along the rows.  You will do the same to inspect the ridge for loose roofing nails and ridge caps. Inspect each tab watching for adhesive failure.

If you have lived in your home for over 15 years and do not seem to have any leaks or visible signs of roof shingle damage or missing you should still inspect your roof, especially if you have neglected to do so in the past. You may not see visible signs such as leaks and mold that does not mean it is not there. If you did not build your home, you may not know what the age of your roof shingles, and if you have passed the 20-year mark you could soon see damage or experience insurance issues.

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Vinyl siding is designed to be a durable alternative to other siding materials. This type of siding comes in different styles and usually is installed with a stiff foam board backing. This board can either be contour fit or a flat board behind the vinyl. The foam helps the vinyl keep its original shape, as well as providing a small amount of insulation.

Vinyl siding can come in nearly any color, but is generally white. It is generally sold in 6 to 10 inch wide strips, but other widths are available as well. Vinyl siding has become increasingly popular over time because it lasts for a long time, does not need a lot of repairs, is inexpensive, is easy to clean, and offers some insulation. It does not contribute to termites or the rotting of wood, and is flame retardant.

It is made of PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride), which is a mixture of plastic resin and some other chemicals. Because vinyl siding is mostly made of PVC, it doesn’t dent like aluminum, or rust like steel siding.  Vinyl siding can be designed to resemble wooden siding, and it shares some of the characteristics of aluminum siding, mainly density and weight.

However vinyl siding is easier to install then other kinds, and is good for any climate. Vinyl siding expands when it heats up and contracts when it cools down. It’s important to make sure it has enough room to expand when its installed. Several factors affect the stiffness and wind resistance of vinyl siding. One factor is the thickness, adding thickness to a section of vinyl siding can substantially increase the rigidity and wind resistance.

Even thought vinyl siding is flame retardant, fires in buildings that have a vinyl siding are generally more dangerous because when the PVC burns it releases toxic fumes. The same fumes are present when it is manufactured and recycled. While vinyl siding is becoming more impact resistant, windblown debris and heavy ail can still puncture the sheets of vinyl, which requires the entire panel to be replaced because it cannot simply be patched.

The color on vinyl siding is baked through so it doesn’t show scratches, and is fade resistant, but will still fade over several years. So if you need to replace one panel it will not exactly match the color unless you replace all the panels. It is possible to paint vinyl siding, but then the paint will chip and need to be repainted just like wood.

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