Summer conditions in Northern Virginia can be quite extreme. There are times when the hot temperatures pave way for storms and strong winds characteristic of hurricanes. Fortunately spring provides a transition period that we can use to prepare for summer. It offers the best weather to ensure your roof is ready for anything. With the right preparation, you can have a stress free holiday.
The first thing you need to do is have your roof inspected for damage that may have occurred during winter. The following post gives more information on how this can be done:
The roof inspection checklist below is by no means comprehensive, but it does cover the basics. You should not try to complete the tasks on this checklist yourself. IKO recommends that homeowners and prospective home buyers consult with and engage a professional to perform a proper roof inspection.
Exterior Roof Inspection
- Severely blistered, curled or split shingles
- Loose or missing shingles
- Loose or exposed nails
- Improperly seated nails that “popped”
- Broken or loose shingles at the ridge and hip lines
- Signs of missing caulk used to seal flashing
- Rusty or corroded metal flashing
- Damaged or missing flashing
- Sagging on the ridges
- Broken seals on shingles
Excessive granule loss on shingles… Read more at IKO…
A list of the most important areas to be checked will ensure you do not miss out on anything and that your roof is thoroughly inspected.
Once you are sure that all is well, how do you prepare your roof for the heat? The following post describes a breakthrough engineering concept that helps to cool roofs:
Newly engineered material can cool roofs, structures with zero energy consumption
A team of University of Colorado Boulder engineers has developed a scalable manufactured metamaterial — an engineered material with extraordinary properties not found in nature — to act as a kind of air conditioning system for structures. It has the ability to cool objects even under direct sunlight with zero energy and water consumption.
When applied to a surface, the metamaterial film cools the object underneath by efficiently reflecting incoming solar energy back into space while simultaneously allowing the surface to shed its own heat in the form of infrared thermal radiation. Read more at University of Colorado Boulder…
Isn’t it great that you can cool your roof at no cost by keeping heat from affecting your home, as well as dealing with the heat inside too? You’ll get all the benefits of a cool roof throughout summer.
It is also important to protect your roof from the damage caused by strong winds, which sometimes characterize Northern Virginia summers. The following post describes how this can be done:
How to protect your roof from strong winds
EL PASO COUNTY, Colo. – Roofs on many area homes withstood several hailstorms last year but didn’t fare well during hurricane-force winds earlier this week.
Scott Howald, a veteran roofer, inspected the roof of a customer Thursday in the Deerfield Hills neighborhood of southeast Colorado Springs.
“I installed this roof 25 years ago,” he said. “Half of it looks good but it’s old and needs replacement after the hailstorms. I’d rate it a 2 or 3. The other half has shingles blown off. I’d rate it a 1, meaning it needs immediate replacement.”
Howald, who works for Excel Roofing, said he planned to work on the roof next week.
Out of 150 roofs Excel installed last year, he said, only 12 shingles blew off in the wind. Read more at KRDO…
For the best results in roof inspection, roof cooling and roof preparation for hail and hurricane winds, you need to work with an experienced roofer. If you are in Brambleton VA and are looking for qualified and experienced roofers, contact us today!