Roofer Greenville Texas | Let’s Talk About Roofing & Siding Smiths
This podcast was recorded for Roofing & Siding Smiths.
Roofing and siding Smiths, roofer Greenville Texas. Today I want to talk a little bit about, patio roofs, sun rooms, just anything that you typically see on a residential home that has a low slope roof. And when I say low slope, I’m not talking about completely flat. Many commercial roofs are considered flat, but something that has a slight pitch to it. And so to be classified as low slope, it has to be less than a three and 12 pitch. And so what that means is that for every foot you go across the roof it only rises less than three inches. So if you look at, the specifications for any shingle, at which here at roofing and siding Smiths, roofer Greenville Texas, we have read the specs on all the products we use. They specifically say, do not install on roofs with less than a three and 12 pitch. What this means is that the shingles are not designed to repel water because it can’t get off quickly enough if there’s less than a three and 12 pitch.
You may have your own patio roof or sunroom and you’ve had trouble with it leaking in the past. I’ve seen brand new low slope roofs with shingles that after only a short time within a year even, you will see the decking start to rot or they’ll leak. Maybe it’s not even the entire thing, but what happens is it’ll find a couple of spots that are just for whatever reason, there’s a little more ability for it to seep in there or puddle. And so at Roofing and Siding Smiths your roofer Greenville Texas, we wanted to inform you on why you can’t shingle those roofs. Some people think, Oh, there’s a little bit of pitch there, so this is fine. Not realizing that the specs actually say there must be a three and 12 or greater pitch. And maybe you look up there and you say, that doesn’t look like shingles, but it’s, a shingle based product and it just doesn’t seem very thick.
Traditionally on residential properties, low slope roofs, people would use what’s called roll roofing and it’s basically a three foot wide solid shingle. May not be the same materials as a shingle, it’s about as thick as your baseline economy, grade three tab shingle, but it’s three foot wide and you would use tar to put it down. This product, typically lasts about five years. Now some people get more time out of that, but at roofing and siding Smiths, your roofer Greenville Texas, we’ve just noticed that it’s not a great product and it tends to leak fairly easily. And so what we’ve started to do is that when we get a roof job and they have, a low slope roof, we will use what’s called a modified bitumen self adhere to a base and cap sheet system. And this product is significantly thicker.
And you’ll notice I said base and cap sheet, that means it’s to apply. You still have some folks that’ll just use the cap sheet and that’s okay. But when you do the two ply system, you actually get a 20 year rating. And one of the biggest problems I’ve noticed just using the cap sheet is that if you’re going over an old deck, the specs side, that you must prime the old wood decking. And many guys will just try to adhere it directly to the deck without priming it. Cause it’s an extra step. It’s an extra expense. It takes longer, it’s very messy. But what they sell is a nailable base so that when installed over a, um, old roof deck, you avoid the priming process, which can be quite messy. So at Roofing and Siding Smiths your roofer Greenville Texas. What we’ve chosen to do is use the nailable base, which gives us a nice new clean surface.
There’s one particular aspect that must be followed and that’s that you have to use metal cap nails. Most roofers use plastic cap nails when they’re installing felt paper. And so those are more readily available. We actually special order metal cap nails just for this application. After you lay the base sheet down, you now have a new smooth, clean roof deck designed for the self adhered portion of the cap sheet to be able to adhere to it properly. And so you want to make sure that the temperature is 50 degrees and rising on days that you’re installing this product. So once we have the base sheet nailed on, we will then install the drip edge and this helps protect your wood trim or your fascia board as it goes around the roof.
Traditionally I’ve noticed people put the drip edge on first, but per manufacturer’s instructions. We’re installing the drip edge on top of the base sheet, but under the cap sheet, so after the drip edge is installed within prime, the top of that, this will allow the cap sheet to adhere to the drip edge. This can be a weak point if that step is not followed. Again, here at roofing and siding, your roofer Greenville Texas, we want quality and we also want longevity in the products that we install. We don’t want it to just last a couple of years. We want it to last the full 20. As long as you don’t happen to have a hailstorm or tornado or something extreme. The product is designed to last 20 years. It should be installed in a way that it can last 20 years. So at roofing and siding since your roof roofer agreeing with Texas, we follow all the manufacturers recommendations.
So then we start to install the cap sheet. It’s a, it’s three foot wide, similar to the roll roofing, but it has a plastic film over the base because there’s a almost similar to a tar like substance on the bottom and it’s, it feels kinda rubbery when you pick the product up and flex it around and then it’s rolled out. You have to be careful to keep it as straight as possible. Also trying our best to keep wrinkles out of it. Um, that’ll, it looks clean. The great thing with the cap sheet that’s self adhering is we don’t have to use tar on the roof. So when you get this product installed, it looks really clean. Really, you don’t have a mess. Most cold tar applications, you wind up with a tar squeezing out of all the seams. This product will look really sharp, really clean and look professional and it’ll be aesthetically pleasing instead of an eyesore and a mess.
So as we’re rolling this out in three foot sheets, we also use a 100 pound roller just as an extra effort to make sure that it adheres the way it’s supposed to. Again, I’ve seen many roofers skip this step in the process. I think that’s a big mistake. And the manufacturer again recommends that you do this. If the roles are not long enough to go the full length and you’re able, you are required to have a joint, there’s also a step in there that requires you to 45. The piece that overlapping. What this does is it allows the corner of the product to be flush with the other piece that it’s overlapping instead of built up and being a weak point where someone could kick it or we’re just over time it would naturally try to curl up. Um, once we’ve rolled the entire roof and ensured that all the flashing has been installed properly, we will then clean up and you will be able to trust that you now have a patio or low slope roof that you can depend on for the next 20 years. So remember, trust Roofing and Siding Smiths. We are your roofer Greenville Texas, to follow the directions to give you the highest quality product possible.
Call us today at nine Oh three four five six nine nine five, six, or check out our before and after pics on our gallery, on our website at roofingandsidingsmiths.com.