Roof maintenance tips for Michigan Homeowners

roof maintenance tips flat rock mi

In the summer season, we get excited about eating mangos and some other exciting thing. However, the summer season messes up with property holders, such as slow water, building spillage, or roofing. Undoubtedly, the roof is one of the essential parts of any property and must be a top priority for the longevity of the building. 

In the rainy season, roofs are more likely to be damaged due to inadequate drainage systems. For a dependable and proficient rooftop, the channels must be clear of any trash or debris which comes along the rain and sand storm. 

Although, it is a bit challenging to repair or maintain your roof. However, as a general rule, it sets aside your cash and a ton of problems over the long haul. If you ignore your roof maintenance, you may damage your property. It may cause roof leakage, which is dangerous for your building. Unquestionably, roof maintenance will require some investment of time and money. But it is necessary. 

In case you have no idea about roof maintenance. Here we have compiled a list of 7 fundamental maintenance tips for shingles roof. 

1. Make sure there’s no algae, moss, and mold:

The rainy season welcomes the growth of algae, moss, and mold on your rooftop, which is the main reason for roof damage. If it remains unchecked, it can end up causing roof decay and much more. Algae are most commonly found in dirty areas such as a near gutter or around the moist area. As far as algae play a vital role in roof decay, mold and moss are also detrimental to your building’s roof. They are found near a moist area and causes roof leakage. 

Without a doubt, mold can mess up with the construction of your rooftop and cause severe and costly harm. It’s critical to dispose of any mold, moss, and algae without delay. In this regard, liquid chlorine bleach and water mixture will help you with that. Whenever you see any algae, mold, or moss on your roof, spray this mixture on the required area and let it stay for an hour. Make sure to spray it once a year to keep your roof algae, mold, and moss-free.

2. Clean Your Gutters:

Clean gutters play a vital role in preventing your roof from damage in the long run. Gutters make the draining out harsh debris, sand, trash, and rainwater. Clogged gutters are one of the reasons for water damage at home. If you ignore the clearance of your gutters, you may end up harming your building’s cellar, paintwork, and basement. As you know, the rooftop can retain stagnant water, which can like cause the rooftop rafters and sheathing to spoil. Therefore, the water damage as a result of chocked gutters will cause potential damage to your roof. 

Here is the checklist to reduce potential damage:

· Ensure the channels outside your house are not spilled or broken.

· Make sure there are no small granules stuck in the gutter.

· Use a cleaning item or small handheld tool for removing trash from the clogged gutter.

3. Trim Extra Tree Branches:

High winds, storms, and rain block the gutters and water passage with the falling leaves of hanging trees over the roof. The extra tree branches looming over the rooftop are harmful to the roof. Undoubtedly, trees are a great source of oxygen and play a vital role in reducing pollution. But excess of anything is dangerous. Overgrown tree branches can puncture or even scrap your roof. Long and heavy tree branches are more likely to fall on the rooftop resulting in severe property damage. 

Consequently, you should ensure that you trim the extra tree branches near your home—this helps ensure your home safety and lessens any harms that these branches could cause.

4. Remove Snow from Roof:

Not only over-hanging tree branches, but the buildup of snow can also worsen the roof’s condition. Even though snow offers the required moisture to the plants and fulfills the water deficiency of dry plants, most importantly, snow a source of play for kids. But buildup snow is not suitable for the roof. Old and shabby roofing with a substantial measure of snow sitting can prompt the chance of rooftop breakdown.

Ensure to remove snow using a snow rake from your roof after snow falling to reduce its weight on the roof and lessen the risk of roof breakdown.

5. Examine the Roof of the house regularly:

If you want to increase your roof’s reliability and longevity, you should examine the rooftop once in two months. Make sure to check your roof after heavy rainfall and storm to avoid any severe destruction. Follow these simple steps to maintain your roof.

  • Make sure to look at sagging, aging, and damaging the roof of your building. It will determine the reliability of your roof.
  • Make sure the roof is waterproof. If it is not waterproof, then apply waterproof paint to avoid future damage.
  • Examine any breakage in the chimney, loose or missing skewed tiles.
  • Replace any loose, missing, or slanted shingles before heavy rain.

6. Schedule a Roof Inspection:

There are things which you can manage by yourself, but professionals should do jobs. The roof is a vital part of any building, and it demands severe maintenance and inspection. You can do other jobs like cleaning gutters, trimming extra tree branches, keeping trash off the roof, and examining any algae, moss, and mold. But you cant deal with the underlying damage. You should schedule an annual roof inspection by a trustworthy professional. An expert rooftop will perform specific tests and assessments of your rooftop that can recognize underlying damage. 

7. Check for Shingles Damage:

Although you can not inspect underlying damage, you can check any shingles damage on your roof. You should keep checking the shingles after the rainy season to avoid any property damage. Interestingly, you don’t have to climb up the ladder to do the assessment. Binoculars will do their job well. Take a binocular and spot any missing shingles, cracked shingles, curling shingles, missing granules, or peeling shingles. If you detect any of these signs, then your rooftop needs prompt consideration.

Bottom Line:

These seven fundamental maintenance tips for shingles roof will help you in increasing your roof’s life span. These tips will keep your roof in good condition for the long run. You should clean gutters and rooftops once a month to avoid any water and property damage. Additionally, schedule an annual roof inspection with a reliable and reputable roofing company. 

Flat roof repairing cost in New York

flat roof repairing

Money is of a great value to anyone or everyone! Thus it is necessary to take into consideration the cost of insulating the flat roof. A choice where value for money goes hand in hand with the quality of insulation should be made. Mainly, the installation companies will provide with the calculations as soon as they quote for a new roof. There maybe cases where the insulation material might be suggested to be reused by the installation company taking into consideration its current condition.

The detailed breakdown of the cost of the insulation material is presented by the professional firms along with the quote sheet in order to provide you with a better picture of the cost.

The actual cost of the insulating the roof depends numerous number of options such as minerals (rock and glass wool), synthetic materials (expanded or extruded polystyrene, polyurethane, etc.) or natural (wood wool, hemp, cellulose, etc.).

In addition to above there is always some extra work required whether insulating from inside or outside:

interior finishing: plastering, installation of the panels, painting, upholstering, repairs or changes to be made to the electrical circuits.

outside roofing: removal and installation of tiles, replacement of battens, installation or replacement of the lining membrane. The roof that is insulated from the outside is called “sarking roof”. This where the bare roof construction is covered with the insulation material. In order to protect the insulation material against the wind and rain it is important to install foil. The benefit of insulating the outside roofing is that there maybe some places in the building where the insulation material may be disrupted, due to which the heat may escape out.

Inside roofing: during the insulation of the inside roofing the roofing and roof construction remain as it is. The cost for insulating from inside is lower than the insulation of the outside roof as inside insulation is not as drastic as the outside. Plasterboards are used in order to finish the sloping insulated wall. In the end the craftsmen might provide a finishing layer for the insulation materials. The main advantage of insulating the roof from inside is that many of the damp problems can be avoided. This is possible as a vapor barrier is installed with the insulated material to prevent condensation and molding.

The property owner has the option of choosing from whether using insulation wool or insulation boards. Pitched roofs are mostly insulated with using insulation wool shaped as blankets. This is easy to compress and cut into different sizes.

On the other hand, insulation boards are hard in nature and light in weight. These can be used to insulate any kind of roofs and are also easily cut into different sizes. Insulating using boards will enable one to even walk on them in case of insulating the attic floor.

How to insulate flat roof in Newyork?

flat roof insulation in newyork

It is always advised to get a professional installation company to carry out the roof insulation and is considered vital to get a professional contractor for your insulation needs. Before that, it is important to understand the types of flat roofs and their insulation requirements. There are two types of flat roofs; Warm Flat Roof and Cold Flat Roof. The positioning of the insulation is what makes the real difference.

In certain regions cold flat roof constructions are not allowed due to the damage they cause overtime on the structure.

Warm Flat Roof: In warm flat roof constructions, the process starts by placing a minimum of 100mm of rigid board insulations on top of the weatherproof roof membrane. This protects the layers underneath from extreme weather conditions. The positioning of the board is the important part since it plays a significant role in the insulation performance. Once this layer is added, a top layer of asphalt is added to finish the job. After this the roof is ready to be utilized for different purposes as well like adding soil and growing a mini nursery. Warm roof is considered the best way to insulate the flat roof since it prevents condensations issues. Warm deck construction is the most acceptable insulation method in new building ventures.

Cold Flat Roof: In Cold flat roof constructions the insulation boards are placed below the timber joists leaving appropriate ventilation between the roof and the insulation, this leaves the deck cold. This method is usually used in old buildings or refurbishment projects. The insulation material is carefully placed leaving a gap of 50-60mm between the roof and the insulation material, enabling air flow through the structure. At times there is a possibility that the contractor might need to take down your ceilings. In case of shallow joists, spray foam is the best option to use to insulate the space and is likely to be advised by the contractor insulating your roof. Normally cold roof is not preferred because the spread of air is multidirectional and with reduced ventilation it can cause moisture build up leading to condensation. Achieving the right level of ventilation is very difficult to achieve and the added pressure on the head heights make this option the least recommended one. Cold roofs in cold weathers can make condensation a bigger issue causing decay of the building structure due to lack of ventilation.

How to select flat roofing insulation material?

flat roof repairing

As flat roof insulation is an important component of your property to help maintaining th temperature, it is essential to know the types of flat roof insulation and their R values. As all insulation have R value assigned to it the greater the value the more efficient the insulation will be.

Following are several types of flat roof insulation:

  • Wood Fiber: in many cases people look for organic alternative in order to insulate their flat roof, if this is the case then your best choice would be wood fiber. They are wood boards made up of mixture of fibers with various fillers and binding materials and is purely organic. Its surface might sometimes be coated with asphalt in order to enhance the water resistance. Wood fiber insulation has a R value measured at around 2.7 per inch. This type of flat roof insulation may be considered as the cheapest option however it is not suitable in many situations. Many roofers believe it is not a good choice if one is living in humid or rain prone area as the insulation material is at a greater risk of damage.
  • Perlite: also belong to the organic family as it is a glass made by pressed and refined volcanic ashes, these are then combined with organic fibers and binders to turn into boards. Insulation for the flat roof takes place in a very unique way as compared to other types of insulation through air bubbles as soon as the air bubbles are trapped inside the perlite. To further enhance the quality of perlite it is often painted with asphalt coating. This type of insulation is also considered to be one of the economical choices.
  • Polystyrene: this type of insulation exists in two forms which can be expanded and extruded. Expanded polystyrene flat roof insulation is produced through mixing the foaming agent with polystyrene. On the other hand, extruded polystyrene is formed by heating and expanding the polystyrene. It is believed that this type of insulation consists of excellent energy conserving qualities leading to a positive impact on the energy consumption for the owner of the property.
  • Glass cells: glass is crushed and heated while in the mold. It is available to bought in flat or tapered blocks to be used for insulation on flat roofs.  It is often regarded as a good choice.
  • Polyisocyanurate: this is placed between organic and non organic felt within the flat roof. This type of insulation is expanded by using foaming agent called pentane to expand the foam resulting in better standard of insulation. Polyisocyanurate has an R value of 6.0, thus is considered to be the best option while spending the money on insulation.