Roofing and Factors for its Repair

You would have heard and read many articles on roof repair and its preventions but this article will discuss factors to be considered while going for roof repair and reproofing decisions. Roof repair is one issue just about every homeowner frets about. Water leaking into a home can cause serious damage in a short amount of time. Just one leak from one storm can cause an entire drywall ceiling to fall dropping mushy gypsum board and messy fiberglass insulation onto you and your possessions.

Roof leak repair doesn’t have to be scary. There are tough roofs to work on no doubt. Attempting roof repair on a steep slate roof repair should be left to the professionals. The same is true for metal roof repair or even tile roof repair. These are tricky materials to work with. But you should be able to successfully do home roof repair if you have a low-slope roof, a cool day, and the right attitude.

The most important factor in any roof repair job is which contractor you choose. A good roofing contractor will check the area surrounding the leak in your roof for any sort of water damage. They should be able to let you know whether or not there is rot or water damage present, and whether or not it's bad enough to need repair immediately. In today's economy, the cost is another important factor for roof repairs. There are many types of roofs, and each type is going to have a different price range for repairs depending upon the supply cost and availability of experienced contractors.

Roofs may need replacing for several reasons.  It may be leaking and be more economical to replace rather than repair it.  The roof may not be working correctly or does not look good.  Another reason for replacing the roof may be because you are extending your home and want the roof to look fully uniform.

Over the past 45 years, EPDM single-ply roof systems have grown consid­erably in market share compared with their modified bitumen and built-up competition. As a result, there are many aging EPDM roofs, and consultants will be faced with the task of providing cost-effective, durable solutions to keep the roofs in proper work­ing order without tearing them off entirely.

Several factors come into play and impact consultants’ decisions regarding the end of a roof system’s useful life. Thermal bridging, proper drainage, R-value, surface color, wind uplift, and hail resistance are all important factors to consider. When every­ thing is taken into account, consultants are faced with two primary choices when addressing an aged EPDM roof besides a complete tear-off and replacement: restora­tion and re-cover.

1. EPDM roof restoration usually encompasses reworking the flash­ings, seams, and terminations, while leaving the field membrane in place. EPDM is well known for its long-term wea­therability, so in most cases, the field mem­brane has life remain­ing. This option is used primarily when the owner wants to extend the life of the existing roof or warranty cover­ age for an additional five to ten years.
2. EPDM roof re-covers provide the ability to address more issues than typical restora­tions. Proper drainage, thermal bridging, en­hanced R-value, al­tered surface color, as well as enhanced wind uplift and hail resis­tance, are all issues that are better ad­dressed with a roof re­cover.

The cost of roof coatings is typically about 50% of that of re-roofing and the benefits are very tangible;

• substantially reduced cost over re-roof
• reduction in cooling costs with 80% reflectivity
• years of longevity given to the existing roof
• minimal disruption to the work environment during its application
• minimal waste going to landfill
• annual reduction in cooling costs as high as 22%
• no toxic odors or vapors
• ease of future repairs
• no increase in roof weight load