Picking The Perfect Pitch For Your Roof

The proper care and maintenance of a house can have a lot to do with the pitch of the roof. The type of climate that you have should dictate the best pitch for it. For example, in the dry climes with plenty of heat such as Arizona, it should be flat to minimize the heating surface. On the other hand, in snowy climes the classic A-frame, a steep roof that goes to the ground, works as snow is unable to stay on the roof and falls to the ground below, minimizing the amount of damage. There are a number of different approaches, and sometimes they depend on the area of above your head.

The best designs are those that allow for the minimum of roof repair given the local weather conditions. A house should fit its environment, even when it stands out, and the best houses are designed for maximum efficiency. Those that minimize the amount of energy required to run the house, usually by being quick to heat or cool. There also needs to be a minimum maintenance issue, which means that the outside of the house has to be designed well, which means that there has to be minimum roof repair. There has been a lot of interesting design in that regard.

This is why houses tend to be of the peaked variety, with layered shingles or tiles. Most rain or snow will fall off with no real effect, and even if wind picks up a shingle it has the weight of the others on top of that in order to keep it in place. This is best for areas that receive regular weather; where the rain is not to common but when the weather shows up it definitely makes it presence felt. The aforementioned A-frame is finding popularity not only in snowy climes, but also those that deal with lots of rain, for pretty much the same reasons: The rain hits and then runs off with no damage to the house, and the amount of rain in Arizona seems to surprise everyone at some point.

Some houses have more interesting designs, with lots of ridges and valleys. Although these are designed to help with wind resistance, they must have slopes built in so that the rain does not get trapped and cause leaks later on. They also create some other maintenance issues as a problem can remain undetected until rainy season returns. This means that they need periodically for missing or loose shingles to make sure that they are waterproof. Walking around on top is a good idea for any house, but especially for those that have a lot areas that can cause problems.

Even a flat one can have problems. A house that has too many items on top, such as vents and satellite dishes, can create problems if the vents are not covered correctly. This means that the vents can become water leaks in rainy season and energy sinks the rest of the year; by not allowing proper venting it can be harder, and therefore more expensive, to heat or cool. A repairman can fix these problems as well.

Ultimately roof repair is something that should be avoided, and can be as long as the home owner pays attention to his house. It just takes making sure it is ready for any weather that can be thrown at it.

Category: Roofing
Genre: Home Repair