Roof Knowledge for the Arizona Resident

Today we are going to delve into quite a few of the terms and materials that are necessary if you are going to purchase, maintain or repair your Arizona roof. The list is here for your benefit. Some of them are good things to look for when trying to figure out if you need maintenance on your roof. So kick back, grab a lemonade and get ready for some roofing knowledge.

There are a lot of questions about different roofing systems. And with that there are a lot of pretty common misconceptions about Scottsdale roof repair, maintenance and design and they all include many issues like asphalt application, maintenance of metal roofs and wrinkles in new-roof membranes. The following is designed to assist the consumer and testing your roofing knowledge.

True or false? After noticing that the new roof was installed there seem to be a lot of wrinkles in the membrane. There is no need to be concerned because they are sealed and will not leak.
False. Wrinkles can pose quite a problem overall. It is suggested by roofing manufacturers that the wrinkles be repaired as soon as possible during installation. Manufacturers have provided guidelines for asphalt based and single ply membranes for repairing wrinkles, as well as the ones at the seams, where they can cause even more problems. The issue is that the wrinkles lie higher than the roof which brings about a set of problems. People walking over the area can cut and scuff the areas that are raised. And behind the loose areas there is no support, meaning they are more likely to get punctured. With the asphalt based methods you would lose the surfacing earlier than normal and it would expose the underneath portion of the roof to be exposed to the damaging effects of the sun. Furthermore, the trapped air beneath the wrinkle expands when it is heated by UV rays and causes the material to degrade and crack when the membrane goes up and down.

True or False? Thickly applying asphalt on a built up roof is alright because it allows for more waterproofing.
False. Thickly applying asphalt means that your asphalt is too cold for the application process. Many times this leads to the membrane not adhering well, premature failure of the roof and heavy blistering. On the other hand, you don’t want the application to be thin either. Generally, asphalt temperatures should hover +/- 25 degrees of the EVT temps that are displayed on the outside of asphalt drums or in the bulk asphalt delivery papers.

True or False? Metal roofs need little to no maintenance at all.
True, but don’t be fooled, they still require some maintenance. Things you want to watch out for with your metal roof include movement of metal flashings, deterioration of rubber gaskets on exposed fasteners, sealant deterioration, backing out of fasteners, corrosion (particularly at cut edges and scratches), missing closures and many more.

True or False? As far as repair material for expansion joints are concerned, modified bitumen cap sheet is great because it can stretch.
False. Modified bitumen cap sheet membranes, while a little bit stretchier than asphalt because they add rubber which allows the asphalt to have superior flexibility to ward off against contraction and thermal expansion to the roof membrane. But despite its flexibility it’s not meant to handle movement joints.

You should feel at ease when selecting a proper roofing company. That’s why you can relax when you go with Arizona Native Roofing. We have the experience necessary to get the job done, and our customer service is second to none. So go with the best, go with Arizona Native Roofing today. You’re going to love your roof again. If you’re roof is overdue for maintenance or you need a repair, just give us a call anytime. One of our highly trained roofing contractors in Scottsdale will be right out to assess the situation. And if you were to go with a brand new roof you can rest assured that the professionals at Arizona Native Roofing know what they’re doing because we’ve done it all before. Don’t trust something as important as your roof to just anyone, go with the best.

Written By:
Jason Swim – Owner

Category: Roofing
Genre: Home Repair