Is a Roof Overlay Install a Good Idea in Edmonton AB?

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Is a Roof Overlay Install a Good Idea in Edmonton AB?

It sounds less tricky and messy. You won't need Edmonton AB's finest roofing specialists to remove your roof, and you won't have to stay for a week living somewhere else. Complete roof tear-offs consume plenty of time. This makes a roof overlay install quite attractive, but does it deliver similar durable and dependable results as roof tear offs?

The best way to know is to go through a pros and cons list. Werner Roofing has an excellent comparison listicle that talks about the dependability, total cost, and other factors involved in a roof overlay install.

Roof Overlay Install: Pros and Cons

If your home’s roof is getting up there in years, it may be time for a roof replacement. While this can be an expensive project, your roof is what protects your home and your family, so you want to make sure you get it done right.

What a lot of people don’t know is that when you get your roof redone, you can choose to either shingle over your existing roof, or tear-off the original roof, and start over. It’s important to know that there are pros and cons to each of these options, so we thought we’d outline them for you, so you can decide which option might work best for your home and budget.

First, let’s define each method:

Tear off: The tear-off method is exactly what it sounds like: when the roofing company you hire tears off your existing roof, and then puts on an entirely new roof.

Overlay: An overlay roof occurs when keep your existing roof as is, choosing instead to shingle on top of it. It’s good to know that you can only choose this option if your roof has not been overlaid previously.

So, what are the pros and cons of each? (Keep Reading)

One issue the article above pointed out was the lack of proper ventilation for roof overlay install procedures. Here's an elaborate explanation: roofing materials absorb outside temperature. However, the space between the roofing material and underlayment slows down these molecules before they transfer into the property. In roof overlay install products that use asphalt shingles, the new roofing material can melt because two layers of roofing materials absorb the same heat.

However, if you use cool roof technologies, you have a great shot at using roof overlays without having to deal with massive heat problems. On the other hand, using metal roofing, white roofing materials, and other cool roof technologies has its own set of problems as Heat Island Group lists below.

Cool Roofs: A Solution to Massive Roof Heating

Definition

On a sunny day, a roof that strongly reflects sunlight can stay much cooler than a roof that strongly absorbs sunlight. High thermal emittance is another property that also keeps a surface cool. Thermal emittance is the efficiency with which a surface cools itself by emitting thermal (or "far") infrared radiation. Thus a "cool" roof should have both high solar reflectance (SR) and high thermal emittance (TE).

We note that since the spectrum of thermal radiation (4-80 microns) does not overlap with that of solar radiation (0.3-2.5 microns), thermal emittance is independent of solar reflectance. Thus, we distinguish between the two when defining a cool roof.

BENEFITS

Substituting a cool roof for a warm roof reduces conduction of heat into the building, convection of heat into the outside air, and thermal radiation of heat into the atmosphere. This benefits our buildings, our cities, and our planet.

Cooler outside air. Cool roofs lower urban air temperatures by reducing the amount of heat transferred from roofs to the air, mitigating the urban heat island effect. (Continued Reading)

One other way to make any roofing material work and reduce outside temperature from getting into the house is to improve attic ventilation. Most professional Edmonton AB roofers provide this service and can modify it to suit your new roof overlay installation.

It's a simple process but we highly recommend that homeowners do not attempt to DIY it. Minor errors can extend project time and compromise its efficiency. However, if you're interested in the installation process, check out Family Handyman's short guide below.

How To Install New Attic Ventilation



In the summer, good attic ventilation reduces heat buildup. That cuts cooling costs and prolongs shingle life. In the winter, warm, moist air seeps into the attic from the living space below. Good ventilation allows the heat and moisture to escape. That keeps your attic dry and reduces ice dams. Here are four signs of an unventilated or under ventilated attic:

Look at your eaves and roof. If you don’t see any attic vents on the roof or in the eaves, you need to add some. Your roof vents may not look anything like the ones shown in this article. Your roof may have a ridge vent, which is a low profile, continuous roof air vent running along the peak of the roof. Or it may have gable vents, which are louvered openings at the top of gables.

Touch your ceiling on a warm, sunny day. A hot ceiling tells you that the attic is acting like a solar oven, raising your cooling bills and cooking the shingles.

Thick ridges of ice on your eaves in winter are a sign of poor attic ventilation.

Warm air that escapes rooms below gets trapped in the attic. Snow melts and the water refreezes on the cold eaves, creating ice dams.

Warm air that escapes living space also carries moisture that will condense on rafters or roof sheathing. Grab a flashlight and inspect your attic during the winter. If you see dampness or frost, you need better roof ventilation and some attic vents. (Continued Reading)