Can Northern Virginia Roofing be Economical?

Posted byPaola Nadeau on Dec 2020 in Roofing | 0 comments

Arguably northern Virginia roofing can be one of the most costly of all home repairs a homeowner has to contend with. While a complete tear off and replacement can cost tens of thousands, often times if you educate yourself with some basic roofing knowledge you can find roofing repairs to be more economical. For instance, if you can “talk turkey” with a roof contractor, you may find that the price they give you is more competitive than it would be when quoting a homeowner who knows nothing more than, “I got a leak”.

So what are some of the most common mishaps with a roof and why do they occur? Well age can be a large factor when it comes to an existing roof. Most roofs if installed properly and utilizing quality materials when exposed to northern Virginia roofing weather will last up to 20 years. Though if either the workmanship or the materials have been compromised in any way, look for the life of your northern Virginia roofing to be only half of that, sometimes even less.

So say that you’ve been lucky with the quality of the materials, but the workmanship, although up to a building inspector’s code, just happens to have broken down in one of the typical problem areas of a roof line. What area has the highest percentage of problems? Across the board there is no contest, it’s the roof valleys. Roof valleys are the areas at the bottom that meet coming from two higher points.

You see it is within most local northern Virginia roofing building codes to cover the valley surfaces in one of two ways. The first way is for the contractor to intertwine the roof shingles in an end over end manner directly over the entire valley area; this is what’s known as a “closed system”. The shingles close off the valley by interlocking in between one another.

The other option is of course then an “open system” of laying the shingles. In an open system the valleys are actually exposed and covered by not shingles but by sheet metal. Now why would this system be an advantage? Well the sheet metal when run along the entire length of the valley provides a quick running smooth surface for the water to run off of, like a ducks back. Why you might think that it would look terrible to have sheet metal running in the valleys of your roof, the truth is that its barely distinguishable from the ground as the metal is ordered in the matching color of the surrounding shingles. And the advantage of an open system is that through the test of time it out performs the closed system every time.

If you were thinking it’s more expensive you’re in luck, because it’s the same cost as laying the closed system, it’s just a different installation technique. But regardless of which technique you ask for, always as for a leak barrier to be installed first. This is again not a northern Virginia roofing requirement in all areas, but it is highly recommended to extend the life of your roof and offers yet another layer of protection. Knowing these few key points can tell your contractor that you are a savvy homeowner and he should be at his sharpest when quoting your northern Virginia roofing estimate.

roofing in northern Virginia can be done economically, once it needs to be fixed it can be a sudden emergency. When you need a new roof or a roof repair from a company you can trust call the experts at Osroofing.com who will be happy to come out and inspect the protectiveness of your roofs surface, while keeping the quote economical.