As you evaluate a potential new home, you’ll want to spend plenty of time ensuring that all the main home systems are adequate for your needs and fully functional. Inspections can help with this, but some of the work you’ll have to do yourself.

Here’s a to-do list to help you evaluate the roof when you’re thinking of buying a new home.

1. Get Maintenance Records

Any records for maintenance, repairs, and replacements that took place during the previous ownership are invaluable information for a new owner. If the roof isn’t brand-new, you’ll need to know when it was last repaired or maintained so you can schedule regular maintenance to keep it in great shape. This also lets you see what kinds of problems the roof had in the past.

Another reason you’ll want to look at maintenance records is to make sure the previous owner hasn’t simply been neglecting the roof. Check dates on maintenance records to make sure the seller has been scheduling regular maintenance with a reputable contractor at recommended intervals.

Winter storms can involve wind, snow, and ice. Hail can even be a possibility, especially as warmer temperatures move in toward the end of the season. One way to minimize damages from storms is to catch any problems early so that a quick repair can be scheduled before the damages worsen.

Here are three types of damage from winter storms you should look out for and how to fix them.

Wind Damage

Storms sometimes come in with a roar, tearing shingles off roofs or damaging other components. Issues can be worse when high winds are combined with temperatures below freezing, since roof components can be more brittle in the bitter cold.

While your roof might not be the first thing you think of when you start planning for the winter months, neglecting it can lead to leaks, damage, and costly repairs. Prepare your roof for the cold weather ahead to ensure you’ll stay warm and dry until spring comes around again.

Check Shingles, Flashing, and Sealant

To keep your family safe and warm this winter, make sure your roof isn’t already damaged. Check your roof for missing shingles that need to be replaced. Shingles that are curling or showing visible signs of wear with the granules missing also need replacements to minimize the risk of leaks.

The shingles are not the only important part of your roof. Underlayment, flashing, and ventilation for your new roof are all critical parts of a roof, which is why you shouldn’t try to DIY roofing projects.

Here are some ventilation mistakes that an experienced contractor can help you avoid.

1. Not Checking Old Ventilation Patterns

When you have a new roof installed, you can’t just assume that the old ventilation system is good enough. Your old ventilation may have worked for the old roof but may not be sufficient or up to code when you install a new roof. And the old system may not offer enough ventilation to optimize roof efficiency and help you create a cool roof.

Rain gutters are a crucial part of your building’s roof. If your roof doesn’t have gutters along the edges, nothing stops rainwater from running down the walls of your building, pooling along the foundation, and causing water damage. And while pitched roofs and gutters are more common on houses, both homes and businesses alike can fall victim to damage that rainwater caused.

If you need gutter installation services for your home or business in the Marengo, IL, area,  call Jerry Newman  Roofing & Remodeling Inc.

Discover the Importance of Gutters

The average asphalt shingle roof will only last about 25 years. If you have a tile or slate roof, it should last longer, but no roof is impervious to the destruction caused by weather, pests, and fallen trees.  Whether you need roof repairs or replacement, you can trust Jerry Newman Roofing & Remodeling Inc to do the job.  

Our Experience

We are a locally owned company based in Northern Illinois and serving surrounding cities like Crystal Lake, IL. Our company has been around since 1979, and Jerry has over 40 years of experience in the roofing and remodeling industries. When you’re looking for experienced, licensed, and insured professionals to handle your roofing repairs, trust our team.

Are you losing energy through your roof and attic? If you’ve found that your energy usage keeps going up year by year, you may have an issue with the energy efficiency of your home. Your roof is often the most likely source of these issues; you just need to consider a few things before you start the repairs.

1. Determine Whether Your Roof Is the Main Culprit

Many things can cause a home to lose energy. Whether you feel cold throughout winter or warm throughout the summer, there are some easy ways to tell whether you’re losing energy primarily through your roof.

In the winter, look at your roof compared to your neighbor’s roofs. Does yours have less or more snow? If your snow melts very fast, it means that you’re losing a lot of heat energy through your roof. You will know if your roof has this problem because the lack of snow will be readily noticeable.

In the summer, you can call in a professional to look at your home through a heat gun, which will reveal the colder areas of your home. If your roof looks colder than the surrounding areas, that’s a bad thing, not a good thing. A cold roof means that all of the precious cold air from your AC somehow escapes your home through the roof instead of staying inside where it belongs.

Picking a material for a new roof can be a challenge. Many factors can come into play. You need to select a type of roof that is durable, energy efficient, and well-suited for your climate. Knowing each variable to consider can help you decide on the best roofing material for your needs.

Color Affects Energy Efficiency

Color and energy efficiency are directly linked. Dark colored roofing materials absorb heat. In warm weather climates, this heat absorption can cause the attic to become heated. In the middle of the summer, a dark roof can force the home’s HVAC system to work much harder than necessary to maintain a comfortable temperature.

Light colors reflect light, which can help keep the shingles (and the attic) relatively cool. Many homeowners shy away from installing white shingles. However, light gray, light green, and beige are all popular shingle colors that can simplify indoor temperature regulation.

You probably know by now how siding adds value to your home — it improves its appearance and energy efficiency. Advances in technology have led to so many material options, including vinyl, aluminum, and fiber cement. Of those, vinyl is probably the most popular, with aluminum being a close second.

That said, wood continues to be a favorite material in construction, including in siding. Find out if wood siding is a good idea for your house.

Woods for Siding

Manufacturers utilize different woods for the fabrication of siding.

Cedar is a very popular wood choice for siding because it offers gorgeous graining. A hardwood, cedar is also naturally resistant to rot and insect infestation because of oils found in the heartwood. Redwood features a similar profile and is also used for siding. Both redwood and cedar are considered luxury siding options.

Pine, spruce, and fir are considered affordable siding options. All three typically come in long boards for board-style siding. None are as hard as cedar or redwood. However, all three types of wood are easy to stain or paint.

Installing or replacing siding has many benefits. First, siding decreases the amount of maintenance you have to do since you won’t need to paint your house. At most you might power wash the siding every few years. Siding provides another level of insulation as well as providing a moisture barrier. That means the interior temperature of your house stays the same, lowering your utility bills.

In addition to the advantages listed, siding also boosts the beauty of your house and can even boost the value of your house. That’s important if you’re thinking of selling anytime in the near future.

Material

The first consideration you’re going to make is the material. The main materials for siding are wood, vinyl, and fiber cement.

Wood is the traditional material for siding. Wooden siding normally comes as shingles or clapboard. Similar to shingles, popular woods for siding are cedar and redwood. However, wood siding can also be made of fir, spruce, or pine. Wood siding either comes from the factory, already primed for painting or primed  and painted in the factory.

Vinyl is constructed of polyvinyl chloride. This siding comes in a wide variety of colors, and it’s typically textured to resemble wood. Contractors install the siding directly to the house but through slots in the panels. This installation allows the siding to shift slightly because it contracts and expands according to the weather.

Fiber cement consists of cement and wood pulp. Manufacturers pour it into molds that create long boards or shingles. Fiber cement typically resembles wood siding. You can buy pre-painted siding, or you can paint or stain the boards on site.

Durability

Every material type will have differing levels of durability. For example, the main disadvantage of wood siding is that it can warp or buckle. While some woods, such as cedar, are naturally resistant to insects, termites, and other wood-loving insects, for other types of woods insects can be a problem. That said, wood is resistant to impact and can last indefinitely if properly maintained.

In contrast, the main advantage for vinyl siding is that it’s also resistant to impact and is, in fact, extremely durable. It won’t rot or corrode. However, according to This Old House, it’s unknown how long vinyl will last because it’s relatively new. Of course, vinyl does fade over time. Nonetheless, vinyl siding never needs any painting and very little other maintenance.

Another example, fiber cement siding material, also has varying levels of durability. One disadvantage of fiber cement siding is that it can absorb water, which can cause it to rot over time. However, this is rare, especially with the right installation. Fiber cement is, in fact, very durable and requires little to no maintenance. You can repaint it, though, if it fades in the sun.

Appearance

When it comes to appearance, wood is almost always the preferred look. Wood is especially prized for certain house styles, such as Cape Cod and Saltbox. However, wood siding complements any style. There are two styles of wood siding: clapboard and plank. Clapboard is horizontal with overlapping joints, while plank siding is vertical with a fitted installation.

In the past, people didn’t like vinyl because it lacked the appearance of wood. While manufacturers have made great strides in the construction of vinyl siding, it does not completely resemble wood. What’s more, because the siding must be left a little loose to accommodate how it acts in the weather, contractors can’t install it tightly with the trim. Nonetheless, vinyl siding presents a neat and tidy appearance.

If you’d like the appearance of wood without the cost, fiber cement siding comes closest to resembling wood, especially it’s natural graining. Indeed, good quality fiber cement planks, shingles, or shakes are often indistinguishable from their natural wood counterparts.

When you’re choosing a siding for your house, you should consider these three material options and what it means about your house looks and potential future maintenance. When you’re ready to look at siding options and discuss the merits of the various materials, visit our experts at Newman Roofing & Remodeling.