There are far too many homeowners who ignore their roofs until damage has already occurred. Quite a bit of roof damage occurs during the hotter months of the year, but it may go unnoticed until the rainy season occurs. Hot summer weather causes roof deterioration, leading to leaks and failures across your rooftop. Powerful IR radiation and UV light from the Sun is to blame. The two of these elements combined can cause severe damage to a roof that does not have proper protection from the Sun. Some of the ways you can protect your home’s roof from damage from the sun are found here.

It is recommended by experienced roofers the following steps are taken annually to properly care for your roof:

1. Sealing and coating the roof to protect against harmful UV rays that can cause damage
2. Installing vapor barriers that decrease moisture
3. Changing your roof from an asphalt material to a cooler, more reflective material like tile or PVC
4. Painting your roof white to cool the surface
5. Apply periodic acrylic coatings to sustain your roof from thermal shock
6. Take a proactive approach to repairs and maintenance (essentially stay ahead of the game)

The most common and effective way is adding the roof coating which protects your roof from IR and UV damage, acting very similar to a sunblock, if a sunblock lasted 10 years before needing a new application. Highly reflective roof coatings are applied as a system, generally referred to as a Cool Roof System, directly on top of an existing roof, creating a new, fully adhered, waterproof membrane which covers and protects the existing roof. It is necessary to re-coat your roof every 10-15 years to maintain a watertight roof without ever having to worry about a costly tear-off. It is important to choose a roof coating with high reflectivity and emissive so that it can properly reflect the heat away from the building and radiate any heat that was absorbed back into the atmosphere.

Not only do these roof coatings protect your roof from early deterioration, they also lower air temperature inside the building. Cooler air temperature allows you to save on energy usage and cost, as you do not need to use your air conditioning as frequently or for as long.

Provided you need some more information on this topic or maybe you’re interested in installing some protection for your roof feels free to give us a call.