roofing

Roofing supplies

Roofing supplies include a wide range of materials and items needed for roof construction and maintenance. This means not only shingles but molding, lumber, pipes and vents, roofing cements, ladders and all the useful tools, even roofing nails.

First of all, let’s consider the roofing material. This is considered the roof proper and includes wood shingles, ceramic tiles, asbestos shingles, metal roofing sheets and tiles, rubber roofing sheets and shingles, and a lot of other types of materials. The roofing material should be chosen based on location, so that the roof will withstand the local elements and issues that interact with a roof.

Another vital point is that the frame or support structure of a roof is lumber. This usually consists of a triangular truss and a lattice of beams. The frame serves as the base for the roof which is laid over the top. Other lumber elements include he cornice, part of the frame that hangs over the wall, the fascia, or underside of the cornice, the eave, beam ends of the wood frame that allow water to drip away from the roof, and the soffit, which is the underside of the eave.

Pipes and vents protrude from the roof.  They help the house breathe, and are also the way out for smoke from a fireplace or cooking hood, as well as for hot air from the attic.  The bottoms of pipes and vents are always sealed with a boot, or metal strip, that includes a lead based or plastic sealant. These pipes and vents have one way shields sealed with rubber so that the air or smoke can escape, but water doesn’t flow into the pipe or vent.

Now onto the roofing tools which include the ladder to get to the roof, as well as other tools used for maintenance, installation and removal. These include simple items such as a broom and bucket to hold waste shingles, a slater’s hammer that includes a hammer as well as an ax and blade, a slate cutter to cut through shingles, seaming pliers to hold shingles, and a hip runner to install the ridge cap, the part of the roof on top of seams.

One final point I’d like to make is that roofing nails must be long enough to go through the shingles and make it about 3/8 inch below the bottom of the shingle.  Anything that interferes with the nails biting into the wood might cause the nail to spring out of the shingle, and eventually the loss of shingles.  This includes shingles with ridges, some under shingle materials, and of course small nails. A skilled roofer can drive a roofing nail with one solid hit.  A homeowner doing it themselves should be able to drive most roofing nails with one hit within a few minutes of work.

That’s all there is to it. Like a well roofing supplies are a deep subject, but satisfying when you get to the bottom of it.

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TPO Roofing

DOW invented TPO Roofing in the early 1990’s. From there TPO Roofing means “Thermalplastic Olefin” roofing. TPO membranes are made from ethylene propylene rubber, and are a combination of rubber and hot air welded seams. The benefits here are obvious. They have brilliant resistance to ozone, resist algae, environmentally friendly and safe to install. The material is often as a monolithic (seamless) roof. TPO is highly tear resistant, resists impacts, and resists punctures with excellent flexibility to allow for building movement. TPO’s are available in white, light gray, and black with thicknesses of either 45 mils (.045″) or 60 mils (.060″). The width of the membrane depends on the manufacturer but they usually come in widths of six to six-and-a-half feet and are one hundred feet in length.

So it comes down to the scenario that TPO Roofing is considered fully-adhered roofing. In other words, adhesive attaches the roofing membrane to the substrate material, forming a strong chemical bond. In reality, TPO is highly heat reflective, fire resistant, and energy efficient.  It also resists UV rays and dirt.  TPO is also well loved in the automotive industry where it is known for impact resistance.  This crosses over into the roofing industry where hail hurt to roofs is a common concern.

Not only that, another advantage of TPO, for the roofing contractor and manufacturers at least, is that there is a shift from some lower priced materials like EPDM to more expensive TPO materials.  Commercial roofing sales reached $3.3 billion overall in 2007 with single-ply products being the largest segment.  TPO has been taking more of that large share.

TPO is becoming more well loved as the green movement grows, especially because it’s recyclable. Not only can it be recycled for roofing materials, but it can be burned as a fuel. TPO burns very cleanly with no toxic emissions when no flame retardants are present.  It therefore has a high potential as a high energy fuel for waste-to-energy programs.

TPO roofs are categorized as “cool roofs.”  A cool roof can be defined in many ways by people or by different municipal codes. Basically, a cool roof reflects and emits the sun’s heat back upward without allowing it to pass into the building or home. The more sun it reflects and emits, the cooler the roof.  The Cool Roof Rating Council, CRRC, maintains an on line database of cool roof products.  Be aware that while some TPO roofs score highly on the scale, some don’t.

That’s all there is to it. It may seem silly to say, but for many TPO roofing is the way to go.

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