If you are in the market for a cool roof to save you money in energy bills and to do your part in helping the environment, there are many options out there for you.  Here are just a few products that are likely to grant you the best energy savings possible, while offering the greatest protection for your home or building.    

Flat Roofs
If you own a flat roof, you are provided with convenient energy saving resources.  Flat roofing membranes, unlike tar and gravel roofs, are reflective and are designed to save you energy and money.  A flat roof membrane's high reflectivity will help to reduce the amount of energy required to cool a building and keep it cool throughout the hottest points of the year.  This decreased amount of energy consumption causes a lower amount of pollution to be generated back into the atmosphere and directly contributes to a cooler and cleaner environment, all while you save a little money.  Some roofing membranes that are energy efficient include:

• TPO
• EPDM
• TOPCOAT

TPO is an extremely relfective roofing membrane.  Versico's TPO membranes carry the Energy Star rating, and succeeded in exceeding the guidelines to meet that rating.  TPO is solar reflective and has a thermal emmitance level of .8 to .9, depending on the color.  Versico's TPO is also listed as a CRRC (Cool Roof Rating Council) certified product.  This TPO is also 100% recyclable, as well as made from safe materials that do not harm the environment.  If you are looking for a roof that will naturally cut down your energy bill, and also succeed in helping the environment, TPO is for you. 
 
EPDM is a truly sustainable product.  It is diverse enough to fit the needs of virtually all of the different climates and building structures.  For example, if a membrane is not thick enough in a cold climate zone, it will almost immediately result in higher energy output and costs for the property owner.  However, EPDM is able to work with different climates to create an energy efficient roof for you an any location.  Though EPDM lacks the reflectivity of TPO, it makes up for it in thermal performance.  In fact, a recent study performed by the Department of Energy and the EPDM Roofing Association showed that ballast and paver systems (such as EPDM roofing) can save as much energy as a reflective or "cool" roofs.   

If you are looking for a way to push your roof over the top in energy savings, TOPCOAT is for you.  It is a roofing membrane designed to be sprayed over current roofs, whether it is a single-ply membrane or a metal roof.  It holds the Energy Star rating for its solar reflectivity.  It has the similar effect of TPO: it decreases the overall building temperature through it's solar reflectivity and thermal emmitance.  In fact, TOPCOAT can save you up to 50% of your roof's original cost through energy savings.  It also protects seams and joints from wide temperature changes that can negatively effect roofing performance.   

Pitched Roofs
Even pitched roofs are following the global trend of energy efficient building products.  Since most pitched roofs are residential, they have the potential to save your family from spending money on unneccessary energy bills, while still helping your house look good.  They also qualify for a tax credit of up to $1500.  Two examples of these cool shingles are:

• GAF's Timberline Cool Series
• CertainTeed's Landmark Solaris

GAF Timberline has introduced the Cool Series shingle in hopes of reducing attic temperatures, and thus reducing energy costs and usage.  They are designed with a greater reflectance than tradtional shingles that helps to minimize the amount of heat leaking from your roof into your home.  This shingle saves it's residents an average of 7-15% of total cooling costs each year.  In warmer climates, cooling cost savings may be greater throughout the entire year.  These shingles are based off of the design of the #1 archetectural shingle in America, giving your home the beautiful look you want.  

Certainteed Roofing has also come out with a 'cool' shingle: Landmark Solaris.  This shingle contains advanced color granules that reflect the sun.  This succeeds in reducing the overall roof temperature by up to 20% in the summer, saving you money and energy.  Landmark Solaris is rated by the Cool Roof Rating Council, qualifies for credits and points in LEED, NAHB, and other green programs, and meets the ENERGY STAR standards for solar reflectance and thermal emission.  However, perhaps the best feature of this shingle is it's beauty.  It doesn't look like a cool shingle, but rather it is a beautiful architectural shingle that would look great on any home.   

Learn more about our products, or for a free estimate, contact Brady Roofing.

Over the last few months, one of our clients has called us several times to fix various leaks in his 12 year old pitched roof installed by another roofing contractor.  He had originally had a tar and gravel flat roof.  He had his roofing contractor convert it to a 4/12 pitched roof, leaving the tar and gravel roof on underneath.  He called us when, after only 12 years, his shingled roof was leaking in various places.  When I got on the roof I noted the poor workmanship of his roof and shingles.  We did several repairs and ended up replacing the entire roof, installing new shingles, an ice shield, synthetic felt and new flashing.  It was a 30 year system and I was confident he wouldn't have any future leaks in his roof.  

Last night, I had a bizarre experience as I received yet another phone call from him reporting a leak in one of the same places the roof had leaked before.  I couldn't figure out how a brand new roof could be leaking in the same spot.  I called one of my employees and we went to check it out around 5:30.  We inspected the entire roof and could not find any place that could be leaking.  Because it was a converted flat roof, there was no attic access.  Without any other options, I was forced to tear of a portion of the new roof and cut away the plywood underneath to gain access to the cavity between the flat roof and the pitched roof.  As I dropped down into the cavity, I was confident there was no leak in the pitched roof we had recently installed.  The tar and gravel roof was bone-dry and coated with a layer of dust.  

Because the tar and gravel roof was no longer needed, we began tearing the flat roof off to find the problem.  When we had gotten down to the plywood under the tar and gravel, I found that the wood was completely saturated.  Somehow, high humidity levels there had caused this house to leak from the inside out.  

After talking to the owner of the house, I learned they kept a humidifier hooked to their furnace, which was located directly under the area of the leak.  This humidifier was on during the winter.  Every time that it rained or snowed outside, creating a high humidity, that humidity was magnified inside, creating an overall humidity that is higher than average.  This humidity caused condensation to form on the underside of the tar and gravel roof just as it would form on the underside of a pot's lid when water boils.  When the condensation became heavy enough, it would drip through the ceiling, appearing as if there were a leak.  In reality, that water came from the inside of the house.  

When a building has high humidity, a vapor barrier such as Visqeen should be installed on the warm side of the insulation.  In this case, the vapor barrier was the actual tar and gravel roof, and consequently was installed on the cool side of the insulation, forcing the condensation to travel through the ceiling, insulation, and plywood before reaching the barrier. To fix this issue, we cut out the roof sheeting from the tar and gravel in the effected area so that it could breathe.  As we cut it off, a burst of hot, humid air hit us in the face.  I had never seen anything like this, it was simply amazing.  Our client is going to replace the damaged material in this area.  

To avoid this issue in a typical home, simply keep your humidifier turned off in the winter, as it is not necessary.  You may own a home or building that naturally has unusually high level of humidity.  This would usually come from an indoor swimming pool or fountain.  In this case, be sure you have an architect and a roofing contractor that are familiar with building for this environment.  A large number of roofing contractors are unaware of these procedures and cautions.  To my knowledge, only 5 or 6 roofing contractors in the salt lake valley are experienced in installing a roof for this type of environment.  Brady Roofing is experienced in this area.  We recently installed a roof for a Hampton Inn with a similarly humid environment.  To contact Brady Roofing for a free estimate, contact us here.  

Generally, your roof slope (or pitch) measurement will be included with your roofing estimate when you are looking for a contractor to install, repair, or replace your roof.  Brady Roofing offers free estimates that include this service. 
 
However, you may be interested in learning how to measure the pitch of your roof on your own.  This can be useful information to give to contractors in order to get more information about your roof before an estimate.  The good news is, slope is relatively easy to configure. You will need the following supplies:

• 2 rulers (or any measuring tool with the same units)
• a level

Roof slopes are measured in units of twelves.  You can measure with twelve feet or twelve yards, but in this article we will use twelve inches.  For example, when a roof has a slope of 5/12, the roof is 5 inches high for every 12 inches long. Another way of stating this is that the roof has a rise of 5 and a run of 12.  Figuring this is simple.  

First, hold the ruler horizontal with the bottom edge against the bottom of the roof.  Use a level to make sure it is perfectly horizontal.  Then, hold another ruler vertically from the twelfth unit (see diagram).  Again, use the level to ensure that the ruler is perfectly vertical.  The number where the ruler intersects with the bottom of the roof is the top number of slope.  In this case, it would be 6.  This means the roof has a slope of 6/12.  

When you know your roof slope, you can more successfully categorize your roof.  There are flat roofs or low-slope, and steep-slope roofs.  Flat roofs are actually not flat.  If you build a roof to be flat, it will not have a way to drain and can cause serious damage to your roof and home.  Instead, flat roofs are categorized by having a slope between 2/12 and 4/12.  A steep-slope is one above 4/12.  

If you have a flat roof, or a low-slope roof, you will want to use a membrane roofing system such as TPO or EPDM.  Steep-slope roofs require a pitched roofing system such as architectural shingles, tiles or metal roofing.  

Knowing the slope of your roof can help you know what kind of roofing system is best for your roof, as well as aid you as you contact a roofing contractor.  Roofing Contractors enjoy working with educated clients, and may feel that they can give you more information and advice about your roof if you already know a little bit about roofing in general.  It also may serve to give you a ballpark estimate when you are speaking to a contractor over the phone.  

Brady Roofing offers free estimates for both commercial and residential projects.  Contact us today!

I had an interview on Blog Talk Radio today.  We discussed 3 questions you should ask your roofing contractor, as well as some roofing tips and considerations.  To listen, click below or go to www.blogtalkradio.com/bradyonline.

There are four main reasons that attic ventilation is important and can save you money:

1. The first is energy savings.  During warm summers, your attic could actually be heating your house, resulting in high, unnecessary energy costs coming out of your pocket.   
2. The second reason is the effect poor attic ventilation has on your roof's performance.  Under vented attics get very hot in most summer climates and can bake the shingle from the inside out.  
3. The third reason for installing the correct number and placement of vents is so moisture doesn’t get sucked in through some of the vents.  
4. The fourth reason is to reduce the probability of moisture build up in the attic from condensation.

The other day, I was inspecting a roof that had reported a leak.  While looking in their attic, I found an actual blanket of snow covering the floor of the attic.  This was the result of the attic being over ventilated at the ridge.  Because there were too many turtle vents on the roof, the attic actually started to intake air, and moisture along with it.  Snow was being pulled into their home during storms, causing obvious issues with moisture content.  This is the first time I had ever seen anything like this.  The problem could have easily been avoided if the roofing contractor had been more educated about attic ventilation principles.

Under ventilating your attic can be just as dangerous, and is much more common.  If your attic does not allow air flow, your attic would stay unnaturally warm throughout the winter.  This could cause snow on your roof to melt off and then refreeze in your gutters and at your eaves, which may force water to freeze up under your actual shingles.  In the summer, your attic could reach temperatures above 160 degrees, heating your home as you are trying to cool it.  The overwhelming heat of your attic could be prematurely aging your shingles or 'frying' them from the inside out.  Not only this, but if your attic gets hot enough, you could even warp the framing on your home.  

Proper ventilation is simple to enforce.  The biggest mistake I have seen homeowners make is to build a roof with proper ventilation and then install insulation covering the soffits (the area adjacent to the eaves where the air enters the attic through the soffit vents).  Another similar mistake is storing items that block the soffits.  This makes the ventilation system worthless.  Instead, be sure to install insulation clear of this area and store your items away from the vents to allow proper air flow.  

By far, the best way to ventilate your attic is to use soffit vents at the eaves and ridge vents.  These vents are installed by your roofing contractor.  Soffit vents are installed on the bottom of the overhanging area of your roof, or the eave.  These should be used to intake air, as they will not intake moisture along with it.  Your outtake vents should be your ridge vents at the peak or highest points of your roof.  These will help to cool your attic, and as they are covered with shingles, they will also avoid the intake of moisture.  This system will keep the air in your attic moving and flowing, maintaining the health of your home.  

How can you tell if you have proper ventilation in your attic?  One way to monitor this is by keeping track of the temperature in your attic.  An ideal temperature in the summer would be less than 20 degrees warmer than the outside temperature.  It is ideal to have the winter temperature the same inside as outside the attic, as to avoid ice dams.  The winter temperature is probably the most important to monitor in terms of up keeping your home and roof. 

Another way to measure ventilation is by a floor space to ridge ratio.  There should be 1 square foot of ventilation along your ridge for every 300 square feet of floor space in your attic.  For example, if you have 1200 square feet in your attic, you should have 4 square feet of ventilation along your ridge.  

Following these tips and precautions should save you money on your energy bill and in unnecessary repairs to your home.  Brady Roofing is very knowledgeable about attic ventilation and would be an asset to your home.  If you are interested in getting a free estimate, contact Brady Roofing here.