Roof installation is the single largest maintenance task any homeowner must take on. Whether you are building and roofing a new structure, recovering from disaster, or restoring a home that has outlived its original roof, roof installation is no small concern. Especially in states like Michigan which is known for extreme weather and impressive yearly storms. Fortunately, you don’t have to strip and lay the shingles yourself to get a trustworthy and high-quality roof on your home. Dedicated local roofers in the Troy area will gladly take roof installation for both brand new and impressively old structures.
Of course, the style and color of shingle isn’t your only concern when planning for a roof installation. This is also your best chance to add or improve the details of the roof in question. If there are any features you want to improve or add that have a roof component, now is the time to make those changes. Speak to your roofers about roof details you’d like to define right now, before the new roof goes in. After all, why worry about roof renovations later when you can opportunistically install all your dream roof features during the necessary installation process?
Here are the top eleven important details to consider when planning a roof installation for your Troy Michigan home:
1) Chimneys
Many Michigan homes feature at least one chimney that connects to a cozy fire to keep the family warm indoors. Fireplaces and wood burning stoves are wonderful ways to enjoy the winter together alone, as couples, and in families and can be relied on even if the power goes out in a bad winter storm. But the chimneys and stovepipes also need to be installed correctly in the rooftop and maintained over the years.
Roof installation on your Troy home is the perfect time to repair, maintain, or improve any existing chimneys that passed through your old roof. It’s also the right time to act if you have been wanting to install a new wood burning stove or interior fireplace. Now is when roofers can most easily build you a properly flashed (sealed and protected) chimney connection in your new roof.
2) Exhaust Fans
Exhaust fans are another feature that need to extend from inside the house out through the roof. Some exhaust fans can run out through the side of the attic, but most prefer to act as mini-chimneys. This allows bathrooms, kitchens, and laundry rooms to release moist air or cooking fumes harmlessly into the sky rather than building up indoors.
Take a moment to think about whether your home needs work on existing exhaust fans or if you don’t have enough exhaust fans in your home. Many older homes and/or secondary bathrooms don’t feature bathroom exhaust fans meaning steam and odors tend to build up. Especially in the winter when opening a window is unpleasantly or dangerously cold. Now is the right time to repair, maintain, and install new exhaust fans for under-ventilated rooms in your home.
3) Skylights
For some homeowners, there is nothing more rewarding than a properly placed skylight. Having the sun beam down on you while working or relaxing in the home can be an irreplaceable joy. Others prefer skylights to look at the moon, stars, or even the clouds based on their preferences. And a new roof is the ideal time to think about adding a skylight where you have always wanted one.
Not all rooms can have a skylight, and not all roof sections should feature one. However, your roofer will be able to tell you exactly where you can put a skylight, and how big it can be, based on the design and structural needs of your roof. This is also a good time to repair or remove previous skylights that had broken or are now unwanted.
4) Attic Circulation
Then there’s the very serious consideration of attic circulation. When warm house air circulates evenly through your attic in the winter time, piled snow melts from the warm shingles underneath and slides neatly off your roof. Insufficient or uneven attic circulation can result in warm and cool spots on the roof. Which, in turn, leads to piles of snow staying on the roof for months on end. Sometimes they melt and freeze over and over again. often, they cause long-term moisture damage from sitting and slightly melting into the roof during the winter and spring.
The best way to take care of your new roof through cold and snowy Michigan winters is to ensure excellent attic circulation. You should speak to your roofer about how they will ensure attic circulation in the new roof design to ensure the installation will be a long-term success. Naturally, you want your roof to passively resist snow damage for decades into the future. Attic circulation is the way to do that.
5) Gutters
No one understands the importance of gutters like a native Michigander. In the fall, your gutters fill up with wet leaves and if you don’t clean them by winter, you’re just asking for ice dams. Keeping your gutters clear on a seasonal basis can be a real challenge, and one you must remember to take care of. However, you are not necessarily subject to the gutters you started with.
In most roofing reinstallations, it’s easiest to remove the gutters completely during the work and put them back at the right time during the roofing project. This makes your roof installation a great opportunity to make some improvements on your home’s gutters. Newer gutters made and sealed with modern materials are less likely to rust and dam over time. Gutter covers can make it much easier to take care of leaves and seed pods while always allowing a clear path for water and melting snow to flow. And freshly attached gutters will hang on better in a storm than anything loosened with age.
6) Architectural Shingles
One must also consider the strength of the shingles you’re about to install. In Michigan where storming wind speeds frequently top 60 mph, single integrity really matters. Even without blowing tree branches around, the wind can break shingles in half or rip them straight off your roof. This is why a reliable local roofing service for post-storm repairs is so important.
But you can also cut down on your need for post-storm repairs by thinking ahead during your roof installation. Homeowners who choose architectural shingles are investing in a sturdier, more wind and weather resistant shingle than has previously been available. Architectural shingles are a head and shoulders above modern composite asphalt shingles. Architectural shingles are built thicker, with extra tab connection points and a unique texture that many homeowners find very attractive from a distance. They also stick with greater fastness in a storm and are more resistant to both breaking and sheering forces sometimes found in severe Michigan seasonal storms.
7) Solar Panels
Your roofers can also help you make special plans if you own or intend to install rooftop solar panels. Solar panels not only require a southern-facing rooftop to catch the most possible sun, they also need serious infrastructural support to hang safely on the roof like they do. Especially if your roof is built steeply as a practical way to encourage snow to slide off.
For solar panel enthusiasts, it’s important to consult with your roofer during a roofing installation. Your roofer may be able to provide greater support and even designate safe bolt-on points for your solar panel frames in order to make your panels the most secure possible. Planning for panels now, during the installation, ist a great way to get your roofers ahead of the game by preparing the roof for panel installation.
8) Additions
Building an addition on your home is another common reason to need a full roof installation. For the new addition, that is. Whether you are building on a garage, another story, or a new wing to the house; it’s important to ensure that your new roof will be efficient at resisting the elements. Additions are sometimes tricky projects that involve extending the old roof or quick and easy to handle jobs based on the home design and nature of the addition.
You may choose to time your new addition with the upcoming necessity of a whole-home roof installation. This is a very practical choice for Troy Michigan residents looking to be efficient about home renovations. And if you plan to build an addition at some point in the future, talk to your roofers about this plan. There may be some ways they can make this future addition easier in how they build the relevant edges of your roof today. Additions bring an interesting complication to roofs that is worth discussing with your roofer.
9) Fall Leaf Management
In Michigan, the fall is no joke. The leaves start falling and they don’t stop until every non-evergreen branch is brilliantly colored and then bare. You can rake up the leaves that pile in your yard or blow away leaves that land on your driveway. But piled leaves offer a unique danger for Troy Michigan rooftops in the fall. Piled leaves can trap moisture underneath, especially if it rains while the piles are still sitting on your roof.
These wet leaf piles become a risk for long-term water damage as the moisture seeps through the shingles over time. Wet piles of leaves on your roof can eventually rot the underlayment and supporting beams below, putting your entire home’s structural integrity at risk. Not to mention the possibility of further water damage.
This means that, in the fall, you need a roof that repels leaves and a plan to clear away stubborn piles. A roof cleaning brush with a very long handle is a popular DIY method, while busy or non-athletic homeowners occasionally call for roof maintenance to keep the damp plies clear.
10) Winter Snow Management
The winter poses a similar challenge for all Mighicander homeowners: Piles of snow. Even if you get your roof and gutters clear of leaves before the first snow falls, you still need to worry about snow piling up on your rooftop, falling off your rooftop, and remaining in potentially dangerous piles on your rooftop.
Snow piles tend to form on rooftops where the attic circulation is uneven or where there is a sagging low spot in the roof to hold the pile. Uneven circulation means that there are cooler spots where it is more friendly for snow to pile rather than warming and sliding off. Low places are even worse as the snow may never get enough downward pull to slide off on it’s own.
Snow piles are dangerous because they tend to melt and freeze over and over again, releasing moisture from the bottom while the top layer refreezes into a hard wind-resistant shell. Soon, you have a dripping cause of rot that just won’t slide or blow away. But good roof construction can change that. Knowing that you want a snow-resistant roof is a great place to start. Talk to your roof installation team about how to make sure circulation and surface are even for your roof.
11) Rooftop Decorations
Next, give a thought for rooftop decorations. While most households would never think to mount any kind of decor on their roof, it is a tradition for some families across the country and the state of Michigan. If you have an heirloom weather vane that belongs on top of any house you live in, or if you have any other valued rooftop decorations that are not necessarily a feature, don’t forget to mention these.
Reinstalling your roof is the most important time to consult on how your decorations can be mounted on your new Troy Michigan. For permanent decorations, your roofer may be able to suggest the best built-in mounting point for your rooftop decor. There may also be flashing or other types of specific roof installation that will make your rooftop decoration shine and resist the elements more effectively.
Now, before your roof installation, is also the perfect time to talk Christmas light mount points. Your roofer might just be able to install a few extra brackets or point you in the right direction for more efficiently hanging and removing strings of lights every year.
12) Regular Maintenance Schedule
Finally, don’t forget that even a new roof needs regularly scheduled maintenance. Due to the severity of Michigan seasonal storms, it’s generally best to get an inspection at least once a year. But with a brand new roof in the latest shingle models, a new roof can go as much as five years without an inspection or repairs — in perfect weather, of course.
Any reputable roofing company would be happy to schedule regular maintenance appointments for your roof. Your roofers can also help you outline the ideal inspection and maintenance schedule so that your roof care can run like clockwork.
With help from your local Troy Michigan roofer, you can schedule your new roof installation with every detail in perfectly planned for. If you’d like more information on planning a new roof installation, inspection, or repairs then contact us today! Our expert roofing team is always ready to help a Troy Michigan resident find the exact roofing services they need.
