Your roof is the umbrella protective cover of your home. It plays a vital role as coverage that protects your home and family from the elements, as well as your belongings. Extending the life of your roof can be done with proper maintenance, which is the basic step you can take. Insulation is not something that’s readily thought of as a means of extending your roof’s life.
However, an insulated attic can protect your roof and preserve it, as well as the structural component that holds it all together. How does insulation extend the life of your roof?
How Insulation Works
Insulation doesn’t simply help to maintain warmth in your home, but more significantly, it restricts the natural flow of heat energy from a warm space into a cooler one. It prevents heat transfer from flowing through your home’s building components, including wood framing and ceiling drywall.
Poorly Insulated Attic
Aside from heat transfer through conduction, heat can escape into the attic through unsealed gaps, cracks, and around the access hatch. As the warm air rises, it reaches the attic’s highest point, which is the roof’s peak, where it moves out and reaches the roof decking and shingles.
Absent Insulation Leads to Ice Dam Formation
During the winter season, snow accumulates on the roof. If you lack insulation, warm air rises, and transfers through the roof, where it melts the surface layer of snow accumulation that’s present at the attic’s peak. The snow runoff trickles down to the much cooler eaves, where it refreezes into ice, and with each thaw/freeze cycle, this accumulation gets worse, creating an ice dam. The formation causes additional runoff to lift the edges of the shingles, sending the runoff beneath, causing them to expand as refreezing occurs. The consequence over time is significant shingles deterioration and decay of deck and rafter, plus roof leaks.
Effective Insulation Effectively
If you want to prevent ice dam formation and roof damage, install effective insulation on your attic floor. Based on the Energy Star’ recommendations, attic floor insulation with R-49 to R-60 provides the greatest benefit. A good option for small and hard-to-reach spots and R-value retention is blown-in insulation.
Nor’Easter Roofing can help you with a new roof and insulation and help you to preserve and maintain your roofing for years to come. Your roof’s longevity is our priority and with our team of skilled professionals, we can meet your roofing and insulation needs. Contact us today.