Have you ever returned home through a heavy downpour on an overcast, wet day? After contending with driving rain, blowing winds, and sloshy puddles, perhaps you felt gratitude for the superb quality of your roof? Consider yourself in good company! Just consider five ways a quality roof benefits residents on rainy days:
One: Lower Utility Bills
One of the most important advantages supplied by a superb roof concerns energy efficiency. High quality roofing materials typically help property owners save money on their utility bills. The roof of any residence must serve a dual function; on the one hand, it needs to prevent rain and wind from entering the interior of the dwelling. Yet a well-constructed roof must also furnish adequate ventilation, so that fresh air can flow indoors and circulate properly through the home. (Too little ventilation in an attic causes water damage as a result of condensation.)(1,2)
Experienced roofers appreciate the critical importance of building energy-efficient roofs which also permit ventilation. Today, consumers enjoy an impressive variety of choices in terms of roofing systems, available materials, and stylistic and color elements. Many homeowners benefit by working closely with an experienced roofing contractor during the selection of energy-efficient products. By choosing materials wisely, customers sometimes realize substantial savings on their utility bills over the course of a roof's anticipated lifespan. This process ensures a high quality roof will continue to offer excellent insulation and energy efficiency throughout every season of the year, and during days of beating sun or pounding rain.
Two: Improved Sound Insulation
Another benefit offered by a top quality roof during a rainstorm relates to enhanced sound insulation. No one can completely soundproof a roof, yet techniques exist for enhancing a roof's ability to help insulate against loud outdoor noises. Most people appreciate the importance of this function most acutely at night. A superbly constructed roof shields the occupants of the premises from a percentage of unwanted street noises. In urban areas, this often includes the ongoing stream of sounds produced from nearby roadways and business locations.
When a well-built roof shelters their premises, residents won't notice the rumble of thunder or the crack of a lighting bolt striking the ground during a rainstorm as acutely, either. Metal roofs won't "rattle" readily.(3) People converse indoors without concern their discussions will carry outside readily. In this sense, great quality roofing provides a better screen against sound transmission.
Three: Reduced Maintenance Costs
Anyone appreciating the quality of the roof during a heavy rainstorm likely feels gratitude for receiving another benefit, too. Well-constructed, quality roofs typically impose fewer maintenance requirements on homeowners as a result of wind damage. Today many manufacturers design their roofing systems to withstand gusts within specified wind speed ranges. By choosing a highly wind-resistant roof, a homeowner will likely encounter fewer repair bills following severe storms.(4)
Why does this issue matter? Consider the plight of two property owners. One resides in a home with an ageing, poor quality asphalt tile roof and the other has installed a top quality wind-resistant asphalt tile roof. After a rainstorm, the first individual will likely discover random tiles scattered across the yard. It will become necessary to spend time cleaning up this debris, and checking the rooftop for damage. The unfortunate homeowner may need to spend money installing replacement tiles simply to prevent the ageing roof from developing leaks as a result of missing tile. By contrast, the second property owners residing in a home with a high quality asphalt tile roof capable of resisting high winds likely won't need to perform this maintenance at all. The better quality roof will endure severe rainstorms without sustaining damage.
Four: Dryer Doorsteps
Property owners who invest in top quality roofing products enjoy yet a fourth advantage on rainy days. People crossing the threshold of the home won't encounter a cascading torrent of water flowing onto them from the roof. High quality roofing systems invariably work compatibly with a rootop gutter system.(5) A network of pipes and downspouts prevents rainwater runoff from traveling across a rooftop during heavy downpours to spill over the eaves of the residence like a mini-waterfall. In practical terms, this aspect of quality roofing helps homeowners promote greater comfort for anyone entering (or leaving) through exterior doorways on rainy days.
Frequently, people fail to appreciate the high volume of water which may land on a rooftops. Most roofs encompass at least the square footage of one level of a house or an apartment building. These surfaces sometimes direct copious volumes of water around the perimeter of the structure in the absence of a dependable gutter system. (During bygone eras, many homeowners utilized rooftops as water collection systems, in fact. They intentionally channeled rain into gutter spouts which directed the flow into rain barrels.) A high volume of water soaking into the ground around a man-made structure can produce insidious long term damage to buildings. It may cause the adjoining ground to become waterlogged, eventually contributing to leaky basements or foundations.
Five: Completely Dry Residential Interiors
Finally, perhaps the most obvious benefit of a quality roofing system during a rainstorm lies in the maintenance of luxuriously dry residential interiors. Well-constructed roofs don't leak readily. The designers of these roofing systems work hard to seal rooftops against water.
A hole in a roof requires immediate attention from property owners. It furnishes a channel for the entry of unwanted rain or snow indoors. The presence of damp wood in damaged roofs may even attract insect pests, such as termites. For a variety of reasons, property owners strive to prevent leaky roofs.
Investing in a Quality Roof
Every year, property owners decide to obtain skilled re-roofing services. Investing in high quality materials and workmanship generally offers the best long term value. This type of improvement may help transform an ordinary dwelling into a luxurious refuge during a severe storm!