Roofing a house can be trickier than you first might expect. Roofing your home requires more than just adding the exterior tiles and may also need to be mindful of other components of your roofing system including underlay, flashing and ridge caps.
Before jumping right in, it is important that you understand the various materials involved and how they work to weatherproof your home. Your roof is an integral part of your home and getting it wrong can be a very costly mistake. Your best bet is to call in roofers Conwy who will make sure your home stays not only dry but warm, especially in the winter months.
Take a look at our step-by-step guide to roofing a house.
Step 1 – Remove Old Roof
This first step is probably obvious but it is important to prepare your roof for installation of a new one.
When removing the exterior layers to your roof, make sure that you flatten any nails sticking out that you may find. After all, you don’t want them to rip into your brand new tiles you are about to install.
To minimize the clear up from your old roof, it is a good idea to lay tarp around your home to catch anything that may fall.
Step 2 – Underlay
Once your roof is completely debris-free the next step is to apply your underlay. The underlay must be waterproof and it’s a good idea to check building codes as to how much is needed and how much roof you must cover.
Step 3 – Add Flashing
In order to finish off your roof, once it’s laid, you need to think about the flashing. This needs to be done prior to putting your roof down and is very important to make it look as aesthetically pleasing as possible.
As well as looking pretty, flashing also acts as reinforcement against high winds and prevents materials from curling over the edge.
Step 4 – Laying Roof Tiles
Before laying any tiles it is important that you have your laying pattern in place. One-off tile can mean throwing out the lines of the rest of the roof, so it’s important that this is done correctly. The best way to do this is by chalking out a template beforehand and keeping in mind the overlap.
Starting from the bottom up, you can begin laying your roof times. Most roofing experts will advise that this first row should have a slight overhang which should be no more than a quarter of an inch.
Step 5 – Cap The Ridge
The ridge of the roof is the very top part of the roof where the sides join one another. It is important that you cap the ridge correctly to give your roof added protection against the environment.
