Home House & Components Parts of House Roof
As heat records shatter, it's important to pay attention to the part of the house that protects you from the sun. We asked a Texas roofer for advice. Rockwool Loft Insulation
The summer of 2023 set heat records across the United States and other parts of the Northern Hemisphere, with 100-degree temperatures becoming more frequent in many places. If you’ve ever burned your feet walking barefoot across a pool deck, you have an idea what your roof experiences on such hot days. But unlike a pool deck, excessive heat can damage a roof covering.
If you’re wondering how to protect your roof from the unrelenting heat, Ami Feller, owner and CEO of Roofer Chicks, has some advice. Feller operates out of New Braunfels, Texas, just outside San Antonio. Temperatures in nearby San Angelo reached a record 114 degrees in July, and they’re slated to remain above 100 degrees in her area for the first half of August.
“Most materials are designed to hold up under extreme heat,” she says. But under unusual circumstances, she says, the sun beating down on the roof can “literally boil” the shingles. That’s something every homeowner obviously wants to avoid, and the best strategies for doing that start in the attic.
Certain factors make some roofs more susceptible to damage than others. These include:
To some extent, all roofs are vulnerable to ultraviolet radiation. But UV light bleaches shingles and makes them curl up.
Thermal shock caused by extreme temperature fluctuations can cause shingles and metal roofing to warp and curl. If you see a roof with missing shingles, thermal shock often contributed. High heat and thermal shock also take their toll on the framing, which can warp and create leaks, causing even more damage to the roof covering.
Here are five ways to protect your roof from the intense heat.
“Insulation in the attic is very important,” says Feller. Laying insulation on the attic floor keeps your house cooler. But to protect the roof itself, it’s more important to insulate the underside of the roof decking. She suggests spray foam for this.
Spray foam becoming more popular in Texas, she says, because it prevents heat from radiating through the roof decking. It also keeps the attic and house cooler.
However, Feller points to an important downside to spray foam: It makes it harder to detect leaks. Water tends to track between the insulation and the decking, and the place where it finally drips into the attic could be many feet away from the actual leak.
Every attic needs positive airflow to prevent heat from building up and becoming a problem. A typical passive ventilation system includes intake vents at the lowest point of the attic (usually the soffits) and exhaust vents at the highest point (usually the ridge).
Cool air comes in through the intake vents, rises and it warms and and exits through the exhaust vents. Feller says this natural movement of air is enough to keep the attic and the underside of the roof decking cool.
Low-slope roofs may lack the vertical space to promote natural convection and can benefit from active ventilation. One or more exhaust fans set into the roof or placed in the gables can provide the extra circulation.
It isn’t enough to simply install attic vents; you must make sure air passes through them. It’s common for homeowners to install vents in the soffits, then block them when installing insulation on the floor. Feller’s solution? “Just shimmy out there and unblock the vents,” she says. It’s a hot, sweaty, dirty job, she says, but it’s the only way to get the air flowing.
While you’re out there at the edge of the attic floor, it’s smart to install baffles over the soffit vents. Made of cardboard or styrene, you staple them to the underside of the roof with one end protecting the vent from loose insulation. They allow air to flow directly toward the roof vents.
This was a long shot suggestion I proposed during our conversation, and I expected Feller to shoot it down. Instead, she agreed it was a good idea. A white elastomeric roof coating reflects sunlight and indeed keeps the roof cooler, provided you use multiple layers of the right product.
The problem? “It’s ugly on a sloped roof,” she says. “You can tint it to make it look better, but not too dark.”
Off-whites and pastels on the roof may fit in with some design schemes, but not many. If the roof features a low slope and you can’t see much of it from the ground, color doesn’t matter as much, and an elastomeric coating may be just the ticket.
Plant a few fast-growing trees next to the house, wait 10 years or so, and your roof will be protected from the sun. Most people, of course, need a more immediate solution, and solar panels provide one.
To generate electricity, roof solar panels need to face the sun, and that just happens to be the part requiring the most protection. The panels absorb all the heat that would otherwise go through the roofing into the attic, turning it into electricity you can use directly or sell to the power company. It’s a win-win for you, your roof and the power grid.
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