What Are The 8 Layers Of A Shingle Roof?
What Are The 8 Layers Of A Shingle Roof?
The eight layers of a shingle roof are, from bottom to top: Insulation, Ventilation, Roof Deck, Underlayment, Ice and Water Shield, Ridge Vents, Roofing Material, and Flashing.
Each roof layer has a distinct role, but they all work together to protect your home and make people who live beneath it more comfortable.
1. Insulation
Roof insulation is a barrier material applied between the rafters (beams that support the roof) or the joists as part of a roofing system (beams along the attic floor).
Insulation reduces heat transmission between the outside world and your living area, making your home cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.
Insulating the attic area in and around your roof will assist keep energy in your house, decreasing heating and cooling loads on your HVAC, improving your home’s energy efficiency rating, and cutting total utility consumption.
Roof insulation also protects against ice damming, which occurs when warm air tries to escape through the roof but instead heats the snow unevenly.
2. Ventilation
Your attic is a component of your entire roof system. To get the most out of your roof, ensure it’s adequately ventilated. Roof ventilation’s overarching goal is to promote natural circulation through the attic space in order to maintain a consistent temperature and humidity level.
Intake and exhaust vents are strategically placed in the roof or attic to form ventilation systems. Ridge vents, gable vents, and static vents are all common types of vents.
A roof ventilation system reduces the risk of ice dams, resulting in more comfortable living conditions, drier insulation, fewer energy costs, and a longer lifespan.
3. Roof Deck
The roof deck, also known as sheathing, is the layer erected over the framing and serves as the foundation for everything else. The material used for decking varies, although plywood or OSB sheets are used in most homes.
Other materials include corrugated metal, reinforced concrete, polystyrene, and double tee. The roof deck serves as a nailing surface for the shingles.
4. Underlayment
A protective layer laid on the roof deck is known as underlayment. It provides an additional layer of water resistance against ice dam leaks. The most popular is felt, a tough paper soaked with asphalt.
The underlayment on your roof keeps rain from penetrating beneath your shingles and water from reaching the roof deck if the shingles are damaged or cracked.
5. Ice and Water Shield
A waterproof membrane with a polymer-modified bitumen adhesive on the back is a step up from roofing felts. The membrane’s adhesive surface helps it to attach to the roof deck and establish a watertight barrier around nail penetrations.
Covering your whole roof with ice and a water barrier will help keep water out of your home, especially after a strong wind.
6. Ridge Vents.
These vents are part of the roof ventilation system and are located at the top of a sloping roof. Ridge vents are often installed along the gaps on either side of the ridge cap and are covered with roofing materials.
This venting allows hot air in the attic to naturally ascend and be discharged to the outside, resulting in consistent cooling along the roof deck. A correctly placed ridge vent lowers the demand for air conditioning while also extending the life of your roof.
7. Roofing Material
The final layer of the roof is the roofing material you select. The most popular residential roofing materials are shingle, shake, tile, metal, wood, or slate. Roofing materials, in textures, patterns, and colors, are a significant aspect of building aesthetics since they are virtually always visible.
8. Flashing
Roof flashing is a flat, thin waterproof material used at the intersections of the roof’s multiple planes. Flashing can be composed of various materials, including aluminum, copper, galvanized steel, and zinc alloy.
It is rolled out and then sealed to keep water out of certain portions of your roof, such as chimneys, walls, vents, plumbing vents, valleys, eaves, and skylights. Water flows away from the spot down the side of the flashing.
