Here are a few facts we thought you may be interested to know about underlayment (i.e. the roll material installed “under” the shingles / tiles). Some types of roofing material shed virtually all of the water that rains down on them, whereas other types of roofing materials do not shed all of the water (i.e. water is expected to get under some types of roofing materials). For example, very little (if any) water should ever get under composition shingles during normal weather conditions & should only potentially get under composition shingles during high wind driven rains or possibly when ice damming occurs. Yet, other types of roofing materials, such as concrete tile, will most definitely allow water beneath them, even during moderate / normal weather conditions. So, the choice of underlayment to be installed is actually much more important when installing a roofing material that is known to allow water beneath it. Yet, in many instances when a quality underlayment is critical to the roofs performance (i.e. beneath concrete tile roofing), the “minimum standard” underlayment (i.e. one ply of type 30 asphalt saturated felt paper) is installed. The result is a roof system that will likely fail many years sooner than it would have if a better underlayment had been installed, at modest additional cost. And, in those situations where the underlayment is not critical because water will likely never make its way beneath the roofing material (i.e. composition shingle roofing materials) we find some of the highest quality underlayments being installed at significant additional cost.
Roof Repair Company Underlayment Material Best Practices
Take some advice from a Roof Repair Company that has been repairing roofs in Kansas City for over 55 years. It honestly makes no sense, but you will find this nonsensical approach to selection of underlayment occurs quite frequently. Our advice for composition shingle roofs; spend more on the quality of shingles installed and less on the underlayment. For concrete tile roofs; spend more on the underlayment and cut back on the cost of the field tiles if necessary. We also recommend ice barrier underlayments at certain areas of the roof where ice damming may present problems. For more information, see our blog titled “Ice barrier underlayments” or give us a call and we will gladly discuss further.
