Roofing Felt Explained To Beginners
66If you are thinking about either repairing a felt roof or building one from scratch, and you have never worked with this material before, there are a few things to consider before getting started.
What is roofing felt? It is a bitumen-based material which often comes in rolls and is often used for flat roofing. There are a few different types, of which some are designed to be the bottom layers of a felt roof, while others function as the top layer. Roofing felt is installed either with adhesive heated with a propane torch - this is the traditional method - or using cold adhesive, which is a newer method. Most felt roofs are 2-3 layers of material, the idea being that the watertight membrane is then stronger, than if only one layer was used. Part of the idea of using several layers, is also to be able to have some overlap between sheets of felt, while maintaining the thickness of the membrane overall. The bottom layers are plain black felt, while the top layer often has slate granulate sprinkled on it for both additional protection and a slightly more reflective surface, leading to a slightly colder roof. A felt roof can get very hot in the summer, so if there was no reflection of sunlight, the adhesive could go soft and loose its grip over time.
Is roofing felt easy to install? It depends. Many people have done this themselves, with varying degrees of success. If you have never tried working with it before, it would certainly not be a bad idea to start with a simple shed or garage roof as your first project, as the most problems with felt roofs tend to arise on more complex roofs with lots of dormers, skylights, vents and such. Getting a couple of layers to stick to a sheet of plywood may not be very difficult, but any professional roofing company knows that the devil is in the details when it comes to roofing felt. Whereever two sheets overlap, or meet another material, there is a potential for a leak, so it is very important to learn how these details must be carried out in order to be correct and not fail over time.
Roofing felt is great for flat roofing, but don't cut corners when installing it. If you don't feel you can handle it, it is always better to contact a roofing service and get them to to the job. Then you can be sure you have a good and long-lasting roof for years to come.
