Tevye: A fiddler on the roof. Sounds crazy, no? But here, in our little village of Anatevka, you might say every one of us is a fiddler on the roof trying to scratch out a pleasant, simple tune without breaking his neck. It isn't easy. You may ask 'Why do we stay up there if it's so dangerous?' Well, we stay because Anatevka is our home. And how do we keep our balance? That I can tell you in one word: tradition! Without our traditions our lives would be as shaky as, as... as a fiddler on the roof!
From the play, Fiddler on the Roof
1964
1964
The main reasons for having a roof on one’s house are obviously to keep the weather out and to have some control over the environment it covers. Although time will tell, our trussed hip roof is designed to be a secure system. The completing step is to use an outer skin that will do the job of preventing heat, cold, wind, or wind driven rain from leaking in and heated or cooled air from leaking out. In a High Velocity Hurricane Zone, it is important to use a roof covering that will not blow off or puncture during a storm, as well as an underlayment that provides a sealed skin over the roof deck in the case that the covering fails. Essentially there are two parts to a roof system, with the outer skin and covering protecting the underlying framework. The wooden part of the roof structure was put together by the framing contractor, Currituck Construction Company, and the outer layer will be completed by the roofing company, JBH Roofing, Inc. However, even the very best contractors can’t prevent storm damage if the roof design and the systems within the house are not carefully planned to maintain the integrity of the roof.
A primary goal for the roof on one’s house would be that it not have a hole in it, but that simple concept turns out to be quite a challenge. In fact, most roofs have more than one hole: dryer vents, roof vents, plumbing vents, range hoods, fireplaces, heating system vents, left-over pump-jack holes…lots of possibilities, including vented soffits. Our house was designed to minimize or eliminate any possible roof penetrations, and Vince worked with the sub-contractors to find ways to vent the house systems either through the west wall or through the south porch roofs…so far, so good. Using the spray polyurethane foam insulation applied directly to the roof deck eliminates the need for venting the roof by taking away any heatable air space between the roof deck and the insulation, so there will be no penetrations for roof vents and no vented soffits. A resulting benefit is conditioned storage space above the ceiling. The porches are built to be sacrificial, meaning that if they are lost in a storm, the main house will remain intact, including the roof.
The next task was to decide which underlayment and which outer covering to use on the roof. Metal roofing is a great choice in a hurricane prone environment, but for us (i.e. at our age) the costs outweighed the benefits. We chose the GAF-ELK Timberline Armorshield II shingles, which pass ASTM D3161 wind test Class F at 120 mph and ASTM D7158 wind test Class H at 150 mph. These heavy shingles are also rated Class 4 for impact resistance (that’s the highest) and Class A for fire resistance. They pass muster for Miami-Dade and the Texas Department of Insurance, so there’s good reason to expect them to do well in North Carolina. Oddly, these shingles are not sold in North Carolina, so we bought them from Texas. There are several different warranties available, but the testing was much more significant in this decision that was the warranty.
Vince wanted a continuous membrane for the roofing underlayment and chose Grace Ice and Water Shield. This membrane is composed of two waterproofing materials – an aggressive, rubberized, asphalt adhesive backed by a layer of high-density, cross-laminated polyethylene. The adhesive bonds tightly to the roof deck, creating an impermeable surface. The rubberized asphalt seals around roofing nails, resisting leakage. Our specifications called for Type 316 stainless steel ringshank nails, so that corroding fasteners would not create a gap in the underlayment. Ice and Water Shield is also slip-resistant, so I felt better about the guys walking around up on the roof.
The biggest frustration in trying to protect the roof from penetrations has been from the use of pump-jack scaffolding when siding the house. A pump-jack scaffold consists of a platform supported by moveable brackets on vertical poles. The support braces for the scaffold are screwed into the roof, with approximately four screws per support. That’s a lot of holes! Generally, the pump-jacks are attached through the shingles near the edge of the roof, so there are holes that go through the shingle and through the underlayment into the roof deck. Unless those holes are carefully repaired, wind-driven rain will easily find a path into the roof structure. On the east side of our house, the pump-jacks were removed before the shingles were applied, and each hole through the underlayment was sealed. On the west side of the house, the pump-jacks were removed to apply the shingles and then put back through the shingle after the roof was completed. I have asked for that row of shingles be replaced and the holes in the underlayment to be resealed. From the perspective of someone just observing the process, I have to say that it a foolish system. It makes much more sense to finish the work with the pump-jacks and then to put on the outer skin of the roof. Why voluntarily punch a hole in the roof? Aagh!
The key to feeling assured that the roof will not leak is to find a certified roofer and to talk with him about the many different aspects of the job before that roofer is hired. The roofer recommended to us by our general contractor was Jason Hill, whose company is called JBH Roofing, Inc. Jason has really been “on board” with the goals that we have for the house. It was Jason who taught me about the pump-jack problem, and it will be Jason who makes sure the roof is intact. Jason and his brother, Brian, met with us to talk about choices for shingles and underlayments, and he has been carefully attentive to the specifications and details along the way. He is an authorized GAF residential roofing installer, so we felt confident that he knew the GAF product applications well.
In addition to being a great roofer and a good person to be around, Jason is a gifted visual artist. He has been a student of Glenn Eure, a veteran artist who owns and exhibits works in his Ghost Fleet Gallery in Nags Head, NC. Glenn has given Jason not only the gift of his teaching but also the gift of his friendship in mentoring a budding colleague. Vince and I have commissioned Jason to create a piece for the new house, and we also plan to purchase a couple of the paintings and prints that are now available. The work is what Glenn calls “non-objective abstract in mixed media,” because Jason begins without a specific goal in mind, allowing it to unfold as he works with the shapes, colors and materials. I took some photographs of a selection of his pieces and created a slide-show video from those that I saw. Take a look. It’s really beautiful work, and we are honored to have this part of Jason’s spirit within our house…and on its roof!!!
