What You Need to Know about Summer Sun and Your Roof

Our sun is the source of all power and life on earth. Yet sunlight has in it wavelengths that can do real damage to your home’s roof, especially in summer. Even the sun’s angle has a role to play in roof damage and resulting roof repair.

Ultraviolet

The white light we see is only part of the full spectrum of radiation coming from our sun. Ultraviolet light is highly energetic. It can break down chemicals in roofing materials, leading to expensive roof repair from your local roofing contractor.

Most homes in the Charleston area are, like most homes in the nation, covered in shingles made of a combinations of fiberglass, asphalt, granules and other chemicals. These chemicals keep your shingles pliable and water resistant. As ultraviolet light beams down on them during long summer days, those chemicals break down. Your shingles lose their water resistance and the granules come loose, washing into your home’s gutters.

Infrared

Infrared radiation from the sun means heat. Intense summer heat beats down on your roof, radiating into your attic and heating up insulation. It fights your central air conditioner and drives up energy bills.
One strategy for fighting infrared radiation is to put an additional layer, a reflective barrier, beneath your sheathing on the underside of your roof rafters. This reflects infrared radiation back through your sheathing and into the atmosphere, cooling the insulation and attic.

Sun Angle

Charleston is far closer (at about 33° north longitude) to the equator than most of America. This means the sun is more often beaming down at almost a right angle than it is for northern states. On the summer solstice, the sun is directly overhead and only slowly declines to shallower rays. That continuous, strong sunlight accelerates roof damage.

Solving Summer Sun’s Damage

Several strategies are available to keep a small roof repair from turning into an extensive roof replacement.

Choose light-colored shingles to reflect more of the sun’s infrared light back into the atmosphere and off your roof. Keep your roof well maintained through annual inspections. Keep gutters clear for proper drainage.

If you have ceramic or cement tile roofing, or have chosen metal roofing, protective coatings can reflect light and preserve chemicals in the roofing materials. Tri-County Roofing can help prevent expensive roof repair and undo some of summer’s damage. Contact us today to learn how we can repair and restore your roof.