Class A Fire Materials – The Importance of Protecting Your Home and Business

If you work in a restaurant or you have fire extinguishers at your job, then you probably already know about the various classifications for fire extinguishers that you learned about on your first day at the job. The classifications run from Class A to Class K, and entail everything from regular flammable materials such as wood, paper and cloth, to highly combustible animal fats and oils that are classified Class K. 

Being aware of these classifications will help you decide on the ideal fire extinguisher to use in specific situations, and knowing about the differences between Class A, Class B and all the other classifications for various materials can sometimes even save your life. 

Class A involves mainly ordinary combustible materials that burn at a steady rate, but are not highly volatile. You’ve probably already seen the way that cloth, paper, rubber or wood burns, and you know that the burning rate isn’t too serious, if it’s contained immediately. However, if you don’t know how to use a class A fire extinguisher, then the fire can spread surprisingly fast, causing a lot of material damage and possibly even health problems due to exposure to fumes and open flames. 

So, if you work in an office or you run the risk of being exposed to fires that might occur in a regular home, make sure you know how to operate a Class A extinguisher safely.

It is important that you consider the importance of fire protective roofing and exterior products as well. R4 Roofing & Exteriors can meet with you to help you choose the best materials for your roof and exterior.

Maintenance Tips for Commercial Roofing – When to Call in the Professionals?

Commercial roofing experts are able to solve a lot of problems, especially minor ones that have to do with maintenance. Although roofing maintenance can be extremely important for preserving the lifespan of your roof and keeping it healthy in the long run, taking care of your roof doesn’t have to be left to the professionals all the time. You can also work on your roof maintenance requirements, as long as they aren’t too tricky. 

So, what roof maintenance tasks should you leave to the roofing Centennial professionals, and which ones should you consider doing yourself? Usually, the answer is that simpler roof maintenance and repair activities can be completed without the help of a professional team of roofers. You can clean your commercial roof, examine it for damage and remove some nests and parasites before they cause too much trouble. 

On the other hand, a closer roofing Centennial inspection should be done by a team of professional roofers at least once every year. Also, you will want them to check the integrity of the roofing structure and suggest any important upgrades you might need to install, such as additional coating and insulation. All in all, it’s typically best to contact your local roofers at least once per year, if you want your commercial roof to endure for as long as possible.

The Most Common Roof Repairs You Can Consider for Your Home

Whether you plan to take care of them on a Sunday using nothing but a few basic tools and your DIY skills, or you want to call an expert for the job, roof repairs can require extensive work. If you plan on making them work, then you have to be prepared in advance and have some knowledge about the most common and frequently considered roof repairs. 

The first type of roof repair you should know about is the basic shingle replacement or repair. Shingles can easily be cracked, bent out of shape or broken, and sometimes the wind can even pull them out of their place, so you need to have them replaced. This makes shingle repair easily one of the most common roof repairs you can think of. 

Another very common roof repair job has to do with repairing the flashing. Flashing is responsible for making your roof weatherproof, so most leaks exist simply because there is some kind of damage affecting the flashing.  

Also, fixing leaks can be an even more common issue than flashing repair, since there are other types of leaks as well – some originating as a result of both shingle damage and damage to the interior structure of the roof. When you’re faced with leaks that you can’t easily track to their source, it’s usually best to call on your local R4 Roofing https://www.r4roof.com roofers instead of trying to take care of the problem on your own.

What Can You Learn from a Residential Roof Inspection

There is no secret that the roof is an element of crucial importance for a building, keeping its residents safe and comfortable. There is also no secret that roof problems must be repaired quickly, but before this, they must be identified.

This is what a residential roof inspection does: it helps you learn about current issues of your roof and you get professional advice on how to address them properly.

Roofing specialists recommend two inspections per year - in spring and fall -, as well as check-ups after severe weather phenomena.  However, the frequency of the inspections also depends on the age of your roof; for example, a new roof does not require to be inspected that often.

When you call roofing Centennial inspection pros to make a roof inspection, they will look for various things, including:

·        A sign of water infiltrations - Water damage is the worst thing that may happen to a roof and can have several different causes.

·        Mold – Mold formation is an indicator for moisture and ventilation issues

·        Deterioration of the cover materials – broken or missing shingles, vegetation growth etc.

·        Clogged gutters and downspouts– This problem can make water infiltrate in the walls or the basement, instead of being evacuated away from home.

Winter Roofing Maintenance Tips

Roofs can be subjected to an extremely difficult test during the cold season and any vulnerability left unresolved can cause problems for both homeowners and people passing under eves.

The snow accumulated in large quantities on the roof can damage its structure, while the ice formed in the gutters and downspouts can create other problems, including water infiltration which, in the long term, can have undesirable consequences.

The roof must be constantly cleaned of snow. Waiting until the snow stops to do this is not always a good idea, because it can snow for days, while the snow layer on the roof becomes thicker and heavier. Some of it can even turn into ice that can block and damage the pluvial system.

In order to keep these inconveniences at a distance, in addition to cleaning the snow, you should take into account that the gutters and downspouts also need to be maintained with a certain periodicity during the winter, dictated by the amount of precipitation and temperature variations.

They must be cleaned of snow before it turns into ice. Even so, because of variations in temperature between day and night, but also because of inadequate thermal insulation, the appearance of ice dams and icicles is perfectly possible. Moreover, because of the configuration of the building and its height, cleaning the roof and the pluvial system can often be quite difficult. In this case, it is good to either consult R4 Roofing & Exteriors specialists or install a de-icing system.

Should You Opt for Stone Coated Steel Shingles? What Are the Benefits?

Stone coated steel shingles are naturally more expensive than regular steel or concrete shingles – which are already considered to be quite resilient and long lasting. However, according to most experts, this deadly combination is well worth the slight increase in cost for a number of good reasons: 

·       Steel is able to withstand heavy impacts from hail and strong winds, and the added coating of stone makes it almost indestructible. When it comes to watching out for broken and damaged shingles you typically won’t have anything to worry about while using this mix of roofing materials.

·       Stone also offers excellent protection against the elements. While steel might be prone to rust, the stone coating will prevent that from being a problem and act as an impervious protective layer that is reinforced by the structural hardness of the steel it houses.

·       Stone can last for a very long time, and the steel it protects will also increase its lifespan as a result of being shielded from rainwater and oxidation. If you want to make sure your roof will last for an extremely long time without needing almost any maintenance at all, then a stone coated steel shingle roof might be your best choice by far.

Get expert advice regarding stone coated steel shingles from a reputable Centennial roofing company.

A New Homeowner's Guide to Roof Repairs

 New homeowners tend to feel accomplished once they buy their first house. However, soon enough, they realize how many things must be considered from now on to be able to enjoy their home.

Having a good roof to protect you is one of the main concerns. As a new homeowner, the most important things you have to remember is to always find reliable roofing Centennial contractors (licensed and insured!) and schedule periodic inspections and roof maintenance. If you are not proactive when it comes to your roof, you risk dealing with very expensive problems in a future that is not necessary too far. Regular maintenance will help you identify and repair vulnerabilities and small problems before they become severe.

In between professional roof inspections, there are things you must do to protect your roof. Do not worry, you do not need special skills for this!

First, you must keep your roof clean. Your main concern should be keeping gutters and downspouts free of debris, but you can also clean the tiles once in a while, especially if they are affected by algae and mildew. After each severe weather phenomena, you must inspect your roof just to make sure that everything is alright. Finally yet importantly, you should trim tree branches hanging above the roof; a tree branch broken by a storm and falling on your roof can cause great damage that can and should be avoided.

Why It's Important to Keep Your Roof Clear of Snow

Massive snow accumulation on the roof can cause unwanted accidents and damage to the roof's resistance structure. Also, because of temperature variations, melting snow can form ice dams on the edge of the roof, preventing water from draining properly and allowing infiltrations.

If you do not remove the snow from your roof, it will also lead to the formation of icicles. They are a real problem that may cause damage to the gutters (the weight of the icicles cannot always be borne by the gutters) and objects they may fall on (e.g. cars).

Icicles appear when the heat from inside the house reaches the space under the roof, warms it and melts the snow. The resulting water flows down and, when it reaches the gutter area, it turns into ice, because gutters are cold and the outside temperatures are very low.

As the rest of the snow on the roof melts, the risks for the building increase: gutters and downspouts get clogged, water is forced to circulate under the tiles and infiltrates in the walls.

Considering the risks of working at height and the amount of snow accumulated on the roof (which may require some hard work!), you should call on snow removal Centennial roofing company specialists to remove it as soon as possible.

What Are the Best Roofing Materials for Protecting Against the Snow?

As winter approaches, it’s essential to make sure your roof is able to properly protect your home against snow and ice dams. This means, in some cases, it’s important to switch from a lesser quality roofing material to roofing products that can offer better protection and ensure the advantage of being low maintenance. Here are some tips from Centennial roofing professionals. 

The key here is to research the most durable, resilient and energy efficient types of roofing. While slate might be the best type of roof to fall under that category, you’ll find it’s also quite expensive. At the same time, concrete and clay roofing also come close, but aside from being quite heavy and difficult to install, they can lack the level of energy efficiency necessary to protect your home against the cold temperatures that a frozen layer of snow can bring. 

Metal is typically considered the best type of roofing material for the cold. Aside from being resilient enough to withstand harsh temperature changes and virtually maintenance-free, metal is also able to protect your house against the heavy weight of the snow, which could end up damaging lesser materials like wood and asphalt shingles. Also, metal has an excellent ability to resist temperature fluctuations, making it ideally suited for dealing with sudden shifts between warmer and freezing temperatures.

How to Keep Your Roof Clean During the Fall Season



 Keeping your roof clean is an important business, especially during the fall season when winter is just around the corner and you have to make sure you’ve completed all your most essential maintenance tasks before the arrival of the big freeze. 

According to most expert Centennial roofers, the best way to keep your roof clean is to prevent it from getting dirty and gathering debris in the first place. For that purpose, it’s a good idea to act fast, preferably at the end of summer, and make sure you cut off the longer branches of the trees closest to your roof. That way, you’ll not only prevent the wind from blowing the branch into your roof and damaging it during a storm, but also from blowing leaves onto your roof, that you’d have to clean up later on. 

Pressure washing your roof is also a good idea in most cases. Depending on the type of roof you own, a good pressure washing session will help remove mold and unwanted debris, while also presenting you with the chance to make your roof look and feel brand new at the same time. 

Although cleaning your roof shouldn’t be much of a challenge, it’s important to also learn about the different types of roofs that can and can’t be cleaned efficiently using various methods; so you’ll know exactly how to clean your roof most efficiently, before winter comes.