Your roof is your home’s first layer of protection against the storms that Mother Nature can produce. As such, it’s crucial to ensure that your roof is built well enough so that it’s up to the task. While the outermost material of your roof (e.g. the shingles of a roof) will provide the most protection against rain, snow, hail, wind, and anything else that can be thrown at it, a well-built roof will have a layer of underlayment for additional protection. Utilizing underlayments has become common practice in the world of roofing, since this thin layer of material provides even more protection for homes, and it’s relatively inexpensive and fairly quick to install. Here at Red Dog’s Roofing, we recommend underlayments for our roof builds for a variety of reasons. Here are a few:

Superior Waterproofing

Underlayments serve as a moisture barrier, ensuring that your attic (as well as the rest of your home) is protected from precipitation. While your most exterior roofing material can work wonders to shed precipitation off of your roof, no roof is impervious to a bit of moisture that would otherwise wick into the deck. Underlayments provide a waterproof barrier that prevents any loose moisture from making its way into your home. Underlayments are also useful if your roof is damaged (which can lead to a leak that penetrates the outer surface of the roof), or if you have pooling water on your roof (which can be caused by clogged gutters, ice damming, etc.). Wind may also temporarily lift the material on your roof, which may allow rain to reach the deck. Underlayments are more likely to remain in place during these extreme conditions, which means that you can rest assured your home won’t be damaged in a windstorm.

Better Insulation

While waterproofing is the most important attribute of underlayment, you’ll also enjoy better insulation for your home, thanks to the underlayment installed between the deck of the roof (the plywood surface above the rafters) and the roofing material itself (e.g. asphalt shingles, wood shakes, etc.). This insulation will help to reduce heat gain that would otherwise be transferred to the interior of your home during the hottest, sunniest days of the year. In addition, this layer will provide a little padding that will help to keep warm air inside the attic of your home during the winter.

Wind Protection

As we noted above, underlayments may even help to protect against heavy winds. When properly installed, underlayments shouldn’t raise up, even in strong winds. With wind temperatures approaching 100 mph, your underlayment should still cling to the deck of your roof, ensuring that your roof and its roofing material are whole and secure. Plus, if sheer winds are forcing water up through cracks and under corners of the roofing material that you have installed, your underlayment will still help to shed water and protect the deck.

Get Premier Protection With Red Dog’s Roofing

Here at Red Dog’s Roofing, we understand that you want a roof that you can trust. That means that you don’t want to have to worry about leaks, regardless of the weather. Our underlayments are designed to withstand adverse weather conditions, preventing deck damage, attic damage, and damage to the rest of your home. For a roof made out of premium products that provide premier protection, you can count on Red Dog’s Roofing. Reach out to us today to learn more or to get your roofing project off the ground — we provide roofing services for folks throughout Fitchburg, Leominster, Gardner, and the surrounding area.