Today most homes have some form of asphalt fiberglass shingles as the preferred water-shedding assembly. This incarnation of asphalt shingles replaces a prior generation of three tab asphalt shingles that were a mainstay for over seventy years prior. Although our company has experience installing all brands and types of shingles over the decades, we have partnered with the Certainteed™ brand of shingles. We chose this product over twenty years ago and were among the first in Canada to offer fiberglass shingles, long before other manufacturers caught on to the superior construction characteristics that they provided.

The brand consistently rated highest in Consumer reports and our experience concerning their ability to honour product warranty was unmatched by other vendors of the time. We hold their highest installer credential, which allows us to offer FIVE STAR™ warranties from the manufacturer, which enhance our own written labour warranty which is included with all of our roof replacements.

Shingle products today can be characterized as carrying limited lifetime warranties with realistic lifespans of at least thirty years and can reach fifty years if one invests in Luxury trilaminate products.

Installations require the absolute protection of client property and their adjacent neighbours as may be applicable. Best installation practices involve the removal and lawful disposal/recycling of old materials revealing the wooden substrate beneath (boards or plywood as the case may be). Once the deck has been inspected/wood repair has been addressed; the actual installation procedure begins.

Key to making a long lasting sloped roof assembly lies in the details. Underlayment which is applied at bottom roof eaves edges (Winterguard™ ice & water membrane);should be applied in courses that extend a minimum of 24” past the heated interior wall. Other critical detail and roof appliance points can include items such as skylight curbs, valleys, pipes, and penetrations. Such products serve to help resist the effects of ice damming and wind driven rain or harsh winter conditions.

The balance of the roof is then covered in either fiberglass felt or synthetic underlayment. To note is that these details are rarely used in the construction of new homes and subdivisions. Future changes to the building code may hopefully address such standards.

The selected shingles can then be applied in accordance with manufacturer requirements for nailing location and pattern. Important details include incorporating starter shingles not just at the eaves edges, but also to line sides of the valleys and rake edges (gable slopes).

Quality details to consider include installation of metal (pre-painted steel, or copper) valleys. Avoid less desirable closed valley methods in our market area due to winter climate/freeze-thaw cycling.

Metal flashing details at chimneys, walls, cloaks, skylights, chimneys, saddles and appurtenances should also be replaced with a new sloped roof assembly.

Ventilation is key to roof performance, validates manufacturer warranties, and can reduce heating and cooling costs. To note is that many older Kingsway constructed homes have challenges where intake ventilation may be involved. Signals of such include homes that have less than a one foot wide soffit(overhang). Certain shallow pitched bungalows in western Etobicoke may also have access challenges when it comes to installing vent baffles at roof/eaves junctions. In some such cases, the eaves plywood needs to be removed to accommodate installation of such. War time homes near the Queensway area have Gable roofs with knee wall cavities located at the bottom of the roof. Essentially, any homes that have sloped ceilings, dormers, or cathedral designs will require ridge venting and a determined intake plan.

The important principal to remember is that you will require a balanced ventilation system including at least 50% intake at the eaves and 50% at the top of the attic cavity.

If in the lifetime of your Etobicoke home, you have renovated, made improvements such as high efficiency furnaces, windows, doors, insulation, attic reconfiguration, it is then to be considered that you have changed the interior building environment. The moral being; you may need to consider this in relationship to venting the roof to avoid or eliminate issues such as increased attic humidity, condensation, ice damming peril and so on.

Invite one of our knowledgeable Etobicoke estimators to visit you and evaluate what you require when it is time to repair or replace your shingle roof assembly.