Promote underlayments to stand out in the oofing market

domestic manufacturing seems to be your safest bet. Imported underlayment products, including their vertical cousins, housewraps, may be subject to less quality control. With a made in the U.S.A. product, you have the confidence that the quality is going to be held to certain standards with stricter quality guidelines.

fr's Neven BEEN MoRE important for lpro dealers and their customers to differentiate themselves in the marketplace, with cutting edge materials that can add value and extend the life of any job. For roofing, the selling of quality underlayments not only ensures better, long-term performance, it can also return good margins for the dealer and their contractor customer.

Most importantly, it greatly reduces callbacks resulting from moisture and wind damage. Since roofing materials alone are not waterproof, the underlayment acts as a secondary layer to prevent leaks. The homeowner ultimately benefits from the added layer of protection, especially with the wild weather we've seen recently all over the country.

When selling a roofing job, advise contractors that if they're using inferior roofing underlayments or none at all, they put the job at risk for moisture infiltration, leaks and interior damage from winds blowing off the roof shingles. Through feedback from inspectors and contractors who do insurance remediation, we've heard tales of woe about compromised underlayment causing tens of thousands of dollars in interior damagewhich could have been easily prevented with a quality underlayment. Damage includes mold proliferation from leaks in hidden areas, such as attics. Doing it right the first time is critical, because water damage is permanent and insidious. The only option after a bad leak is to rip the roof off and start again, replacing everything that has been damaged.

In areas that get tornados, hurricanes and wet weather, the selling points for roofing underlayments become even more compelling. In cases where a hurricane has blown off the entire roof and the homeowner is waiting for the inspector to assess the damage, the underlayment may be the only protection the home has for weeks or even months. And, the lower the slope of the roof, the more likely it is for water and wind-driven rain to make their way under the roofing materials and cause leaks.

Among the features and characteristics to look for in an underlavment.

When checking out manufacturing quality standards, look for products that have facilities in compliance with ISO 9001-2008 and an R&D department dedicated to a continuous quality platform. Their in-house R&D should regularly be developing new and better features for the underlayment product. Building code listings are another assurance for your customers, so be certain the underlayment products are listed by a recognized agency such as the International Code Council Services with an Evaluation Services code report. Also look for fire ratings and extended warranties (which should match that of the roofing materials) and product damage guarantees.

The underlayment should be versatile enough to be used with any roofing product-asphalt shingle, steel, tile or metal. Other key considerations when choosing a roofing underlayment are superior walking traction, for worker safety and better productivity; tear-free assurance, and long-term UV resistance. This added layer of protection with built-in features can make or break a roofing job.

There is no better opportunity for an upgraded underlayment that a reroofing jobs. In re-roofing, it is likely that an incident happened-shingles blew off or there was a leak, creating a captive audience and a way for the roofer to stand out. The homeowner can be assured that the water infiltration won't happen again by upgrading to a better underlayment.

The evolution of using fabric barriers when installing roofing started decades ago with tar paper or felt paper, which is plentiful and cheap, but traditionally has had problems with leaks and tearing. Felt paper is slippery and subject to tearing when walked on, dirty to handle, and if leaks run through it, can damage the interior with oily black residue. These materials made resource management and juggling roofing jobs difficult, because they had to be covered rather quickly.

As an alternative, synthetic plastic sheeting came along in the late 1990s-but had even more severe problems with slipping, was not convenient to work with, and does not hold a chalk line very well. Morning dew or debris collected on the plastic material could wreak havoc, jeopardizing worker safety and slowing productivity.

Today's market finds advances in product development over synthetic plastic sheet and felt. Highly engineered blanket technology, for example, has excellent traction, extended UV resistance. tear resistance. better fastener retention, and improved strength. These benefits, which contribute to a speedier installation and peace of mind for the roofer and their customer, far outweigh any nominal costs added to thejob.

In fact, our recent pricing elasticity studies found that roofing contractors are willing to pay more for a quality underlayment. The upgraded underlayment also gives you and your customer a way to stand out in the market. Roofing contractors can separate themselves from lowerend roofers by offering added protection.

With resistance to UV degradation and moisture, the more highly engineered materials will allow your customers to improve operational and crew efficiencies since they can start another job and go back days or weeks later to finish. This makes juggling several projects much easier, especially ifonejob gets stalled for any reason.

LBM dealers who do some investigation on new, higher traction and moisture-impermeable underlayment technology can steer their customers to better roofing jobs. Not only do these new technologies protect the roof from damaging leaks, but also protect the dealer and roofing contractor from take-backs and callbacks. It's a winnins formula when everyone does it right the first time.