
Roofing Glossary
Some Connecticut roofers prefer that their customers know as little as possible about their roofs. At Brown Roofing Company, Inc., we are very open about the products and processes we use to design and install the very best roof for your home. Here are some terms and phrases you may hear when we discuss your roof replacement or repair project.
- Asphalt shingle: A bituminous waterproofing agent applied to roofing materials during manufacturing.
- Built-up roof: A flat or low-sloped roof consisting of multiple layers of asphalt and ply sheets.
- Caulk: To fill a joint with mastic or asphalt cement to prevent leaks.
- Coating: A layer of viscous asphalt applied to the base material into which granules or other surfacing is embedded.
- Course: A row of shingles or roll roofing running the length of the roof.
- Cutout: The open portions of a strip shingle between the tabs.
- Deck: The surface installed over the supporting framing members to which a roofing material is applied.
- Dormer: A framed window unit projecting through the sloping plane of a roof.
- Downspout: A pipe for draining water from roof gutters; also called a leader.
- Drip edge: A non-corrosive, non-staining material used along the eaves and rakes to allow water run-off to drip clear of underlying construction.
- Eaves: The horizontal, lower edges of a sloped roof.
- Edging strips: Boards nailed along eaves and rakes after cutting back existing wood shingles to provide secure edges for re-roofing with asphalt shingles.
- Felt: Fibrous material saturated with asphalt and used as an underlayment or sheathing paper.
- Flashing: Pieces of galvanized metal (usually aluminum or copper) used to prevent seepage of water into a building around any intersection or projection in a roof, such as vent pipes, chimneys, adjoining walls, dormers and valleys.
- Free-tab shingles: Shingles that do not contain factory-applied strips or spots of self-sealing adhesive.
- Gable: The upper portion of a sidewall that comes to a triangular point at the ridge of a sloping roof.
- Gable roof: A type of roof containing sloping planes of the same pitch on each side of the ridge, with a gable at each end.
- Gambrel roof: A type of roof containing two sloping planes of different pitch on each side of the ridge. The lower plane has a steeper slope than the upper. Contains a gable at each end.
- Granules: Ceramic-coated colored crushed rock that is applied to the exposed surface of asphalt roofing products.
- Gutter: The trough that channels water from the eaves to the downspouts.
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