Sooner or later, you are going to have the opportunity to pick a roof for your home. There are many choices. In the opinion of many, myself included, wood roof shingles look the best. There is, however, one serious downside to using them, particularly untreated shingles.

It seems to happen every three years or so. Parts of Southern California burn every fall. The news shows provide running feeds of fires racing across areas and apparently torching everything. When the fires end, however, the same conclusion is always reached. Homes with untreated wood shingles burn far more than other homes.

Why is this? Yes, they are wood, but does it really matter that much given the fact the walls of the home are exposed as well? Yes, it does. To understand why, you have to understand how fires typically spread.

A fire starts at point A and then spread out from there, right? The direction will be influenced by wind and such, but it will burn across the ground in an outward direction from the origination point, correct? Actually, this logical explanation is wrong.

The fires you see on television wiping out much of California do not spread across the ground. They spread through the air. When a big fire burns, it creates firebrands. These firebrands are embers. The massive amount of heat being created in the fire creates a vertical wind column that sucks the embers up. As they climb though the air, they are picked up by horizontal winds and can be carried as far as a mile or more. The real problems start when they come down.

A home presents one real surface to the embers path – the roof. If the embers land on a tile roof, they will scar it a bit but they will not create a fire. The same is not true for wood shingle roofs.

How do you light a fire when you are camping? Well, you create a small pile of wood, a bit of heat and blow on it to provide oxygen. That is exactly what happens when firebrands land on your wood shingle roof. They have wood, plenty of heat and usually there is some wind. The result is what we see on the news.

If you are considering a new roof, avoid untreated wood shingle roofs like the plague. Fire retardant treated shingles are an alternative, but avoiding wood all together might be your best move. This is definitely true in an area that gets fires regularly such as Southern California or wooded areas.

Aazdak Alisimo is with So Cal Roofing – a roofing contractor providing commercial and residential roofing services in Southern California.

Installing shingles onto the roof is hardly a new concept at all. You will find however that shingles only appear on roofs that are sloped and never on a flat roof. This is because shingles are primarily decorative which means there isn’t any point in installing them on flat roofs. Now the question is what is a roof shingle? It means a type of covering for the roof made of the same material placed in such a manner that it overlaps each other. This kind of structure is built to protect the roof from rain, snow and hail and increase its durability and longevity. This served double purpose as it not only safeguarded the roof but also increased the beauty of the roof and gave an overall attractive appeal to the whole house or building. The importance of the shingles has been realized in the modern days and people are again opting for the roof shingles.

What Materials Roofing Shingles Are Made From

You will find that roofing shingles can be made from a number of different materials. These tiles are rectangular in shape and placed in such a way that they create double layer as they are placed in an overlapping manner. The most commonly used material is asphalt. This is made of fiber glass added with other material. In the olden days these shingles were made of ceramic, wood, asbestos and various other materials. But in the modern days the materials have changed to reduce the effect of fire and other hazards caused to the traditional materials. Metal is also used to construct roof shingles. Though ceramic is used it is not preferred as ceramic is heavy and the roof has to be quite strong to bear the weight. Asphalt roof shingle is mostly preferred as it is available in variety of colors and is cheaper than other shingle material. If you are looking to generate some electricity for your home you can even install solar roofing shingles.

What You Need to Be Aware of When Installing Roofing Shingles

It is very important to keep few important things in mind while installing the roof shingles. Before installing the new shingle the old layer of shingles should be removed. If the second layer is intact then that can be retained which will reduce the cost of installation. The installation should be done in dry weather so that the interior is not damaged and water does not collect in the gaps and create leakage. The nails used to join the tiles should be the special nails used for joining shingles else they will corrugate easily and loosen the tiles. No gap should be left between two tiles as it will increase the risk of corrugation and leakage. Proper drainage system should be done so that water does not collect in between the gaps. Two nails should be used in each shingle. Take care not to use roofing paper under the shingles. Though the work is easy do not take the risk of doing it yourself if you do not have any idea about the work. It is wiser to take the help of roofing contractors to get the best effect. Take care of the maintenance and enjoy the beauty of the house.

April has written a number of articles relating to roofing on website Types of Roofing including: Rain Gutter Covers and Flat Roof Materials