If you're trying to decide on the right time of year to schedule your roof replacement, you might be wondering how different types of weather affect the work. The weather can play a role in how fast the work progresses and how comfortable the conditions are for the crew, but you can probably get your new roof any season of the year. Here's a look at how weather conditions affect getting a roof replacement.
Rain Might Slow Down Work
Since a roof replacement is often scheduled several days or weeks in advance, the roofer can't really schedule your work around the rain. Instead, the roofer takes weather conditions into account daily and adjusts the work as needed.
Work will probably stop when it rains since working on a wet roof is dangerous. When the roofer plans out the work, they plan the job according to the day's forecast. If rain is possible, the roofer may tear off a single section of the roof at a time so your roof isn't exposed to water damage from rain.
When the new roof is applied, waterproof underlayment is put down first. As long as the underlayment is in place and watertight, your roof is protected from the rain. Once the underlayment is dry, the crew can resume nailing on shingles.
If a surprise shower comes up, the roofer can cover your roof with a tarp if the underlayment isn't down yet. Since your roofer has ways to work around rain, you don't have to worry about scheduling the work for the rainy season, but you should know delays are often necessary due to rain.
Removing Snow And Ice Adds To The Work Time
When your roof is leaking or in bad shape, you don't want to delay having it replaced, even if it's winter. Your roofer can install asphalt shingles in the winter as long as it isn't too cold for the shingles and the conditions are safe for the workers.
The roofer may avoid working after heavy snows, but if necessary, the crew can remove snow and ice from your roof so work can proceed. Having a roof replacement done in these conditions might add to the cost, even though winter is the off-season for roofers.
Removing snow and ice adds to the labor costs and time spent on your roof. Working on a roof with even a thin layer of ice is dangerous, so the crew has to take extra precautions, and that can slow down progress too.
Extreme Temperatures May Delay The Work
Shingle manufacturers have temperature conditions for installing their products. Installing shingles when it's too hot or too cold could result in damage to the shingles. Your roofing contractor has to consider the working conditions for the crew as well as how the shingles, adhesives, and nail gun equipment will operate in extreme weather conditions.
When it's too cold, shingles might break when they're installed. In that case, the roofer might recommend waiting until the weather is a little warmer in the winter rather than applying the shingles in extremely cold weather.
When it's too hot, the shingles might get too soft and receive surface damage. However, the roofer might work around this by working early in the mornings before the roof heats up too much.
