Preparing For Fall

The days are getting shorter and the leaves are changing. Fall is in the air! Before it gets too cold and too late in the season, make sure to take a couple of hours to prepare your home and yard for the season.  Below we listed suggestions that may be helpful to you.

1. Remove debris from roof and gutters.

2. Inspect shingles (make sure there are no loose or missing shingles).

3. Inspect seals on your house (including chimney, windows, doorways, etc.) to examine potential leaks.

4. Drain and winterize outdoor faucets and irrigation systems.

5. Replace dirty furnace filters and have a professional check your heating system before using it for the season.

6. Check both gas and wood fire places to ensure safety for the winter (this may include having a professional come out and check it as well).  

If you have any questions please feel free to give us a call at 502- 643-4333.

Better to be safe than sorry this upcoming fall and winter season! 

Before and After

Here at Elite Roofing we take some pretty crazy before and after photos that feature services we offer and products we use. Check out this months photos and stories below!

The picture above is of a home that was custom built and had a leak in the roof for years! (What a bummer!) Luckily the homeowner hired us to fix the leak that had been persistent for so long. The leak was in a very narrow spot (a dead valley) on the roof where snow and ice melt slowly. As our team removed shingles, the pictures show what we found. 

This is a white chalky mold on the back of shingles which indicates a significant leak. There was also mold on the underlayment as well. 

We fixed the problem by installing ice and water shield in the valley of the roof (instead of installing felt paper and then laying new shingles on top). The water shield product self seals around nail penetration to help minimize leaks. We recommend it in the valleys, skylights, and penetrations. Because who wants to have a leaky roof!? 

Our next story has to do with this chimney....

(Before)

Remember that crazy hail storm in Goshen, KY last year? Yeah us too! This family's roof got really beat up from all the hail! We found that all of the metal chimney flashing needed to be replaced around the base of the chimney. We did a complete roof replacement verses a partial replacement.  Why you ask? 

(After)

Many customers ask if we can reuse accessories (flashing, ventilation, skylights, etc.) when replacing a roof. We highly recommend that everything gets replaced at the same time and not to reuse materials for three reasons.

1. The material warranties will be longer on new material verses reused material. 

2. The technology of today's building materials has significantly improved (verses older materials) and gives the customer greater options.

3. If needed, the cost to make a roof repair after the roof has been replaced will be more expensive verses replacing everything from the very beginning. 

Cool Roofs

Last August Liza Barth wrote a great article titled “How to Beat the Heat with a Cool Roof.” Liza had some great insights about how roofs can actually help homes stay cooler. We all know how hot and muggy summers in the South can get with humidity. We wanted to share some insights on how roofs can ACTUALLY help that crazy heat! 

-Because darker colors are known to absorb heat, we aim to wear lighter colors in the summer and Liza said that it is the same for roofs. It is known that generally lighter colored roofs will absorb less heat. 

-Cool roof colors include: light tans, light grays, and even whites!

-A cool roof can cut down on air conditioning bills to help save money and keep the air conditioning  unit working longer (which reduces maintenance costs…and lets be honest...all of the above are a plus!).

Liza's article was super interesting and made me consider the color of my roof! To read her whole article go to http://blog.gaf.com/how-to-beat-the-heat-with-a-cool-roof/

      

Thank You!

Here at Elite we love customers like you! We welcome your opinions and value them. If we have served you at any time in the past, we ask that you click on the link below and take a 2-5 minute survey letting us know how we did. We want to know what we did well on and what we can improve on. By doing this we can: 1. Improve our service quality 2. Get recognized for a job well done 3. Help other customers in identifying top service providers.

Thanks again!

https://www.reviewbuzz.com/review/EliteRoofing

Mud Cakes You Can Eat!

Happy Spring! After cleaning and getting your yard and home ready for the warm weather, relax and take a break! Don't let mud cake your roof, instead try one of our favorite treats we wanted to share with you!

Mud Cakes

Prep Time: 20 min

Cook Time: 30 min

 Ingredients

• 1 cup butter
• 1/2 cup cocoa
• 2 cups sugar
• 4 large eggs, slightly beaten
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 dash sal
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 
• 1 1/2 cups pecan (optional)
• 4 cups mini marhmallows

Frosting:

• 1 (16 ounce) package powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/3 cup cocoa
• 1/4 cup softened butter

Topping: 

• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips

Instructions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 F and lightly grease a 9x13"baking pan.
2. in a medium saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the cocoa to the saucepan and stir; remove saucepan from heat. 
3. Pour melted butter mixture into a mixing bowl and add sugar and eggs, mix until blended. Add the vanilla, then mix in the flour and salt. Stir in the pecans (if using). Pour batter into prepared pan and cook for 33-35 minutes or until done. 
4. To make the frosting, combine all of the frosting ingredients and mix until smooth. Spread frosting on cooled cake. If your frosting is too think, add more milk. 
5. Sprinkle pecans and chocolate chips on top of frosting and enjoy!