Homes in Park City deal with conditions that many homes in the country never have experience. Our extreme winters put home systems to the test, especially roofs.

In this article, we will look at three common roofing mistakes homeowners make in Park City.

Installing Gutter Without Heat Cable

With Park City receiving a few feet of snowfall most years, gutter systems are a great way to direct snowmelt off of your roof and prevent icicles from forming around your home.

Gutter systems in Park City and other mountainous areas face the issue of freezing & getting backed up with ice. While snow melts off of your roof and into your gutter, it can freeze inside of your gutter and downspout when temperatures drop at night.

Having ice form inside of your gutters can not only make them ineffective in redirecting snowmelt to the ground, but it can also put gutter systems at risk of been torn off of a home.

If an ice dam forms above your gutter system and the ice dam falls, it can rip the gutter from your home.

Ice can also clog up your downspout and cause significant ice buildups at the end of your downspout.

We always recommend that homeowners in Park City install heat cable with their gutter to prevent any damage.

Choosing Cheap Shingles & Materials

The single biggest mistake that we see homeowners in Park City make when getting a new roof installed is choosing a lower quality, and cheap roofing material. Often, homeowners will choose the most affordable option when choosing between roofing bids, but cheap materials end up costing homeowners more in the long term.

Cheap materials like 3-tab shingles are not made to withstand the weather conditions that we experience in Park City. Our harsh winters will cause cheap materials to wear quickly and begin to fail. 

Cheap materials will need to be replaced far more often and will eventually end up costing more than choosing high-quality materials the first time.

Cheap underlayment materials are also common when inexpensive roofing materials are chosen. Having cheap underlayment materials doesn’t keep your home as protected from water, snow, and ice, which is essential in Park City.

Installing Insufficient Underlayment

Before a new roof is installed on a home, there is an underlayment layer placed below the shingles or metal on a roof. Roofing underlayment is a water-resistant or waterproof barrier material that is installed directly onto your roof deck.

There are many different types and brands of underlayment, and as you can imagine, some are better than others.

The underlayment material on a roof is vital in Park City because winter demands so much from roofing systems. Having high-quality underlayment installed below your roof can prevent leaks from occurring even if some water manages to penetrate the top material.

Some companies, especially those from Salt Lake, will cheap out on underlayment. They will often not install the correct amount of ice and water shield required and will use cheaper brands.

Having proper underlayment and ice and water shield is essential to a quality roofing system in Park City.