Chattanooga Roof Damage and Summer Heat

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When it comes to summer heat in Chattanooga, one word comes to mind: extreme. When the thermometer climbs into the upper 90's, most Chattanooga homeowners head inside and crank up the air conditioner. Unfortunately, the roof on your Chattanooga home doesn't get a break in the extreme heat. Just like staying out in the sun can damage your skin, the constant exposure to the sun and extreme southern heat can also damage your Chattanooga home's roof.

Maintaining the roof on your Chattanooga home should be a year-round focus, which is why Langley Roofing of Chattanooga offers roof maintenance packages to ensure the integrity of your home’s roof remains intact. The summer months in Chattanooga mean your home’s roof deserves special attention. Summer weather is not friendly to your home's roofing material. Here is a look at what damage the summer heat is causing to Chattanooga roofs.

You've heard it said that it's not the heat, but the humidity that makes the extreme summer heat dangerous. That's the truth for your Chattanooga home too! Roof damage can occur from the Chattanooga humidity. Heat and humidity can cause the roofing material and shingles on your Chattanooga home to curl, bubble or warp.

The UV rays can dry out the roofing material on your home, causing them to break and peel. Anytime there is a compromise of the shingles on your home, a real danger exists for damage. If it has been an extended period since your home’s roof has been inspected for damage or material compromise, you should consider scheduling a Chattanooga roof inspection for your home. We offer a great annual maintenance program where we perform a 10-point inspection, cleaning, debris removal and so much more.

The Chattanooga summer humidity also means one thing: summer storms. Summer storms can pop up suddenly, and often. Anytime it storms, there is potential for damage to your Chattanooga home through water. Whether it's from the humidity or storms, moisture can become trapped beneath your Chattanooga home's shingles. Moisture is a word that strikes fear in the heart of homeowners, and with good reason!

Moisture is an enemy of your Chattanooga home’s roof, and one of the main causes of roof damage. When moisture finds its way into the layers between your roof, or into your attic, it can cause damage from the inside out. The unseen moisture can also create another issue with your home: mold. Mold growth in your home doesn’t only cause potential damage to your roof, it can also cause damage to your health.

Don't risk ongoing damage to your Chattanooga home's roof due to summer heat and humidity. Langley Roofing is a premier Chattanooga roofing contractor with decades of experience in roof repair, new roof installation and roof maintenance. Langley Roofing’s roots run deep in the Chattanooga and we are proud to provide roofing services to Chattanooga homeowners because, we don’t just work here, Chattanooga is home. Call Chattanooga’s Langley Roofing at (423) 504-5056 to learn more about protecting the roof on your home.

What To Do When Your Chattanooga Home's Roof Leaks

A leak in your Chattanooga home's roof, no matter how small it seems to be, should be something you take seriously and address quickly. A small roof leak, if left unresolved, can evolve into a major issue for your Chattanooga home. Mold, ruined insulation, damaged ceilings and rotted framing are just a few expensive issues that can arise from a leak that is left unaddressed. Does this mean that you should take out your DIY tool belt and climb up on the roof to fix the leak? Not exactly. And here's why.

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Chattanooga Throwback Thursday: Where Is It?

This location was named for an artist who lived and painted in the neighborhood during the 1850s. It was once considered one of the finest neighborhoods in the city, containing many antebellum mansions and at the time, the oldest houses remaining in Chattanooga. Where is it? 

If you have ever visited the Hunter Museum of American Art in Chattanooga, Tennessee, chances are you have seen this well known painting by James Cameron. You can find out more about this painting here

"COLONEL AND MRS. JAMES A. WHITESIDE, SON CHARLES AND SERVANTS"

"COLONEL AND MRS. JAMES A. WHITESIDE, SON CHARLES AND SERVANTS"

Deep Zoom Chattanooga has much more on James Cameron here

Now Hiring: Part-Time Administrative Coordinator

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Langley Roofs is hiring a part-time Administrative Coordinator for our Chattanooga office. If you would like to be considered for the position, please fill out the form below to begin the application process. 

Administrative Coordinator Job Responsibilities:

Serves customers by providing product and service information; resolving product and service problems.

Administrative Coordinator Job Duties:

Attracts potential customers by answering product and service questions; suggesting information about other products and services.
- Opens customer accounts by recording account information.
- Maintains customer records by updating account information.
- Resolves product or service problems by clarifying the customer's complaint; determining the cause of the problem; selecting and explaining the best solution to solve the problem; expediting correction or adjustment; following up to ensure resolution.
- Maintains financial accounts by processing customer adjustments.Recommends potential products or services to management by collecting customer information and analyzing customer needs.Prepares product or service reports by collecting and analyzing customer information.Contributes to team effort by accomplishing related results as needed.

Administrative Coordinator Skills and Qualifications:
- Customer Service, Product Knowledge, Quality Focus, Problem Solving, Market Knowledge, Documentation Skills, Listening, Phone Skills, Resolving Conflict, Analyzing Information , Multi-tasking

The Great American Eclipse: What You Need To Know In Chattanooga

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The excitement is building for the solar eclipse happening and all of us at Langley Roofing are beyond excited to witness history. We were curious about the details and logistics of what exactly would be happening on August 21st and so we turned to our friends at NASA for an explanation. It’s absolutely fascinating! Here is what they have to say:

Eclipses, whether solar or lunar, occur because of the periodic alignments of the sun, Earth, and moon. These three bodies, orbit in space in very predictable paths (yes, the sun orbits too. It orbits the galaxy once every 200 million years!). Ever since the days of Kepler and Newton, we have been able to predict the motion of planetary bodies with great precision. So, why do eclipses happen?

Solar Eclipses Happen when the moon moves between Earth and the sun. You might think that this should happen every month since the moon’s orbit, depending on how it is defined is between about 27 and 29 days long. But our moon’s orbit is tilted with respect to Earth’s orbit around the sun by about five degrees. Not much, you say? Yes, but the moon, itself, is only about ½ degree in width in the sky, about ½ the width of your pinky finger held at arm’s length. So, sometimes the moon misses too high and sometimes too low to cause a solar eclipse. Only when the sun, moon, and Earth line up close to the “line of nodes”, the imaginary line that represents the intersection of the orbital planes of the moon and Earth, can you have an eclipse.

This is true for both solar and lunar eclipses. This situation is somewhat unique as no other moon in the solar system orbits roughly in the plane of the “ecliptic”, Earth’s orbital plane, that the planets more or less follow.

Did you know that there are four types of eclipses? Depending on your location and on the specific geometry of the sun-Earth-moon system, you may experience one of four types of solar eclipses; total, partial, annular and hybrid.

A TOTAL ECLIPSE happens when the moon completely covers the sun. Here, the observer is standing under the umbral shadow of the moon. In a total solar eclipse, the sun’s outer atmosphere can be seen.

The brighter stars and the planets come out. Animals change their behavior. Birds and squirrels nest. Cows return to the barn. Crickets chirp. There is a noticeable drop in both light level and air temperature. It is an eerie feeling. Totality can last for no more than about seven and a half minutes but is usually less than three minutes long.

A PARTIAL ECLIPSE occurs when the moon passes in front of the sun, off center and only a portion of the sun’s disk is obscured. Here, the observer is standing in the penumbral shadow of the moon.

AN ANNULAR ECLIPSE occurs when the moon passes dead center in front of the sun but, because the moon’s orbit is elliptical and so is sometimes closer and sometimes further from Earth, it appears too small to fully cover the disk of the sun.

Here, a bright ring called the “ring of fire” appears around the dark disk of the moon. In an annular eclipse, the moon’s umbral shadow comes to focus – to a point – above the Earth’s surface.

A HYBRID ECLIPSE is a combination of total and annular eclipses. The eclipse begins as one type and ends as another.

Even though we’ll be witnessing history here in Chattanooga, don’t forget to protect your eyes! You can find out more about that here.

Back To School In The Tennessee Valley: Saved By The Bell

Between getting dressed, fed and organized, it’s a miracle the kids make it to the bus at all. Get out the door faster this semester with these parent-approved tips from the folks at Good Housekeeping.

1. Plan Outfits Ahead of Time
Parents agree that this is one of the top culprits for running late. There’s no better time than the night before to select clothes for the next morning so avoid the early morning issue that always crops up of what to wear!

2. Prep Lunch The Night Before
Sending your kids off with a healthy lunch doesn’t need to be another item to eat up the precious little morning window of time you have. Prepping the night before frees you up to worry about other key issues…like where’s your keys?

3. Keep Backpacks Packed
Backpacks do not need to be completely unpacked every single night. Of course, your child will need to remove items to study or do homework each afternoon or night, but that doesn’t mean completely emptying out the backpack. Staying on top of this will ensure that you don’t get the dreaded call at 11AM of “mom, can you bring me my homework?”

4. Start A Family Calendar
Failing to plan is planning to fail. Avoid having important school events or assignments sneak up on you by incorporating a family calendar into your routine. Technology even makes it possible to go paperless and have the schedule always with you!

5. Get Into A Routine
Routine is important, especially when time is of the essence, like during the extremely busy Chattanooga school year. Why is a routine important? Did you know that keeping a routine can improve overall health, well-being and productivity? Who couldn’t use that!

So whether you have sent your child off to kindergarten for the first time, or your senior off to count down the days until graduation, all of us at Langley Roofing wish you and your children a very successful school year!

The Truth About Tesla’s Solar Roof Math

Can you really install a solar roof on your home that would cost about as much, or even less, than a regular roof? That's a good question. Before we tell you the straight answer to the question, let's look at Tesla's cost comparison.

"When you include the benefits of the solar production, Solar Roof will cost less than a regular roof. In fact, it may earn you money – as an example, the out-of-pocket cost of a Solar Roof for a typical home in Maryland will be around $52,000, but after considering the tax credit and the value of energy it generates, the roof will actually pay for itself and earn you about $8,000 over 30 years."

Tesla’s online cost calculator uses your address to determine the ratio of solar to non-solar tiles your house would need to get 100 percent of your energy from solar. The calculator deducts the upfront cost of the roof and the Powerwall battery from the cost of what you’d otherwise spend on energy over 30 years. That estimate is based on the price of electricity where you live, assuming a 2 percent increase in your utility bill each year. Tesla uses a simplified interface to Google’s Project Sunroof, which can be found here.

Tesla’s calculator factors in a 30 percent Solar Investment Tax Credit, but not the incentives and credits that are available from various states and local utilities. It's a long stretch to say that Tesla's solar roofs are as cheap, or cheaper, than a "normal" roof. The math has never been correct and now here is the truth.

The very best and most expensive asphalt shingle installed will cost $5-$6 per square foot. Life span for this type of roof would be 30 plus years. The Tesla products are saying the cost of the roofing material at $21.00 per square foot. This does not include the labor or the hardware. Solar has its place but as a replacement for asphalt roofing, it's not a fair comparison and by no means cheaper.