What is a Fortified Roof?
As I’m sure you’ve heard by now, the most popular topic of discussion when it comes to roofing, is Fortified. Whether you’re talking to real estate agents, insurance agents, roofing contractors or other homeowners in the know, everyone is talking about Fortified. So, what exactly is Fortified? FORTIFIED is a specific set of construction standards created by the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS). When we talk about FORTIFIED roofs or simply FORTIFIED, it means that your roof has been strengthened and made resilient using the recommendations given by the IBHS, which are aimed at making sure homes can withstand extreme weather conditions. In order to achieve a Fortified Roof designation, specific building materials and installation practices must be used. These include things like higher wind rated materials, a higher fastener count and placement pattern, along with job specific documentation of the materials and install practices. These are then presented to an evaluator who will submit the application for approval to the IBH.
These beyond code measures may seem a bit excessive but focussing on 3 key vulnerable areas of your roof cover system; roof deck-to-house connections, roof edges, and gaps in the roof deck will provide your home with the best chance of standing up to mother nature.
What’s the difference between a Fortified and Conventional Roof?
It’s crucial to realize that all roofs aren’t made equal. Your chosen roofing system directly influences your property’s resilience against severe weather conditions and its overall longevity. In this section, we’ll discuss the differences between conventional and FORTIFIED Roofs.
In a traditional roofing system, three components are paramount: the roofing material or shingles, underlayment, and sheathing. The roof’s outermost layer consists of a roofing material that shields against rain and sun. Below that is an underlayment that offers an added defense against water penetrations. Lastly, the sheathing, or roof deck, provides structural integrity to these layers. However, while providing respectable protection under normal weather scenarios, standard roofs can succumb to extreme environmental pressures such as torrential rains or hurricane-inducing winds due to lesser bonding strength among their components. In contrast, a FORTIFIED roof takes durability one step further. With design principles backed by carefully conducted scientific research by reputable institutes like the IBHS, they raise the roof performance significantly. Even their name, “FORTIFIED,” is true to their mission — protecting homes against Mother Nature’s wrath.
Benefits of a Fortified Roof?
To recap, there are many benefits to choosing a Fortified Roof during your next roof replacement. Some of those benefits include:
- Increased protection from extreme weather events
- Improved durability
- Lower long-term costs
- Increased home value
- Improved energy efficiency
- Maintaining Insurance compliance
While many of the attractive benefits highlighted above speak towards the long-term return on your investment, a Fortified roof may also qualify homeowners to receive financial incentives in the present. Many of the insurance providers that operate in Louisiana have indicated they are providing discounts on homeowners insurance to policyholders who invest in Fortified roofing.
H2H Roofing is Certified in FORTIFIED
We are proud to be able to offer homeowners the very best in roofing solutions, which is why it’s so important for us to carry the designation of FORTIFIED at H2H Roofing. It means we are qualified to install a Fortified Roof and educate homeowners about the benefits.
We talk to people in our community all year about the many roofing systems available to you as homeowners, Fortified included! It just happens to be hurricane season for us in Louisiana, and so it’s top of mind for most of us. Our hope is that we can assist you in preparing and recovering from any hurricanes that may occur in our state! We’d like to emphasize PREPARING; often we hear from homeowners that they want to wait until after storm season to assess their roof, and while we understand the thought process, we don’t recommend waiting. Considering a Fortified Roof is one way to begin to prepare yourself for hurricane season and we think it’s smart to consider a roof system that can provide you with 70% better protection from wind damage! At the very least, we recommend scheduling a roof inspection so that you can have a better understanding of the condition of your roof and the many options you have to prepare yourself this hurricane season.
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