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FORTIFIED Roofing: Behind The Scenes & Why You Need It

Ah, the Sunny South. It’s just pecan pie, mild winters, and mint juleps day in, day out. For anyone living in the Tennessee Valley, you know it’s nonsense. We have a lot of rough weather. We may not get six feet of snow like Vermonters, but we face intense storms. Our roofs need to be FORTIFIED. Here’s why. 

Prevention

FORTIFIED is a construction and re-roofing program, completely voluntary, which strengthens homes and commercial buildings against severe weather: 

  • High winds
  • Hail
  • Hurricanes
  • Tornadoes 

With a FORTIFIED Roof™ your Tennessee Valley home can provide a safe, cozy refuge when severe weather strikes. The FORTIFIED Roof™ keeps out wind and rain. This prevents a cascade of ruinous damage which destroys your home and all your possessions. 

No matter the type of roof you live under — shingle, metal, or tile — the FORTIFIED Roof™ guidelines make your home stronger. That’s real peace of mind in even the harshest weather.  

FORTIFIED Roof™ Components

A home upgraded to FORTIFIED Roof™ standards will have these features: 

  • Stronger Edges — If wind gets underneath the roof edge, it can rip it right off your home; specific materials and installation methods in the FORTIFIED program include wider drip edges and a fully adhered starter strip  
  • Sealed Roof Deck —  If wind tears away your metal panels, shingles, or tiles, the sheathing and rafters are exposed; water will flood your home, so FORTIFIED Roofs™ are sealed to prevent this type of water damage
  • Better Attachment — Instead of smooth common nails typically shot into the shingles and sheathing, a FORTIFIED Roof™ requires ring-shank nails in an enhanced pattern to keep the roof deck attached to your home in high winds
  • Impact-resistant shingles — If your home is situated in a hail-prone territory, expect to see shingles tested by the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety (IBHS) to withstand hail up to the size of a billiard ball (two inches in diameter)

When your roofer uses all these strategies and follows the FORTIFIED Roof™ process, all those tiny details add up to make a noticeable impact on the strength of your roof. You get better protection for your family, your belongings, and your home. 

Fresh Breezes

Everyone assumes they will be spared the high winds, heavy rains, or even rare ice storms others suffer.

Not true.

Even a 50-mph wind can damage your roof, peel away protection, and push water into your living area. Just a few inches of rainwater on your roof can lead to soaked sheathing and ruined rafters.

The Tennessee Valley does not get a lot of ice, but even just a little bit of ice can form ice dams which lead to seepage. 

We all know how often we worry over tornadoes. The FORTIFIED Roof™ can go a long way to keeping your home together, the roof firmly fastened down even when dealing with brutal tornadoes. 

Better Than Building Codes

The FORTIFIED Roof™ program is better than building codes for a simple reason: codes create a minimum. Building codes are the floor; FORTIFIED is, if you will, the ceiling.

It sets much higher levels of protection for all parts of your home’s roof than mere building codes. Those requirements are not created to sell you gadgets and labor; they come from years and years of research on best building practices. 

Someday the various building codes may catch up, but why risk your home waiting for that day? Have your home FORTIFIED and enjoy peace of mind in even the worst weather. 

Does My House Qualify?

If you own one of the following types of homes in the Tennessee Valley area, your local, reliable roofer can help you with a FORTIFIED Roof™:

  • Single-family detached home (including a modular home)  
  • Two-family dwelling unit (duplex)  
  • A post-1994 (HUD) manufactured home 
  • Townhouse (the unit must extend from foundation to roof; not a “stacked” dwelling) 

Most of us live in one of these types of houses. Most of us can benefit from having a FORTIFIED Roof™ installed as a new roof, reroof, or upgrade. 

Unbiased Evaluation

The FORTIFIED Roof™ is not slapped down by a casual roofer/handyman and then billed to you. It must be inspected and evaluated by an independent, third-party evaluator. If your roof is not up to the stringent requirements, you do not get the designation. 

This means you need a roofer experienced and trained in installing or upgrading roofs to meet the FORTIFIED requirements. 

True Professional

When searching for roofing services in Alabama and Tennessee, you have a lot of options. Sure, you can use that guy with the pickup truck, the one who “installs” roofs and digs swimming pools. 

But to get a FORTIFIED Roof™, you need a true professional roofer trained to install it. You need Yellowhammer Roofing. Contact us today to learn more about the FORTIFIED program.

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