Why Roof Overhangs are Essential

An adequate roof overhang is an essential part of weatherproofing any home. Older buildings often have generous ones that contribute to their overall success. Today’s competitive market may tempt homeowners with cheaper, less successful alternatives.

The Right Roof Overhang Achieves Two Things

The right roof overhang helps deflect bright summer sunlight, and heat from your windows. This helps keep the interior cooler, and your HVAC costs down. But it also lessens the amount of rain and hail striking your windows, siding and doors. Hence there is more to roof overhangs than simply appearance.

It Protects Your Home from Deteriorating

Some home designers miss this critical point when they create short overhangs for a ‘modern effect’. They fail to understand how broad overhangs shade doors and windows from driving rain, that might otherwise cause wooden frames to rot. But they also help keep moisture away from foundations too, and basements and crawl spaces below ground level.

It Keeps Your Home Cooler in Summer

Excessive heat on walls, windows, sidings, and doors can cause materials to age faster, and fade under ultraviolet sunlight. It follows the wise owner may be able to recoup the cost of wider overhangs over time, by offsetting this against their cooling and maintenance bills.

Two Types of Roof Overhangs to Consider

A non-gabled roof has overhangs on all four sides. This is easily achieved by extending trusses, and fitting roofing over them. However, a gable roof end is a different matter, because it requires ‘false trusses’ to support it.

Some contractors work around this problem by omitting gable end ‘outrigger overhangs’. The homeowner then faces the twin challenges of the sun and rain beating down against the exterior wall, and moisture accumulating over foundations.

Designing the Right Roof Overhangs for Your Home

The Calgary climate indicates a need to box ends, sides, and bottoms of roof overhangs with soffits and fascias. Grids may be set into these, to admit air to the roof space for cooling and ventilation.

Finally, eaves troughs are essential to drain water from the ends of roof overhangs. You’ll be even happier you installed wide overhangs if you build paved pathways beneath them, so you walk dry outside the house in the rain.

Valiant Exteriors are Calgary’s niche roof, siding and eavestrough installers for discerning home owners who want the job done right. We won’t charge for a quote or hold you under any obligation. Choose us if you want your biggest investment to be watertight!