Glossary

B
C
D
E
F
G
H
IJK
M
N
O
P
R
S
T
U
V
W
B

Bundle: One package of shakes or shingles.
Butt Joint: a joint formed by simply putting two pieces of material together without mechanical connection.
Butyl Tape: a sealant tape used for waterproofing.

C

Cant: a beveling of foam at a right angle joint for strength and water runoff.
Cant Strip: a beveled or triangular-shaped strip of wood, wood fiber, perlite, or other material designed to serve as a gradual transitional a roof deck or rigid insulation and a vertical surface.
Cap Flashing: usually composed of metal, used to cover or shield the upper edges of the membrane base flashing, wall flashing, or primary flashing.
Cap Sheet: a granule-surface coated sheet used as the top ply of some built-up.
Chalk Line: a line made on the roof by snapping a tight string or cord dusted with colored chalk. Used for alignment purposes.
Cladding: a material used as the exterior wall enclosure of a building.
Cleat: a metal strip, plate or metal angle piece, either continuous or individual (“clip”), used to secure two or more components together.
Closed-Cut Valley: a method of valley application in which shingles from one side of the valley extend across the valley while shingles from the other side are trimmed back approximately 2 inches (51mm) from the valley centerline.
Composition Shingle: a unit of asphalt shingle roofing.
Coping: the covering piece on top of a wall which is exposed to the weather usually made of metal, masonry, or stone. It is preferably sloped to shed water back onto the roof.
Cornice: the decorative horizontal molding or projected roof overhang.
Counterflashing: formed metal sheeting secured on or into a wall, curb, pipe, rooftop unit, or other surface, to cover and protect the upper edge of the membrane base flashing or underlying metal flashing and associated fasteners from exposure to the weather.
Course: the term used for each row of shingles of roofing material that forms the roofing.
Coverage: the surface area covered by a specific quantity of a particular material.
Cricket: an elevated roof substrate or structure, constructed to divert water around a chimney, curb, away from a wall, expansion joint, or other projection/penetration. (See Saddle.)
Cross Ventilation: the effect that is provided when air moves through a roof cavity between the vents.
Cupola: a relatively small roofed structure, generally set on the ridge or peak of a main roof area.
Curb: a raised member used to support roof penetrations, such as skylights, mechanical equipment, hatches, etc. above the level of the roof surface.
Cutout: the open portions of a strip shingle between the tabs.

D

Delamination: separation of the laminated layers of a component or system.
Dormer: a framed projection through the sloping plane of a roof.
Downspout: a conduit used to carry runoff water from a scupper, eventually leading to a storm water runoff system.
Drain: an outlet to direct the flow of runoff water from a roof area.
Drip Edge: a metal flashing, intended to control the direction of dripping water and help protect underlying building components.

E

Eave: a projecting edge of a roof that extends beyond the supporting wall.
EPDM: Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer, essentially a roll on waterproof rubber like material.

F

Factory Seam: a splice/seam made by the manufacturer during the assembly of sections of materials into large sheets.
Fascia: a vertical or steeply sloped roof or trim located at the perimeter of a building. Typically, it is a border for the low-slope roof system that waterproofs the interior portions of the building.
Fasteners: mechanical securing devices and assemblies such as nails, screws, clips, etc.
Felt: a flexible fiber sheet. Roofing felts may be manufactured principally from wood pulp and vegetable fibers (organic felts), asbestos fibers (asbestos felts), glass fibers (fiberglass felts or ply sheet), or polyester fibers.
Ferrule: a small metal sleeve placed inside a gutter at the top. A spike is nailed through the gutter into the fascia board to hold the gutter in place. The ferrule acts as a spacer in the gutter to maintain its original shape.
Flashing: components used to weatherproof or seal the roof system edges at perimeters, penetrations, walls, expansion joints, valley, drains, and other places where the roof covering is interrupted or terminated.
Flat Lock: a method of interlocking metal panels in which one panel edge is folded back on top of itself and the other panel is folded under, after which the two panels are hooked together.

G

Gable: a triangular portion of the endwall of a building directly under the sloping roof and above the eave line.
Gable-Shaped Roof: a single-ridge roof that terminates at gable ends.
Galvanic Action: an electrolytic reaction between dissimilar metals in the presence of an electrolyte.
Galvanize: to coat with zinc.
Galvanized Steel: steel coated with zinc for corrosion resistance.
Granule: opaque, natural, or synthetically colored aggregate commonly used to surface cap sheets, shingles, and other granule-surfaced roof coverings.
Gutter: a channeled component installed along the downslope perimeter of a roof to convey runoff water from the roof to the drain leaders or downspouts.

H

Heat Welding: method of melting and fusing together the overlapping edges of separate sheets or sections of polymer modified bitumen, thermoplastics or some uncured thermoset roofing membranes by the application of heat (in the form of hot air or open flame) and pressure.
Hem: the edge created by folding metal back on itself.
Hip: the inclined external angle formed by the intersection of two sloping roof planes.
Hip Roof: a roof that rises by inclined planes to form one or more hips.
Hoist: a mechanical lifting device.

IJK

I

Ice Dam: a mass of ice formed at the transition from a warm to a cold roof surface, frequently formed by refreezing meltwater at the overhang of a steep roof, causing ice and water to back up under roofing materials.
Interlocking Shingles: individual shingles that mechanically attach to each other to provide wind resistance.

J

Joist: any of the small timbers, metal or wood beams arranged parallel from wall to wall to support a floor, ceiling, or roof of a building.

K

Kanga Roofing:  Your go-to roofing contractors in Greater Vancouver of course!

M

Membrane: a flexible or semi-flexible material, which functions as the waterproofing component in a roofing or waterproofing assembly, and whose primary function is the exclusion of water.
Metal Flashing: accessory components fabricated from sheet metal and used to weatherproof terminating roof covering edges. Frequently used as through-wall flashing, cap flashing (coping), counterflashing, step flashing, etc. (See Flashing.)
Mil: One millimeter, one mil is equal to 0.001 inches or 25.400 microns, often used to indicate the thickness of a roofing membrane.
Mildew: a superficial coating or discoloring of an organic material due to fungal growth, especially under damp conditions.
Miter: the joint produced by joining two diagonally cut pieces.

N

Neoprene: a synthetic rubber (polychloroprene) used in liquid-applied and sheet-applied elastomeric roof membranes or flashings.

O

Open Valley: a method of valley construction in which the steep-slope roofing on both sides are trimmed along each side of the valley, exposing the valley flashing.
Organic Felt: an asphalt roofing base material manufactured from cellulose fibers.
Organic Shingle: an asphalt shingle reinforced with material manufactured from cellulose fibers.

P

Penetration: any object passing through the roof.
Pliability: the material property of being flexible or moldable.
Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC): a synthetic thermoplastic polymer prepared from vinylchloride, commonly used for gutters, and pipework.
Ponding: the excessive accumulation of water at low-lying areas on a roof or gutter.
Rivet: a relatively small headed pin with an expandable head for joining relatively light gauge metal.
Primer: A liquid applied used to improve the adhesion of subsequent applications of material.

R

Rafter: one of a series of sloped structural members, that extend from the ridge or hip to the downslope perimeter or eave, designed to support the roof deck and its associated loads.
Rake-Starter (Bleeder Strip): starter-strip used along rake edges in conjunction with asphalt shingle roofing.
Reglet: a sheet metal receiver for the attachment of counterflashing.
Ridge: highest point on the roof, represented by a horizontal line where two roof areas intersect, running the length of the area.
Ridge Cap: a material or covering applied over the ridge of a roof.
Ridge Course: the last or top course of roofing materials, such as tile, roll roofing, shingles, etc., that covers the ridge and overlaps the intersecting field roofing.
Ridge Vent: a ventilator located at the ridge that allows the escape of warm and/or moist air from the attic area or rafter cavity.
Roll Roofing: smooth-surfaced or mineral-surfaced, coated, prepared felts.
Roof Jack: a metal bracket used to support toe-boards on steep-slope roofs.
Roof Slope: the angle a roof surface makes with the horizontal, expressed as a ratio of the units of vertical rise to the units of horizontal run usually expressed in feet, eg. 4:12 – a commonly found low sloped roof.
Run: horizontal dimension of a slope.

S

Saddle: a relatively small raised substrate or structure constructed to channel or direct surface water to drains or off the roof. A saddle may be located between drains or in a valley, and is often constructed like a small hip roof or like a pyramid with a diamond-shaped base.
Sag: undesirable excessive flow in material after application to a surface.
Self-Adhering Membrane: a membrane that can adhere to a substrate and to itself at overlaps without the use of an additional adhesive. Self-Sealing Shingle: an asphalt shingle containing factory-applied strip or spots of heat sensitive adhesive intended to adhere the overlying shingle once installed on the roof and warmed by the sun.
Shingle: individual unit of prepared roofing material designed for installation with similar units in overlap-ping rows or courses on inclines. Shingling: the application of shingles.
Side Lap: the continuous longitudinal overlap of neighboring like materials.
Sill: the bottom horizontal framing member of an opening, such as below a window or door.
Sill Flashing: a flashing of the bottom horizontal framing member of an opening, such as below a window or door.
Slope: the angle of incline, usually expressed as a ratio of rise to run, or as a percent.
Soffit: the enclosed underside of any exterior overhanging section of a roof eave.
Soffit Vent: a premanufactured or custom built air inlet source located at the downslope eave or in the soffit of a roof assembly.
Square: 100 square feet (9.29 m 2 ) of roof area.
Starter Course: the first layer of roofing, applied along a line adjacent to the downslope perimeter of the roof area.
Starter Sheets: felt, ply sheet, or membrane strips that are made or cut to widths narrower than the standard width of the roll, used to start the shingling pattern at an edge of the roof.
Starter Strip: roll roofing or shingle strips applied along the downslope eave line, before application of the first course of roofing, intended to fill spaces between cutouts and joints of the first course.
Step Flashing: individual pieces of material used to flash walls, around chimneys, dormers, and such projections along the slope of a roof. Individual pieces are overlapped and stepped up the vertical surface.

T

Tab: the exposed portion of strip shingles defined by cutouts.
Test Cut: a sample of the roof, which may contain all components or just the membrane, usually used to diagnose the condition of the existing membrane.
Tie-Off: the transitional seal used to terminate a roofing or waterproofing application at the top or bottom of flashings, or by forming a watertight seal with the substrate, membrane or adjacent roofing or waterproofing system.
Tongue and Groove Planks: one of the oldest types of dimensional structural wood used as roof decking. The sides are cut with convex and concave grooves so adjacent planks may join in alignment with each other to form a uniform roof deck.

U

Underlayment: an asphalt-saturated felt or other sheet material (may be self-adhering) installed between the roof deck and the roof system, usually used in a steep-slope roof construction. Underlayment is primarily used to separate the roof covering from the roof deck, to shed water, and to provide secondary weather protection for the roof area of the building.

V

Valley: the internal angle formed by the intersection of two sloping roof planes.
Vent: an opening designed to convey air, heat, water vapor or other gas from inside a building or a building component to the atmosphere.

W

Weep Holes: small openings whose purpose is to permit drainage of water that accumulates inside a building component (e.g., a brick wall, skylight frame, etc).
Wicking: the process of moisture movement by capillary action, as contrasted to movement of water vapor.
Woven Valley: a method of valley construction in which shingles or roofing from both sides of the valley extend across the valley and are woven together by overlapping alternate courses as they are applied.

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