How to Waterproof Your Home

One of the biggest challenges is keeping water from leaking through your roof. By its nature, water runs down a roof. From simple drips to downpours, water will find holes and seep under your shingles. If there is a way in, water will find it. Thus, it is critical that every slope and corner of a roof be constructed to withstand any degree of rain to prevent damage and costly repairs.

Beyond the roof, be sure to also examine the walls and windows of your home to keep it water-tight. If you are building a home, you will save yourself a lot of trouble and money if you build it right the first time, by using the proper materials to protect your home from water intrusion and subsequent damage. Your motto should be “Don’t just build it, Protect it.”

To find out how to protect your home from water damage, follow these three steps:

• Roof:

The complete roof system consists of multiple layers – not just the shingles. Shingles are the exterior layer, and shingles alone will not keep the water out. What makes the difference and protects your roof from water damage is the roofing underlayment, which is installed underneath the shingles. Roofing underlayments perform many functions in a roof assembly, but first and foremost, they serve as the last line of defense between homeowners and the damaging effects of water infiltration. While use of an underlayment is required by building code, there are multiple product types that can be used. Be sure your contractor uses quality self-adhered roofing underlayments, so you receive the ultimate waterproofing protection.

Requesting that your contractor use self-adhered roofing underlayments is important, especially at the eaves and at all critical detail areas. There is a wide variation in product quality and performance. GCP Applied Technologies’ ICE & WATER SHIELD® self-adhered roof underlayment pioneered the category over 40 years ago. To ensure quality roof protection, contractors have relied on GCP Applied Technologies’ original ICE & WATER SHIELD® underlayment for all these years. It provides premium performance as it seals to itself at overlaps, seals to the roof deck and, most importantly, seals around the fasteners used to attach the shingles. All these features help prevent water from leaking into your home.

• Windows:

Windows are large openings in your home so they can definitely be major leak zones. Even if windows are well shuttered in a storm, wind-driven rain can be blown into the house at these points, especially if they have not been properly flashed and weatherproofed.

Proper selection and installation of flashing at the windows and doors is critical to the performance of your home’s weather barrier system. If not properly selected and installed, wind-driven rain can leak and quickly cause rot and mold in your walls. Flexible flashings such as GCP Applied Technologies’ VYCOR® PLUS and VYCOR® PRO self-adhered flashings can be used to seal windows, doors, corners, and other non-roof detail areas. These products are designed to form a watertight and airtight seal with building materials; thus protecting your home from water damage and air infiltration.

• Outer Walls:

As you would guess, the walls of your home are pretty important! While walls may seem pretty simple to the eye, there are complex layers hidden underneath the siding of your home. It is important that the materials that comprise those layers are selected and installed properly.

You may be familiar with traditional housewraps that are used during construction or remodeling of a house, but today there is a new product category that provides premium weather protection and is an advanced alternative to housewraps. VYCOR® enV-S™ fully-adhered weather resistive barrier (WRB) utilizes the latest in residential building science to create an air-tight, yet “breathable” home, and achieve the highest product performance available. Unlike mechanically-attached housewraps, VYCOR® enV-S™ WRB seals to itself at overlaps, seals around fasteners, and forms a strong bond with the substrate.

A recent study conducted by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) revealed that VYCOR® ENV-S™ WRB achieved an air leakage rate seven times lower than the leading housewrap brand. A reduced rate of air leakage translates to lower annual heating and cooling costs—an important benefit that homeowners will surely value and appreciate!

By examining that these three areas of your home are properly built, your home will stay dry and care-free.