LESLIE: Alright. Now we’ve got John on the line who’s dealing with a heat issue. Tell us about it.
JOHN: I’m not dealing too well. (Tom and John chuckle)
LESLIE: (chuckling) OK.
JOHN: I’ve got a 1952 California contemporary home. Here, it’s [G. Tom Scott] (ph) was the architect; he lived here. And it’s got a tongue-and-groove roof and I mean that’s really all I have is the roof.
TOM: (overlapping voices) Right.
JOHN: On the inside, I have a sandwich of cork, Styrofoam and cork; that’s my insulation. That’s what I look at up there.
TOM: Wow.
JOHN: And probably, originally, in the ’50s, this had a tar-and-gravel roof but now it has a shingle roof. I have a radiant energy problem in the summer that is beyond belief.
TOM: So, this had a tar-and-gravel roof? Is it a low-slope roof?
JOHN: Well, now, initially, back in the ’50s it did.
TOM: Right.
JOHN: Yes, it is a low-slope roof.
TOM: It’s low-slope, now, with shingles on it? Is that …?
JOHN: Shingles now.
TOM: Yeah, that’s unusual. I mean, typically, you can’t put shingles unless the slope is at least 3/12.
JOHN: Well, I think it just about makes it.
TOM: Alright. Well, there is an – there are cool coatings that can be applied to the roof that’s low-slope. You can’t see this too well from the street, then, I presume.
JOHN: You can see the roof; though just barely. Yeah.
TOM: Alright. Because they’re not that attractive.
JOHN: Yeah.
TOM: But there’s a roof coating called fibrous aluminum paint. There are other types of what’s called a “cool coating” that essentially is a reflective coating for a low-slope roof; it actually extends the life of a roof. But to be honest, you’re not supposed to put it on top of shingles. So, you kind of have the wrong kind of roof there to deal with this.
If you had a typical – say, a membrane roof or something of that nature, you could easily paint it with this and that would reflect some of the heat out.
JOHN: Well, I’ll certainly investigate that.
TOM: Alright. Good luck with that project, John. Thanks so much for calling us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
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