El Dorado Hills gets a scant 22 inches of rain, on average, annually. Although that may not sound like a lot, even a tiny hole less than the diameter of a pencil can lead to thousands of dollars of water damage to your home. Your roof helps maintain your home’s value and your family’s safety. A little-known part of your roof’s defense against water damage is the water barrier. 

Water Shedding

Asphalt-fiberglass shingles are not waterproof. Neither are clay or concrete tiles. They are water-shedding. They allow water to roll off, rather than sink in. To deter water from penetrating the sheathing (the wood sheets beneath either shingles or tiles), professional, conscientious roofers like Straight Line Construction cover sheathing with roofing felt before laying down shingles or tiles. Roofing felt can be an asphalt-soaked natural fiber or synthetic.

Water Barrier

In many parts of the United States, snow and ice are greater threats to a roof than rainwater. For those homes, roofing contractors use ice barrier, a completely waterproof membrane applied along the lower edge of a roof and in all the valleys. The ice barrier is wide enough that meltwater cannot penetrate behind the first several shingle rows.

For delightful, warm climates like El Dorado Hills, we use water barrier that is essentially the same material doing the same waterproofing job. Because of water barrier’s adhesive coating and rubberized nature, we can lay it down without staples or nails, and it seals around the roofing nails we use on your shingles or tiles.

Roof Flashing

When we finish a roofing job, most homeowners enjoy the sight of their newly shingled or tiled roof, taking in the beautiful color and texture of fresh shingles or tiles. Beneath those shingles or tiles are several unappreciated layers that support the work of the visually striking top surface. Besides roofing felt and water barrier, we protect your roof with metal roof flashing in all critical areas.

Roof flashing is thin, rust-proof metal (rust-proof metal is definitely waterproof) that spans valleys, ridges, and areas where dormers pierce the roofline. Water infiltrating beneath the top surface hits the roof flashing and rolls downhill, to drain into your El Dorado Hills home’s gutters.

Triple Protection

Between the waterproof water barrier, roof flashing and underlying roofing felt, we ensure that your home is amply protected against rot-inducing water infiltrating your roof sheathing.


For more information on how we can help with protecting your home, contact our team at Straight Line Construction, serving El Dorado Hills and the surrounding area.