Why M^cLane Construction?

Craftsmanship describes both a skill and a quality of product: it is a skill that has been honed by experience, and it is the quality achieved by designing and building with care and attention to detail. At McLane Construction, we are not just roofers and siders, we are craftsmen, and we take pride in creating something of quality in both form and function.

Honed: McLane Construction has worked on over 1200 jobs in and around Bozeman. Across all disciplines, we use manufacturer’s specifications and local building codes as minimum standards, and then go above and beyond. Montana is tough on buildings, and we have learned tips and tricks over the years to ensure our work can withstand a harsh and varied climate. We have also fixed hundreds of roofs and siding, and we know what to look out for and what not to do.

Designed: Every roofing and siding project starts with a plan to anticipate and solve challenges to both form and function. We are prepared for windows, doors, drier vents, and utility meters long before we get to them. Does your chimney have a cricket? Do we need to design custom metal pieces for a particularly vulnerable valley? From accommodating out of square framing to a beautiful screw pattern, our job is to convince your eye that everything is parallel and straight in all the right places.

Detailed: High and tight, every time! One missing piece of flashing can rot your roof and cause extensive structural damage. One pinhole in a flat roof can compromise the whole job. And then when it comes to cutting, folding, griding, and riveting metal, our guys are artists. At McLane Construction, we like crisp, clean details, and we don’t like call backs.

Building science is the behavior of a building as a system, and impacts a structure’s energy efficiency and durability. Much of this comes down to the building envelope, which begins at the interface between conditioned and unconditioned space. The building envelope is made up of framing, windows, insulation, roofing, and siding, and the integrity of your building depends on all of these disciplines working together. When the building envelope is working well, we avoid common problems like condensation, ice dams, and shingle degradation.

Condensation: About 50% of the calls we get about a leaky roof are actually condensation. When warm, moist air from a conditioned space is cooled, it condenses. In cold climates, moving moisture out of your building is just as important as preventing it from getting in. Water vapor produced by people, pets, washing dishes, drying cloths, and showering needs an efficient way to escape. Otherwise, it gets trapped, causing rot and mold, and often looks just like a leak. When we install your roof and siding, we are in a position to check that the ventilation system is functioning throughout the building envelope. Not only does this protect your home, but also our weekends, since we are the ones that get the call when water starts dripping from the ceiling!

Ice Dams: Ice dams form when snow on in one area of the roof melts, flows down to a colder spot, and refreezes. Several scenarios are prime for forming ice dams. First the snow has to melt. This can happen from the mid-day winter sun on a southern exposure, or from inadequate insulation and ventilation heating the roof deck from the inside out. Then this water has to refreeze. This can happen as it flows past the exterior wall of the house, which is no longer above a conditioned space, or onto a shady spot caused by a neighboring tree or a different aspect of the roof that is no longer in the sun. Per standard building codes, we always use ice and water shield to dry in at least 2 feet inside all exterior walls. But we also look out for any other likely spots ice dams might form to beef up our water proofing. And we are always watching for potential problems in the building envelope so that we cut down on them occurring in the first place.

Degraded Shingles: Roofs get hot! Without an adequate ventilation system that is moving air past the underside of the roof deck, that heat has nowhere to go. When asphalt shingles overheat, they degrade quickly: they dry out, become brittle, and sluff their granules. A mistake made by the siders, framers, or insulators, or an oversight by the architect can cause our work to fail prematurely. We don’t like that, so while we are up there, we are sure to check that the building envelope is functioning correctly.

Content coming soon…