Being the most exposed part of your house, your roof faces the wrath of nature on a regular basis, whether it be the blazing heat of the summer sun or the shattering strength of autumn winds. This is why it’s essential to ensure that your roof is installed and maintained by one of the leading roofing contractors in Chicago.
That said, your roof is bound to get damaged from time to time, as nature can truly be unforgiving. When that happens, you need to be ready to do some repairs, or else the damage will only get worse until it becomes irreversible. Of course, you can choose to leave this job to an expert roofer as well. After all, any roof work is considered dangerous, especially if you don’t have any background in working at height. If you really want to learn how to do it, though, you first need to know the different types of roof damage that you may encounter.
Signs of Damage
Familiarize yourself with the different types of roof damage by watching out forsome signs. The most common sign of a roof damage is leak, but there are others that most untrained eyes won’t notice right away. For instance, increasing electricity bill may seem to be caused by a broken air conditioning, but a damaged roof ventilation or insulation may also be contributing to it.
When you go up on the roof for a quick inspection, you might notice a layer of granules forming in the gutter. Most homeowners ignore it as they mistake it for dust. Truth is these granules come from the surface of the asphalt shingles, which deplete overtime. When the layer of granules is gone, the asphalt shingles lose their protection against the elements and start deteriorating faster.
Pooling is also a common sign of roof damage that you need to keep an eye out for. It’s essentially a depression forming on the roof where it shouldn’t. Water should be free to flow into the gutter and not gather at a certain spot. If you know these signs, you can easily tell how a certain damage formed and get to the bottom of it. You can even prevent the damage from occurring.
Common Roof Problems
Some forms of roof damage are quite easy to fix. While it’s best to call in a roofer to handle this dangerous task, it also helps to know a thing or two about roof repair so you can prevent problems from worsening when you don’t have access to a roofer. Here are some of the common roof problems that you can encounter and a few tips that may come in handy.
- Leak around the Chimney
- Leak may come from anywhere, but there are certain areas on your roof where it is likely to occur. The part where the shingles and chimney meet is one of them. Flashing is the best solution but not the easiest to install, so some inexperienced roofers resort to slathering on roof cement. As soon as the sun’s heat strips off all of the moisture from the roof cement, it starts shrinking and forming cracks where leak may occur. Hire a roofing contractor to replace it with flashing.
- Shingles Blown Off by Wind
- During a thunderstorm or a hurricane, strong winds can damage or blow off some of your roof’s shingles. These damaged or missing shingles must be replaced immediately to prevent water from leaking into the house when the weather gets bad again. There’s a lot of DIY tips on how to replace shingles that have blown off that you can find online, but hiring a professional roofer is always the best option. Unless you are a roofer yourself, don’t try to repair shingles blown off by updraft on your own.
- Rotting Sidewall
- Apart from preventing water from bleeding between the corners and edges of your roof, flashing also functions as a water runoff conveyor. The best example of flashing that has this particular function is the kick-off flashing. It’s installed where a roof edge meets a sidewall to prevent water from going directly toward the wall. Without this, the wall that gets wet every time it rains will eventually rot. This problem can be fixed by installing a kick-off flashing that directs water toward the gutter.
- Sag
- When you see water pooling at a certain spot on your roof, that spot most likely has a lower elevation than the rest of the roof’s surface. This depression may be caused by poor installation or damaged underlayment. It could even be worse, especially when not just the decking but the framework has been damage. The required repair may range from simple deck reinforcement to total replacement of the damaged section.
- Rotting Fascia and Soffits
- When you see streaks of dark mold forming where the gutter and the fascia board meet, it could mean water is backing up into the roof edge. This can only happen if the roof edge doesn’t have a gutter apron, a drip edge that further conveys water toward the gutter and prevents it from dribbling or backing up into the underside of the roof edge.
These are just some of the most common roof damage that, if neglected, can cause some serious problems. If your roof is not even halfway through its expected functional life, you must do everything you can to prevent any simple damage from worsening. Otherwise, you won’t be able to make the most of your investment. Fixing damage when it’s already worsened may also cost you a lot more than if you have it fixed upon discovery. Make sure to have a trusted roof repair company in your contact list so you can get help anytime.
Source:
https://www.familyhandyman.com/roof/roof-problems-and-what-to-do-about-them/
