The WoW Style

Ouch! You just got home from a long day of work and you hear a loud crash. When you go outside to investigate, you see that your roof is caved in. Unfortunately, this isn’t the first time it’s happened. The last five times have been because of different problems with your roofing materials or installation process. If you want to avoid having more issues in the future, check out our list below for some tips on what might be going wrong with your roof: 

1. Ice Dams

This winter, you’ve seen all sorts of terrible news stories about homes being destroyed by ice dams. The problem is that if the snow on your roof isn’t melting from the inside out, it’s melting from the outside in thanks to the ice dam. And once the whole thing starts to melt, it will likely create a flood in your attic or crawl space. You can avoid this situation by properly ventilating your attic during cold weather and hiring pros to remove snow from your roof before this becomes a problem.

2. Big Buildup of Dirt & Debris

The dirt and debris on top of your home’s roof might not look like a big deal, but it actually has a major impact on how well your roof can do its job. Unfortunately, this is especially true if you live in a windy area since the buildup of dirt and debris could be strong enough to essentially act like a sail when the wind blows through your region. If this becomes an issue, you want to schedule professional cleaning services to come out and clear it for you before anything goes wrong with your roof’s structure itself.

3. Faulty Roof Installation

If your home was built after 1993, then there’s a good chance that it has at least one layer of protection from water damage that comes from the outside thanks to the pitch line. However, if that pitch line is misaligned or improperly installed, it might not be doing its job as well as it should be which can lead to all sorts of issues, including leaks and ice dams. Instead, you want to hire a pro to handle the pitch line installation process for your home.

4. Leaking Chimneys

The last thing that you want is for your family or pets to get hurt by falling down into the crawl space below your house because they fell through a weakened section of roof. If this does happen, it’s likely because water damage has warped and loosened some of the flashing around your chimney which can make it easy for things like falling bricks and vegetation growth to become an issue. If this happens, call in professionals, such as chimney cleaners in Perth, since these types of problems might require more than just basic roof repairs if they’re going to be fixed.

5. Pests & Mildew

Hiding in your attic, crawl space and soffits is a lot of potential food for pests like termites and carpenter ants. However, you also want to watch out for mildew because it will cause the wood underneath your shingles to rot which could create all sorts of issues with leaks and even broken shingles. The easiest way to deal with this problem is by having professionals such as pest control services come to your home twice a year.

6. Shingle Damage

When people think about damaged roofing materials, most often they’re picturing cracks or holes that have allowed water into their home’s interior thanks to leaky roofs. However, there’s another kind of damage that you need to watch out for if your home is in a windy area: Shingle breakdown. This happens when high winds and rain strike shingles like rocks hitting glass and break them apart into small pieces. This can be worsened by faulty installation such as adding roof flashing at the wrong angle or even shingles installed before their recommended lifespan has ended.

7. Damaged Gutters

One of the biggest problems with damaged gutters comes from how they affect drainage on your property since this will lead to puddling which can encourage mildew growth, mold, and all sorts of other unsightly spots next to your home. Additionally, these problems could create drainage issues between the gutter and the roof which could lead to water damage inside. It’s far better to schedule yearly gutter inspections with professionals to catch these problems before they become a major issue where you live.

8. Vandalism & Accidents

You might think that vandalism isn’t too common in your area, but just because it hasn’t happened yet doesn’t mean it won’t happen in the future. If this does happen, then your home’s roof could obviously be damaged as a result of the attack(s) or accident(s). Additionally, strong winds or even strong weather patterns will have an impact on your roofs integrity so if you want to avoid these types of issues occurring later down the road, call in professionals.

9. Blistering & Curling

This is a problem that’s very similar to damaged shingles because it occurs when shingles begin to lose their waterproof qualities, which can happen as your roof ages. Plus, blistering and curling can lead to algae and mildew growth and other general problems with your roof, so it’s definitely recommended that you have professionals inspect this area of your home on an annual basis at least.

10. Weather Patterns

Even if you’ve had the same roof in place for 5 years or more, weather patterns in your area are constantly changing which means that your roof could deal with different issues in just a few months’ time. This is especially true when you factor in disasters like tornadoes, hurricanes, or even earthquakes. So, it’s definitely recommended that you have professionals come out to your home each year so they can check for any potential problems.