Your home is where you feel safe and comfortable. It provides you with shelter and warmth, no matter the weather outside. That changes when you’ve got an issue with your roof. When you’ve got a leak, water can be a steady drip that quickly turns into a waterfall and all you’ll see are dollar signs falling.
Roof issues can be dangerous, and they can also be less costly when they are addressed immediately. A collapse that results from rotting rafters or roof sheeting can be avoided completely if the roof is checked and maintained on a regular basis. Integrity Building & Roofing has pretty much seen it all when it comes to roof problems. They’d like to share some information with you about common roof problems so that you’ll know when to call for help.
Top 5 Roof Problems
- Shoddy construction — Believe it or not, some builders will scrimp on materials and cut corners. If a roof isn’t installed properly, you can have water seeping slowly into your walls, collecting in your attic, and rotting exposed wood. This is one of the more common issues. Make sure that when you hire a company that they are experienced, licensed, and insured. You need to be guaranteed that their work is good, or they’ll fix it. Don’t hire fly by night do-it-yourselfers who are just trying to take you for some money. If it seems too cheap to be true, it probably is.
- Weather damage — this is very common, especially during the spring and summer, when hail and pouring rain with high winds can damage your roof. Most of the time, your homeowner’s insurance policy will cover this type of damage but will require you to hire a licensed and insured contractor to do the repair, which is in your best interest. You’ll possibly need to submit at least three bids to your insurance provider unless they have a preferred contractor near you.
- Punctures and splitting — this sort of damage is usually from something falling on your roof, like tree branches or other objects. Splitting can also be caused from extreme heat and poor materials that combine to cause the issue of a leaking roof. Whenever your roof has a puncture or a split in the material, water will find its way under and into your home.
- No maintenance for too long — this causes a lot of issues. Older homes had asphalt tiles, asbestos tiles, and tar paper. These materials don’t last forever. Some of these need to be replaced every 5 to 10 years. Older homes often have more than two layers of shingles because you could re-shingle a roof up to three times before it all had to be peeled off and replaced. Newer metal roofing materials last much longer – some as long as 30 years – before they need any repairs or maintenance. If you have a roof completely replaced, along with any rotten wood replacement, you could spend upwards of $15k.
- Common leaks due to design — this is likely to happen around flashing such as at chimney lines, vent pipes, ridges and any places where water can find its way into your home. When flashing isn’t installed properly or becomes damaged by wind or hail, it can cause these common types of leaks that create issues that may lead to major repairs if not addressed immediately.
These are some of the more common things but there are other potential issues, such as roof air conditioning units that leak, flat roofing that isn’t suited for your climate and more.
