Irrespective of whether your house is big or small, you wouldn’t want to deal with a leaky roof. You wouldn’t want to look for a bucket each time you see a sign of rain. A leaky roof can be frustrating and expensive to repair. That’s why you need to create a habit of constantly inspecting your roof to identify damages and address them early.
Watch out for the following five things that can cause a leaky roof.
1. Broken Shingles
Broken shingles happen to be one of the most occurring causes of a leaky roof and the one you’re likely to suspect first. Because shingles are the external covering of a roof, it’s easy for you to recognize missing shingles by noticing different-shaded reinforcements on your roof.
In some cases, you can discover crumbling or entirely missing shingles on your roof. If you encounter these instances, ensure you immediately call a roof replacement in Austin (or wherever you live) service provider to rectify the issue.
2. Cracks on Your Roof Vents
Roof vents are the mini pipes that extend out of your home’s roof and that serve the purpose of expelling excess condensation from your house. Often, your roof vents can crack because of the freezing weather conditions.
Additionally, roof vents are often secured using chunks of rubber tubing and flashing, which can wear out with time, exposing roof vents to leaks. You can identify signs of leaky vents by noticing dark spots surrounding the pipings. Here, you may have to seek professional help from experienced roofing experts to replace cracked vents.
3. Cracked Flashing
Perhaps you’re already aware that shingles aren’t the only things that help ensure your roof stays waterproof. Beneath your roof’s shingles are small metallic chunks precisely designed to stop water erosion and to direct it towards your gutters.
Regrettably, no matter the quality of flashing you use, with time, heavy rain, hail, and ice corrodes it, causing cracks and exposing it to leaks. Also, if your house consists of an external flashing, heavy storms can blow it away in its entirety. You can secure loose flashing using tar and nails, but you must replace cracked or rusted flashing entirely.
4. Blocked Gutters
Gutters are the half-split pipings that stretch all around your roof’s edges. When functioning optimally, gutters serve the purpose of allowing rain, excess tiny debris, and tree leaves to pass through the pipings. In a nutshell, gutters are meant to direct water and debris from your home’s roofing to the ground.
If a blockage happens, rainwater will accumulate on your roof, allowing condensation to drip through the tiniest cracks on your home’s roofing into the interior. Therefore, it’s paramount that you keep your home’s gutters tidy and clear of waste buildup to avoid clogging them. Usually, you can perform such maintenance yourself or call an expert to clean your gutters.
5. Ice Dam Buildup
An ice dam can be described as a ridge of ice that develops at the perimeter of your home’s roofing and hinders snow melting from flowing away. The heaviness of the ice on its own can destroy your roof before you can imagine the damage the stagnant water can do to your roof.
Usually, the heat coming out of your attic is beyond freezing, leading to melting some of the snowfall, irrespective of the freezing temperatures outdoors. Then, the water from melting snow will flow between your roof’s surface and the snow. Eventually, the water refreezes into ice as soon as it reaches your roof’s external edge.
You can rectify this problem by investing in a roof rake, which resembles a sideways shovel fixed with a long handle. You can reach the rooftop and eliminate around four feet of snow from your roof’s edge using this tool. Also, consider getting rid of an ice dam immediately you notice it using an ice melt product. Ultimately, as winter nears, try to find a way to get rid of snow from your rooftop to avoid it causing leaks.
Final Word
Overall, these are some of the common causes of a leaky roof. To prevent these things from destroying your roof, it’s paramount that you remain proactive concerning the condition of your roof. Immediately you detect any sign of leaks on your home’s roofing, contact your roofing company to fix the matter.
Apart from that if you want to know about TPO Roofing then visit our Home Improvement Category.
