Water damage can occur at any time. A broken water main, or flooding caused by natural processes, can wreak havoc inside of your household. However, you can also have water damage caused by leaks in your roof.
When the rain is coming down extremely hard, and a branch damages your roof letting the water in, this can compromise the very structure of your home. Additionally, you may live in an older structure, one that has not been reroofed in decades.
For all of these reasons, you may eventually end up with the situation where serious water damage can occur.
Let’s look at how roof leaks can lead to significant damage to the structure of your home and how this can be resolved or prevented.
How Do Leaks Begin In A Roof?
Leaks in a roof can happen because of many reasons. For example, you may have some form of dry rock that is affecting the framing. The sheathing may have blown off during a strong storm, or you may have insulation that has gathered water from a small leak that leads to bigger problems.
In most cases, leaks are the result of old age with a roof that is decades old, however structural damage can also occur. If you have noticed that there are areas of your ceiling where leaks are apparent, you will need to resolve this as quickly as possible.
What Type Of Damage Can Leaks Do In Your Home?
If you happen to live in an area that is humid, or where there is a substantial amount of inclement weather, small cracks can begin to form in your roof over time. The shingles on your roof can become dislodged, causing small leaks which will eventually get larger.
When the water starts to come in regularly, this provides the perfect environment for fungi to begin to duplicate. This can lead to substantial mold development, as well as dry rot, and all of this can lead to several thousand dollars in repairs later on. That’s why catching leaks early is the key to avoiding these problems and why working with a local roof repair company can help you prevent them.
How Often Should You Evaluate The Condition Of Your Roof?
If you have the means to do so, annual inspections are recommended. This is of great importance if your home is 10 years old or much older. They will inspect the top of your roof, and subsequently go into the attic area. This will allow them to determine if there is any type of damage at all. If it is detected, the small areas where problems are starting need to be repaired. In some cases, they may need to replace portions of the structure of your roof to prevent ongoing problems. These annual evaluations are very helpful at undermining the ability of fungi to replicate, and they can also stop smaller leaks from getting worse.
If you have not noticed any leakage from your roof, that does not mean there are no problems. Annual inspections are highly recommended when you are in an area where it will rain quite consistently. Once the inspections are done, they will do repairs if necessary, and this can extend the life of your roof for quite some time. Most importantly, it will also extend the life of your home from a structural basis, as long as any problems are repaired.
As long as you are consistent about these inspections, you should be primarily problem free when it comes to developing a leaky roof and resulting water damage.