Your roof is designed to bear all the brutal forces of nature: strong winds, heavy rain, scorching heat, hailstorms, and falling debris. Depending on the intensity of those factors and the quality of your roofing materials, damage may set in at any time after installation.
That’s why you need to know what to look out for in order to tell whether or not your roof is in need of repair. And when you notice that your roof is failing, it’s advisable to contact your local roofing company to do a professional repair job for you.
How To Choose A Roofing Company
It’s good to work with a trusted, reputable roofing company to ensure that your roofing projects are done in the best way possible. Go for a roofing company that:
- Has workers’ compensation and liability insurance so you’re protected in case any accident happens in your home
- Has an established reputation in your local community and is familiar with the weather conditions and climate in your area of residence
- Has excellent communication skills
- Offers good value for your money
- Can handle your specific roofing needs
If you happen to live in a large city like Mississauga, it shouldn’t be difficult for you to find a company that specializes in roofing Mississauga homes says Dangelo and Sons.
For those who reside in smaller cities or towns, you may choose to get recommendations from family and friends if an online search for a roofer doesn’t yield helpful results.
The Signs Of A Bad Roof
Here are six of the issues indicating that your roof is failing:
1. Past The Average Life Span
Asphalt, wood, and fiberglass shingles are designed to last about 20-25 years. The average life span of clay tiles is 75 years. Ethylene propylene diene terpolymer (EPDM) membrane lasts about 10 years. Corrugated steel panels perform well up to about 30 years.
What material was used for roofing your house? How many years have elapsed since you installed the roof? If your roof is past the average life span, start budgeting as soon as possible for roof replacement.
2. Missing And Detached Shingles And Flashings
This is something you can easily check with your eyes. Use a binocular to count the number of missing shingles on your roof and those that are detached. If there are more than five of them, that should be enough to concern you. Leaving the shingles that way will allow ice, snow, wind, and rain into the roof, and this may cause further damage.
Likewise, observe the flashings (the materials placed around chimneys, skylights, vents, etc.) and take note of any missing or loose pieces. Failure to fix these immediately will expose your roof to water damage.
3. Caved-In Roof
Your roof deck should always remain flat and solid, and the roof ridge has to be straight. These make a roof aesthetically pleasing.
But if you notice that the roof deck is sagging and the roof ridge is getting crooked, it means that the roof trusses are rotting and deteriorating. They should be repaired at once lest the entire roof collapses onto the rest of your house.
4. Stained Ceiling And Walls
Perhaps this is the first sign of a failing roof you’ll notice because it’s unsightly and right inside your house. No one wants their beautifully painted ceiling and walls to be stained with brown streaks and patches, right? So take action at the first appearance of such stains. They indicate that your roof’s letting water into the ceiling. After a few rainy seasons down the road, your ceiling boards may get severely water-damaged.
5. Mold
Roof-related mold can appear in a number of places:
- Where the roof meets an exterior wall
- On exterior walls
- Inside wall cavities
Whenever you see mold, it’s an indication that the area affected is getting enough moisture to support the growth of fungi. That may mean your roof has leaks. If not checked or addressed soon, the exposure of wood and cement to constant moisture can lead to rotting and structural failure.
6. Dirty-Looking Roof
Newly installed roofs usually look clean, with uniform color throughout the surface.
In case some parts of the roof start looking darker than the rest, it may be because of the following:
- Algae is flourishing on your roof, so consider removing it.
- The roof shingles have started losing their protective granules. You need to replace them since this is a sign that they’re no longer functional.
To Wrap It Up
Other signs you may want to look out for are curled shingles, overflowing gutters, peeling exterior paint, loose nails, and rising heating and cooling electricity bills due to a leaky roof.
It’s in your best interest to always take corrective action as soon as you see these signs.
Postponing repairs for a long time will only make the damage worse and increase the repair costs.