Your roof is a 24 hour a day / 7 day a week job. The roof of your home protects the structure of your home. Typically, homeowners tend to ignore their roof until there is a leak in the living area. This type of repair is typically much more expensive than performing routine maintenance to extend the life of your current roof.
Most homeowners can’t tell the difference between a 15 year roof and a 30 year roof, and that is because of the difference in maintenance. Some types of maintenance are more important than others.
Professional inspections reveal hidden damage
Annual roof inspections will allow your roof to be serviced prior to damage occurs that will cause leaks into your home. In some instances, water can penetrate through your roof’s exterior layers and cause significant damage to the structural elements of your home months or even years prior to a leak being noticed. Attentive qualified roof inspectors will provide you with a comprehensive assessment of your roof, revealing potential problems.
Hire a reputable roofing company to come out and inspect your home’s roof. They will take a look at the roofing materials that are below the surface of your roof such as the flashing that is surrounding items like the chimney, vents and skylights. Many leaks around these types of items can be traced back to the flashing. The roofer will also take a look at your gutters and check to see if there are any clogs in the gutters. If the gutters are clogged the water will spill over the sides and instead of going down the downspout it will run down the sides of the house and eventually cause damage to the roof. The roofer will be able to tell you if your roof needs to be repaired or replaced and give you an estimate for any work that may need to be done to your roof.
An attic inspection will reveal signs of water entry into your attic space. These can be in the form of water stains on the ceiling of your attic space or evidence of mold and mildew growth. The attic insulation can also be damaged and this can allow heat to escape from your home. These problems can exist for months or even years before they cause a leak in your home. By identifying these problems early on, repairs can be made to fix the problem before it becomes a much larger repair. In some cases, the repair could even involve making some structural repairs to your home.
Even after the worst of storms, there can be hidden damage. While some visible damage can be immediately apparent, other types of damage may be completely invisible until much later. Hail can penetrate a roof’s surface and cause damage not only to the roof’s covering, but to the roof’s underlying structures as well. High winds can also cause roof damage by pulling loose roof fasteners. Often, the fastener is pulled from the roof decking without even penetrating the roof covering at all.
Maintenance prevents expensive failures
Gutters must be cleaned out at least two times per year in areas where there are no trees. Areas with mature trees could require more frequent cleaning. Clogged gutters create an unnatural amount of stress on the gutter system and allow water to pond and find ways to penetrate under shingles or into soffit areas and penetrate into the wood framed walls.
Standing water from a clogged gutter will run off the roof at a different location. This water can seep under shingles or into the walls of buildings and cause damage to a roof’s framework by rotting the wood. Also, gutters that are clogged with debris will pull away from a house causing water to leak into walls at the location where the gutters were pulled away from the house.
Moss and algae can cause problems for your roof, and while it can look terrible, its worse when it gets into the sheathing of roof and begins to cause wood rot. There are several methods that can be used to remove moss and algae from a roof, including power washing. However the best way to deal with moss and algae is to install a zinc or copper strip at the peak of your home. Over time this will shed onto the roof and keep the growth of moss and algae to a minimum.
Tree branches should be trimmed back from the roof line to prevent damage. If branches are close to the roof, it is best to trim them back to six feet or more.
The people of Virginia Beach can find the best Virginia Beach roofing services for roof repair by first ensuring that their metal roof flashing and fasteners are checked for salt air corrosion. Most metal roof flashing and fasteners have a life expectancy of far less than normal when exposed to salt air.
Quick repairs stop cascade damage
Shingles that have fallen off the roof expose the area where they were to the elements. The major concern with missing shingles is the exposure of the roof’s underlayment to the sun and elements. The underlayment is not a weather barrier, but rather a barrier between the roof’s structural components and the roof’s finish. Underlayment deteriorates rapidly when exposed to the sun and weather.
A single missing shingle exposes the underlayment to the sun and weather. Underlayment was never intended to be the primary weather barrier for a roof. In the event of a storm it is very important to make a temporary repair to prevent further damage and then make a permanent repair as soon as possible, ideally within a few days. If a temporary repair is left in place for too long it can cause more problems such as allowing moisture to become trapped in the damaged area or placing additional wind load on the damaged area.
Also, be sure to have your home’s roof repaired as quickly as possible. Your insurer will not pay for any secondary damage to occur from a leak in your home from a missing shingle. It makes sense to have your roof repaired as quickly as possible in order to prevent any additional damage to your home from a leak.
Roof Repair: Fix the Leaks Around Your Roof Vents and Chimneys First. The area of your roof around your roof vents and down your chimney is the most stressed part of your roof. As water pours down the roof around your vents and down your chimney, even the tiniest crack in the flashing, mortar, or caulk can allow massive amounts of water to pour into your home, causing serious damage in a short amount of time. This is why it is so very important to repair any leaks you might find in these vulnerable areas of your home first.
Ventilation protects everything underneath
Attic ventilation requires to be balanced, meaning that there must be sufficient intake air at the eaves of the house as well as sufficient exhaust air near the ridge of the house. Intake air is pulled into the attic through soffit vents by the negative air pressure created by the flow of air out of the attic through the ridge vents. If the intake vents are blocked by debris, by animals that have made their nest in the attic, or by the settling of blown insulation, then the attic will not be able to breathe and the space will become filled with heated, moisture-laden air. As this air rises it will look for a way to escape and it will find its way through the insulation and into the walls of the house.
When building a roof, one of the most common problems to occur with roof ventilation systems is clogged intake vents. The intake vents are located at the eaves of the home, and the potential for clogging exists with blown insulation during construction, and settled in insulation over time. The same type of problems can occur with the exhaust vents (also known as roof vents) such as clogged by debris, animals making a home in them, and other improper construction.
Under-ventilated attics become hot during the summer. This puts a great deal of stress on the roof above it. In addition, under-ventilated attics in the winter can cause moisture problems. As the warm air meets the cold roof, it condenses and causes the wood to rot. Also, the insulation will deteriorate quickly.
Strategic upgrades pay long-term dividends
There are numerous styles and forms of roofing available to homeowners today. Some of the most common forms of roofing include Asphalt Shingles, Clay Tile Roofing, Slate Tile Roofing, Metal Roofing, and Flat Roofs. Within these categories of roofing, there are also various styles to choose from. One style in particular that we recommend is impact resistant shingles. These shingles are designed with special materials that will withstand the impact of hail or other objects that fall from the sky during a strong wind storm. Homeowners can receive discounts on their home owners insurance for installing these types of shingles, in addition to saving money in the long run for not having to repair and replace individual sections of damaged roofing. In many cases, the initial cost of impact resistant roofing will be recouped over time in the savings of not having to repair individual parts of a normal roof.
For those homes undergoing a full roof replacement, it is worthwhile to consider upgrading to a better flashing material. As roofers in Virginia Beach, the team at American Dream Remodeling can help homeowners select the most suitable flashing for their home. In the short-term, the higher cost of a quality flashing material may not seem to be worth it; however, this type of metal flashing can last two to three times longer than a roof, ultimately saving homeowners money in the long run.
New ventilation systems that are installed when a roof is new to your home will cost less than if you had to install a new ventilation system as a retrofit. The new system will immediately begin to serve and protect your new roof.
Professional expertise matters more than cost savings
Unfortunately most mistakes with roofing cannot be found for years and then they can be very expensive to repair. The mistake with the flashing, the way the fasteners were installed and the way the roof was sealed up around penetrations are a few examples of what can go wrong with the roofing of a home.
Saving money on your roof can be a smart decision. But remember, a roof is a system and must be installed as such. Therefore, you must make sure that your roof is installed correctly by a qualified roofer who has knowledge of local building codes as well as the roof materials that you have chosen. He or she must also have the proper insurance to protect you in the event of an accident on your property. They will also be able to do any repairs that are needed in the correct way in order to ensure that your roof will last for many years to come.
The lowest price for a roof is not always the best price for a quality roof. You want to find a contractor that will explain their process and how they will complete the job, provide a list of the materials that they will use, and provide local references from past work that can be verified.
Your roof is a system. If you treat your roof as a system and service it as such throughout its life you can protect your home for decades to come and keep repair costs down.