Your building’s roof is one of the most vulnerable exterior surfaces to water leakages. If you have had a water leak in your home before, then you would be familiar with how troublesome and dangerous it can be. Once water has bypass your roof’s surface, it is free to travel along hidden spaces in your home.
A common space that water then accumulates at is the area above your ceiling. From here, a ceiling leakage could occur, leading to mould growth, flaking paint, collapsed structure and damage to both belongings and electrical appliances.
As such, you should always be concerned about the state of your roof. Thankfully, there are steps that you can take to maintain the condition of your roof and to prevent serious damage to your property.
Performing Visual Inspections of your Roof
To start with, we recommend that you conduct periodical visual inspections of your roofs. During which, you should look out for:
- Missing or loose shingles
- Damaged or exposed roof surfaces
- Emerging cracks or gaps
Typically, storms and falling debris causes the above-mentioned occurrences. During foul weather, heavy rain fall combined with strong gusts of wind take a toll on your roof’s materials. This loosens components such as the shingles on your roof. Alternatively, storms may break off tree branches and send them crashing into your roof. From the impact of the debris landing on your roof, your roof’s surface materials would suffer damage.
Other Related Roof Checks You Should Perform
Other than looking for missing shingles, exposed surfaces or cracks, here are a several other checks and areas of maintenance that you should look into.
- Roof vents – the plastic vents placed in your house do age and break, likewise do the seams and the metal vents. Water will definitely seep through them into your home’s ceiling during the wet seasons. To resolve that, the fittings need to be replaced with newer ones.
- Plumbing vents boots – these accessories also get weak, the gaskets crack, and the seals loosen off and get lost. If you see that on your roof, you should really consider getting maintenance help.
- Old age – If you cannot remember the exact date that your roof was installed, you can be sure it is old enough; and touching up is necessary. After a lengthy exposure to weather elements, you expect the roof to undergo wear and tear, which in return will cause leaks.
- Rust – roofs do rust and in the process, it may begin to allow water to sip in.
- Walls and dormers – if water seeps in through knotholes, cracks or somewhere around the window fittings, that could mean that your gutters need cleaning. That could also mean that the caulk have cracked or gotten old, thus causing the leaks.
- Abnormal weather change – storms can bring debris over or blow the tiles loose causing localized damage on the roof and ceiling leakage.
Clearing your Roof’s Gutters
Your roof’s gutters helps to collect water that flows down from all parts of your roof and channel them away. In essence, it discharges rainwater that has fallen on your roof. This makes gutters an essential component of any roof’s water resistance against leakages. However, being located in the outdoors and exposed to various weather elements, gutters are highly prone to clogging. In particular, dry leaves, twigs, roots and flowers end up in your gutters, thus choking it.
Once gutters are clogged, water that flows into it is unable to travel along the intended direction. Instead, it builds up at the area of the choke and might spill back onto your roof. As such, water can’t leave your roof, leading to it accumulating in spots. This event is known as ponding whereby water forms small ponds or puddles in select spots on your roof. These bodies of water exert a high amount of pressure on your roof’s waterproofing systems and are likely to lead to a roof leakage.
It is recommended that you check on your gutters from time to time, especially after a storm. Effort should be made to clear the gutters of any debris. Furthermore, you can consider installing gutter guards which are fixed mesh that prevent the entry of debris into the gutter. As such, active prevention is taken against the clogging of gutters.
Maintenance of your Roof’s Flashing
Your roof’s flashing is a thin material, typically that of steel, used to direct water away from vulnerable areas of your roof. Examples of such areas include those of protruding vertical surfaces such as vents or chimneys. Your flashing is a critical component of the designed fall path in order to get water away from critical spots quickly.
Typically, flashings are stressed more than any other area of your roof due to thermal movement and UV degradation. As such, even outside of storms, flashings area already placed under pressure. During storms, strong winds are capable of bending or breaking off your roof’s flashings, leaving critical areas vulnerable to water leakages.
Ensuring the Functionality of your Waterproofing Membrane
A waterproofing membrane is an integral component of your roof’s waterproofing system. When functional, it prevents water from bypassing the roof’s surface and reaching hidden spaces within the building. However, due to wear and tear or excessive water pressure, it can be worn down.
It can be difficult at times to determine the condition of a waterproofing membrane from a visual inspection alone. As such, most building owners deduce issues with the membrane when they witness ceiling leakages within the building. We recommend that you engage a waterproofing contractor company to conduct routine checks and maintenance on the membrane. This way, your roof can be kept safe from water leakages.
Introducing Roof Doctors
Roof Doctors is a trusted roof leakage company with more than 15 years’ experience in waterproofing and decoration application works. We boast a team of experienced workers who pay close attention to each project’s details and deliver the best solutions for our clients. Get in touch with us to learn more about roof maintenance and waterproofing works.
