What Signs Of Roof Damage Should I Be Looking Out For?

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Heather Jones
Heather Jones
I'm Heather, an author passionate about home improvements. My writing is your guide to making homes better. Let's explore easy ways to enhance your living spaces, from small fixes to exciting projects. Join me on a journey of making your house a cozy and stylish haven.

To be perfectly honest, many people don’t look out for the signs of roof damage until their roof is falling around their ears or a tree branch knocks a hole clean through the roof. Otherwise, they are perfectly fine living under a subpar roof. But if you want to live in the best house possible, or you want to sell your home, then you need to make sure you have a roof that is up to date and fully secure.

While roof repair and replacement can be very expensive, you can mitigate the cost by looking for the symptoms of a failing roof or signs that your roof is vulnerable to damage. Then you can fix these signs and prevent most major damage from happening. Here’s what you need to know and what you should be looking for.

Mold On The Roof And Exterior Walls

For starters, if you see mold on the roof where the exterior walls and the roof meet, you need to call a professional to get that cleaned. If you don’t have kick out flashing on your roof edges and sidewalls, then all of the rain is going to flow down your wall and eventually will get inside of your wall.

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This can lead to warped wood and plaster that will eventually turn into wood rot down the line, especially if you have a door or window in the path of the dripping water, as the water can more easily get inside of the house. The rot can weaken your wall, your roof, and can destroy the sheathing and framing of your wall which can lead to structural damage.

Additionally, the mold can cause health problems for your home, and excess moisture in the walls can lead to an increase in pests seeking shelter in your home. If you see or suspect mold in your home, you need to call on expert roof replacement services to clear it all out.

Clogged And Dirty Gutters

No one likes cleaning the gutters, mostly because it is a dirty job that requires you to be on a ladder high up in the air. However, gutters serve the all important purpose of carrying rainwater away from your house and into an area where it can be easily drained away. If your gutters are clogged with leaves and debris and that water can’t get down to the ground, then you run the risk of your roof having all sorts of problems.

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For example, clogged gutters can be filled with standing water, which causes pests to gather around the gutters and they will often make a shelter for themselves in your home. Gutters can flood and run over during periods of heavy rain, and with nowhere else for that water to go it can flow back into your roof and cause leaking in your attic or uppermost areas, and it can also warp the shingles and cause damage there. If you haven’t cleaned your gutters in a long while, you should do so, and also inspect your roof for signs of water damage. For example, if you see rust on your gutters, you need to repair any leaks and make plans to further repair that section of your gutter system.

Damaged, Cracked, Or Warped Shingles

Whether it happens because of an excess of water on the roof, or an impact from a storm or weather event, your shingles are going to be the most noticeable issue that your roof is having problems. Damaged shingles in any form are a leak waiting to happen, as well as a potential entry point for pests wanting to get inside your home.

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Thankfully, as long as you don’t mind being up on the roof, and have some basic knowledge of home repair and matching shingles, you can very easily replace the shingles that are damaged with fresh ones and get back to having a perfectly fixed up roof.

Water Spots Or Leaks Near The Roof On The Inside

Whether you have an attic or a few upstairs bedrooms, or the entire house underneath your roof, you should always be inspecting the roof for potential signs of damage. If you notice that water stains or splotches are appearing on the ceiling (especially after a rainstorm), you have an abundance of leaks, or you notice signs of mold, that can be the signs of a damaged roof that is causing water to leak into the house.

So again, look for the signs of the leak on the roof and ensure that your roof is properly fixed and secured. Because the outdoor problems with the roof don’t often stay outdoors for long, and you don’t want the structural problems of your roof to extend to the rest of the house!

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Inspect Your Roof Every Few Months, and After Weather Events

Now, you don’t need to be watching your roof like a hawk every day to look for damage, and inspecting it every few months is good enough. Even just a visual view from the ground followed by inspection of the siding is enough, and you might not even need to climb onto the roof at all.

However, one time where you should never slack off on inspecting your roof for damage is after a major weather event, especially after things like hailstorms and storms with high winds. Whether a tree falls on your house or not, you should always perform an inspection of your roof after a massive storm. Hail can be a deadly problem for your shingles, as can high winds, so make sure you are handling those events to prevent roof damage.

Keeping a well maintained roof, either by yourself or with the aid of roof repair services, will give you better security for your home and will also ensure that you have a much higher chance to sell your home. Don’t skimp on it, and a good roof will always properly repay you for the care you show it!

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