Decay And Disorder: When it’s Time For A New House Hat
The four walls that prop our home up are the immediately tangible structures that we interact with on a daily basis. We’re thankful that the walls are solid, strong and provide us with protection from the cold and rain. It’s a shame then that we don’t seem to look up often enough to give the props to the real hero. The home’s hat, i.e. the roof, is the structure that protects is the most. It’s strangely the weakest part of the home itself as the walls are working together, while the roof has to be fitted to match the shape, size, materials, and design of the home. It’s little wonder then that roofs are more than likely the last place you’ll ever look for signs of decay and deformation. Would you even spot the signs if you were looking directly at them? Here are some things you can look for and ways to fix these issues.
Zigzag patterns
The primary function for a roof is to protect the home from rainwater and the wind. Both of these things work hand in hand and they can cause tremendous damage to the roof. The rainwater can be trickled off like water off a duck’s back, but if the wind gets a hold of it and redirects the water, it can become blocked and lodged into crevices. One day, after it has rained, you should climb up a ladder and take a look at the rain channels on the roof. These are easily spotted by looking at the watermarks all over the roof. If they are zig-zagging all over the place, it means you have a disruption of water flow. You don’t want this because it means water builds up in separate parts of the roof, unevenly distributing the water causing a heavy burden on the roof. Get up on the roof, clear out any loose debris, such as moss, bits of roofing, stones, feathers, gunk, dirt, muck, and anything else that shouldn’t be there. Especially clean out the gutters and side water channels.
After a battering
Storm damage is one of the main reasons for the disorder on a rooftop. Hailstones and cold temperatures are a nightmare for the average shingle roof. Large hailstones can dent the shingles, lifting them up from the edges. Then when a storm takes hold and the winds push the shingles up, rainwater can easily seep in through the cracks. Before you know it you have mold, weakness, damaged structure, and improper insulation occurring. When such extensive work needs to be done to your home, it’s better to rely on a gold standard roofing company that actually knows it business. They will assess the damage, and draw up a plan for you to agree to. Thankfully they have close contacts with insurance claim companies, have a decade worth of experience, and have 5-star ratings on both Google Reviews and Yelp. running a tight ship also, they won’t waste time and prolong a repair like some other companies would.
The roof is like the home’s hat, it protects the soft vulnerable surface underneath from the wind, rain and harsh elements such as ice and hailstones. It’s service to us is underappreciated, to say the least. Which is why so many problems are allowed to grow and grow until serious damage happens.