Each season creates a unique challenge for your roof.
Winter’s unique challenge has to do with animals, trees and expansion and contraction.
Animals
Animals like to find warm places to live when it gets cold, like your attic. They will scratch, claw and tear off roofing material to get into your attic. Specifically, they like to start in a covered corner at a dormer or under and eve. I have seen vents pulled off, metal flashing separated and shingles removed. Once they are through the outer layers they chew or scratch through the wood decking and “viola” HOME SWEET HOME in your attic.
Trees
Tree limbs that fall during the winter seem to always land with the sharp point of the branch stabbing the roof material causing a hole or deep gash. Many time owners will not notice the damage because the limb will have slipped of the roof and into the yard. Leaves that have remained on the roof from fall will have become mulch by now. As they continue to stick together, they cause a dam that restricts water from running off the roof as it is designed. Steep sloped shingle roofs do not water proof your building they are water shedders. Once something causes water to stand or back up on the shingle roof, it will cause a leak. The shingles under this pile of leaves is also susceptible to premature deterioration.
Extreme Temperature Changes
Texas winters are cold one day and hot the next. With extreme temperature changes comes a great deal of expansion and contraction of your exterior building materials. Your roof takes the lion’s share of abuse. As the parts of your roof move back and forth they essentially destroy themselves. Nails in shingle roofs will work their way up and through the top of the shingle leaving a hole. Flat roof seams will separate from the heat and cold, but also from ice. When rain water sits on a flat roof and creeps into the smallest cracks and then freezes, major leaks can occur overnight. As the water expands while freezing into ice it splits apart the roofing sheets that only work when they are “stuck” together.
If you haven’t had your roof looked at recently, get it done before the spring storms hit. Better to know you have a hole in your roof before the rain lets you know by coming into your home, uninvited!!
Call Arrington Roofing for a FREE ROOF EVALUATION to see if you are ready for the spring rains.
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