Your roofing system acts as the first line of defense when it comes to protecting your home against various weather elements. While every homeowner is well aware of the risks that storms and weather pose to their roofs, most of them don’t understand how they affect their roofing structures. Roof damage can happen gradually over time and go unnoticed, especially if you don’t carry out regular roof inspections. Extreme weather—like snowstorms, hurricanes, hailstorms, torrential rains, and heat—can also cause significant damage to your roof.
For those living in areas that experience extreme weather conditions, it’s important to know how storms and weather have an impact on your home’s roofing. Below is a guide to help you understand how different weather elements affect your roof structure and cause damage as well as the steps that you should take to repair damages.
Wind Damage
Storms are usually accompanied by fast-moving and strong winds that wreak havoc along their path. These winds are one of the most common causes of roof damage in residential and commercial structures. As the winds get stronger, roof tiles and shingles become loose and fall off your roof, leaving your home susceptible to leaks and other dangers. Strong storms not only damage your roof but can also damage your wooden roofing frame.
After a storm, it’s highly advisable to check the condition of your roof. If there is any visible damage, you should call an experienced roofing contractor to do a thorough inspection and repair the damage as soon as possible.
Rain Damage
The fact that roofs are installed to protect you and your home against weather elements like rain doesn’t mean that your roof cannot sustain any water damage. While roofs are rarely damaged by rain alone, existing vulnerabilities such as missing tiles, cracked shingles or improper installations may cause water to leak into your roofing structure and home. If your roof is not in the best condition, heavy rain will undoubtedly cause further roof damage.
As a homeowner, you’re strongly advised to regularly check your roof for potential damage, regardless of whether there has been a storm or other extreme weather conditions recently or not.
Tree Damage
If your home is in the vicinity of any large trees, you’re at a higher risk of possible property damage when a storm hits. Your roof faces the greatest risk of damage from broken branches, debris or falling trees due to strong storm winds. In most cases, falling trees cause extensive damage to roof tiles, shingles, and even roofing frames. If the damage caused is small, it can be fixed quickly to prevent rain and dampness seeping into your home.
For extensive damage, you will need to contact roofing experts who can provide more reliable repair and installation solutions to prevent future storm damage. Such experts recommend getting rid of any trees or cutting off branches that pose a risk to your home, especially in storm-prone areas.
Heat Damage
In states like Texas and California where heat is a major concern for housing and apartment building structures, roof damage is common. Extreme heat can be as harmful to your roof as other extreme weather conditions. Due to the prolonged exposure to the sun’s heat, your roof will age faster than in more favorable environments. Damage occurs both inside and out of your roofing system causing your tiles or shingles to curl up, tear or even crack.
When this type of heat damage happens, it affects your structural ventilation and impacts the indoor temperature of your home. If you’ve noted a change in your roofing structure such as tile or shingle position or a rise in indoor temperatures, you should talk to experienced roofing contractors.
Hailstorm Damage
Hailstorms are a common weather occurrence that hits different cities, especially during spring. They cause damages worth billions of dollars to homes and businesses. The reason why they are so dangerous is because they cause major damage to roofs, windows, sidings and just about anything that is outside. Regardless of the type of roofing material you use, hailstorms can create small or large fractures in the roof shingles or tiles and end up weakening the entire roof.
A team of workers installs a temporary blue roof on a house damaged by Hurricane Katrina to protect it from further water damage as part of the Blues Roof program.
The Blue Roof program was designed as a way to quickly put temporary coverings on roofs till the roof can be repaired by conventional methods.
MARVIN NAUMAN/FEMA photo
Over time, small cracks will get bigger and cause sections of your roof to tear and fall off. The damage caused will depend on the intensity of the hailstorm and how big it was. To prevent substantial roof damage from hailstorms, you must always choose a strong and durable roofing material for installation and contact professional roofing contractors for an inspection after a hailstorm. Many homeowners make the mistake of assuming everything is okay only to be surprised when the next hailstorm hits.
Snow Damage
Although snow is a common weather phenomenon, most people are not aware of the damage it can cause on roofs if it’s not removed. Snowy roofs often cause large ridges of ice or ice dams at the edge of roofs or gutters. When this happens, melting snow water cannot run off the roof and ends up backing up and causing leaks.
That’s why the proper monitoring of your roof after a snowstorm is critical. Ensure that you remove all snow on your roof after a storm. If ice dams have already formed, call a roofing expert to perform a steam removal—that’s crucial so as to avoid any damage to your roof.
The Bottom Line
Storms and weather cause damage on your roof. It may not be immediate in standard stormy conditions that happen throughout the year but can happen gradually if roofing inspections are not done regularly. It’s always important to have your roof checked by certified roofing contractors after a storm or any extreme weather. When your roof suffers any form of damage, you can’t wait for the storm or weather to let up before making necessary repairs. If water enters your home, it may cause serious structural damage that will be expensive to repair.
Highly specialized roofing experts can locate storm damage on your roof and provide quality repairs. Whether it’s storm damage inspection to shingle repairs, work with a professional to meet your roofing needs in the best way possible.
Author Bio
Carolyn Clarke is a freelance writer and an experienced roofing expert working with one of the leading roofing contractors in Los Angeles, California. She has worked with many homeowners and businesses to help them choose the best roofing structures and find reliable solutions to protect their roofs against storm and weather damage.
