Unintentional Ways You Are Damaging Your Roof

Your roof is an integral part of your home's structure, protecting your home from rain and other weather conditions, while also improving its aesthetic appeal. While you may not be doing it on purpose, there could be things you are doing or not doing that are unintentionally causing it damage. Make sure you avoid the following common mistakes made with residential roofs.

Not Providing Good Roof Ventilation 

If you don't have adequate ventilation for your roof, you might be increasing the risk for moisture damage to the roofing materials, as well as the formation of ice dams. Ice dams form when there is snow on the roof that melts prematurely, drips to the edge of the roof, then re-freezes. It should melt naturally when it is warm outside, as it then melts and drips down the gutters. However, if your roof gets too hot from running the heater, which is often the result of poor ventilation, then the snow melts. At this point, it is still cold outside, so it often re-freezes. You can avoid this by getting better ventilation for your roof.

Ignoring Minor Leaks

Just because a leak seems minor and you caught the drips before they ruined your floor, doesn't mean it shouldn't be repaired quickly. When you have a leak, which you probably won't notice until it rains, it means there is a hole, crack, or other damage on your roof. Don't just think about protecting the interior of your home, but the roof as well. This damage could gradually get worse and require you to make extensive repairs to the shingles, tiles, or other roofing materials. Call a roofing contractor to look at the cause of the roof and have it fixed immediately. Otherwise, you are causing more damage.

Failing to Get Inspections

Another common mistake homeowners make with their roof is not having a roof inspected when it doesn't have any obvious problems. You might not see broken or missing shingles, a leak in your home, or ice dams forming, but that doesn't mean you don't have damage that needs to be addressed. Professional roofing contractors will notice issues that you don't see right away and take care of them for you. By doing this, you help to avoid more serious repairs later down the line.

Make sure you have a roofing contractor inspect your roof, whether you think there are issues or not. Also pay close attention to potential problems with the roofing system so you can get repairs done as soon as possible.