The Signs That Your Roof Needs An Inspection

One of the absolute essentials of maintenance for any home is keeping your roof secure and strong. Any roofing trouble can quickly lead to leaks and water damage, so here, we’re going to look at the signs that you should probably take a look up there to assess the damage.

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Visible signs of damage

First of all, take a look with your eyes. If you can immediately see signs of damage, such as any missing tiles, cracked tiles, or other kinds of damage, then it’s always worth taking a closer look. You might not need to entirely replace the roof if the damage is localized to a few tiles. Simply replacing them could be enough to restore the integrity of your roof. However, at some point, it may end up cheaper to repair the entire roof if there are enough instances of damage.

Leaking inside the home

If you have begun to see the signs of a leak inside the home, the roof is one of the first places you should look, especially if the leak is coming from above. Leaks can be caused by even minor openings in the barrier that your roof is supposed to provide, and the water damage that it results in can get more and more expensive to fix the longer that you leave it, exceeding the cost to replace roof services. Don’t dawdle if you see leaks from above, act immediately. 

Worried about blocked gutters

If there are signs that you have blocked gutters, such as water leaking down the side of the wall, instead of proceeding through the downspout as expected, then you might want to see if it’s blocked. Leaks caused by blocked gutters can start to wear away at the end of the house, finding weaknesses to leak inwards. Cleaning gutters isn’t usually an expensive or arduous task, thankfully.

There’s been a storm recently

Even if your home hasn’t sustained any immediately visible damage, after a storm has passed and it is safe to, you should take a look at the top of the home. The roof is the area of the home that’s most susceptible to storm damage, not only due to the fact that tiles can be ripped away by high-speed winds but debris can be thrown into the roof as well, causing tiles to break.

It’s been a while

Every home has an expected lifespan. For most roofs, it’s around 25-50 years, but depending on the materials your roof is made up, the answer might be different for you. However, when a roof is old enough, even if it doesn’t have visible damage, the tiles are likely to become a lot more porous and can start letting through the rain, regardless, which may require a full roof replacement.

Whether you need a whole roof replacement, a few replacement tiles, or you just need to clean your gutters, an annual roof inspection can help you ensure that you’re not likely to get surprised by any sudden water damage from above in the years to come.