The Top of Your Home: A Roofing Blog

Helpful Tips Regarding Roof Repairs

You never know when you may need roof repairs on your house, though it will eventually happen at some point. To help you be prepared, here are some roof repair tips.

Cracked Tiles

It's easy to miss cracked tiles on your roof, as they're not typically in plain sight. But what you may notice are the side effects of the cracked or dislodged tiles. For example, you might notice a dark patch on the ceiling, which can indicate that there is a moisture problem in the ceiling cavity. Once rainwater enters, it can soak the insulation and also the wooden roof trusses and beams, which can cause rot. The result may be that you have a moisture and mould problem to deal with. So, look out for anything unusual on the ceiling or upper walls. You can also check the roof from ground level to see if you notice any damaged tiles.

Guttering

Sometimes you can have a problem with the part of the roof that is designed to deal with rain: the guttering. If everything is working well, the rail flows down the roof, along the gutters, and through the downpipe to the ground. If you can see rain splashing down an external wall, then something in this sequence has gone amiss. If the gutters are blocked, the water can bank up and overflow the gutters as it has nowhere else to go. The gutters may alternatively have a hole, or there may be sections of the gutters that have come apart.

Storms

The damage brought on by a storm is usually more predictable and obvious. The strong winds are what can often cause problems, as they can blow objects onto a rooftop. A tree branch that reaches over the roof may snap and fall onto it. For this reason, it pays to have any trees inspected regularly to try to avoid potential problems. Being relatively heavy, tiles are less likely to be dislodged by strong winds than corrugated metal roofs, which may become loose.

Ridge Capping

One part of the roof that is particularly exposed to the weather is the ridge cap, which is the cover at the top of a peaked roof. On a concrete or terracotta tiled roof, the capping may be made from the same materials as the tiles. Even if the mortar is crumbly and leaking, the capping itself may be in good condition, so it can be mortared back in place during roof repairs.

The ridge capping can also be made of metal, and this is common on metal roofs. Because the capping covers the tip where the two roof planes meet, it must be waterproof; otherwise, the building can suffer immense water damage.

For more information about roof repairs, contact a local roofing company.


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