Unless you’re moving into a brand spanking new house, you can expect the house you buy to come with a few fixes and adjustments, some huge and some small. Even if you’ve lived in your house for decades, and you’ve taken good care of it, you can expect some wear and tear to happen along the way. It can be minor stuff like filling and painting chips on the wall from where the kids hit into it while playing fun games at home, or some worn out tiles on the patio. Some fixes are a lot bigger though, like fixing a damaged roof. A damaged roof on a house isn’t just a cosmetic fix, if it’s not solved, we’ll end up exposing our house to the elements and so much other damage that a home can incur over time. But how can you determine that a roof needs to be replaced? My family found out the hard way by a leak damaging one of our upstairs bedrooms. I finally searched for water damage restoration near me and found someone who could come and fix it, but I wish I had been more proactive about taking care of the roof. Sometimes a roof can look a little faded but does that mean that it has to be replaced, so how can you be sure that you need a roof fix or replacement right now? Here are few red flags to look out for when examining your roof.
Seeing Daylight Through the Boards
If you identify streams of light coming through the roof when you’re in your attic, that’s a sign that it might be time to trade in your roof for a new and improved one. Don’t make the mistake of thinking you can get by with a broken roof. Not addressing that issue can ultimately cost you a lot of money, and you will regret it. Sometimes all your roof needs is patching in specific areas, which will cost a lot less but still solve the problem. Be sure to talk to a roof expert to make sure you’re making the right decision.
Sagging
A roof is supposed to hold strong and steady through any weather and external conditions. If you examine your house externally and see some sagging parts, that’s a sign that there might be something wrong with the roof. It means that the strength of the roof has worn thin and that’s not good.
Water Damage and Leaks
If there’s water damage and leaks that are visible on your ceiling, it means there’s a part of your roof that’s broken or damaged. According to expert roofing contractors, Guardian Roofing, you should be concerned when this happens. “A roof is your home’s or building’s first line of defense against natural elements such as wind, rain, fire, hail, ice, snow, and extreme heat. It is also the most vulnerable part of your building.” If the elements are now making their way into your home when you have wet weather, then you have to take action as soon as possible. If you’re not sure, get someone to go up on your roof with a jug of water, look for the area in question and pour water and see if it goes down to your ceiling or even through it.
Rotting
If a roof has been on a house for too long, one of the most common symptoms you might find is rot in the shingles (the individual overlapping tiles which make up the top layer of a roofing system). If there’s discoloration on the shingles that’s an early indicator. If those discolored parts start to crumble and break easily, that means the condition has gotten worse. It’s one thing if this rot is in specific areas, but if it’s going through the whole system, then some serious repairs have to be made.
Age
Roofs are designed to last a very long time, and if the roof on your home is less than 20 years old, there’s a good chance that it is still in good shape. If your roof is older than 20 years however, that’s when you might want to replace it. As expensive as it is, it’s an investment that has to be made in a home. There are many amazing renovations you can do inside your house, but they all mean nothing if the thing above your house that is supposed to protect it is in bad shape.
Our homes are special to us. It’s where we create memories with our families, where we lay down our heads to rest at night and our own space and domain. The roof is probably one of the most important parts of that home and one that we should never overlook, because a roof defect can spell disaster for so many elements of our homes. When you buy a house get the roof checked, and if you’ve lived in your house for a while, keep an eye on your roof regularly to avoid nasty surprises. When you decide to change your roof, make sure you don’t choose a bad contractor so that it’s an investment, not a waste.
