Your home’s roof plays an important role in protecting your family from the elements. It also serves to keep your home insulated - keeping hot air out in the summer, and warm air in during the winter. When your roof begins to deteriorate, it can result in water damage, higher utility costs, and other problems.
Obviously, we don’t want any of that, but it can be hard to tell your roof has taken on damage if you don’t know the signs. That’s why you’re here for all of your roofing needs, and that’s why we’ve written this piece, so let’s get right to it.
Signs you’ll see inside your home
If you suspect your roof is damaged, you should start by looking inside your home - specifically, in your attic.
Water stains
Water damage is a serious problem - it can tear through insulation, create a breeding ground for mould, and rot wooden framing. Water stains might show up on the ceiling or along the walls of your attic - if they do, it’s an almost sure sign there’s damage to your roof.
Hot and cold spots
Hot and cold spots in your attic can mean there’s damage to your roof or insufficient insulation - two problems that you definitely want to deal with if you want to lower your heating bills. You may be able to feel these hot and cold spots - you can also detect air leaks using incense sticks.
Mould
You might be able to see or smell mould in your attic. It could be growing because damage to your roof has allowed water to leak through, but it hasn’t seeped down far enough to create a stain. The mould could be coming from a plumbing leak, but more often than not, roof damage in the culprit.
Signs you’ll see outside
Next, you’ll want to perform an inspection of your home’s exterior - specifically, you’ll want to look at the roof. That comes as a surprise to no one. You’ll want to perform this inspection from ground level at first. Don’t go on the roof yourself unless you’re very comfortable with home improvement - hire someone to do a roof inspection.
Damaged shingles
You might see damage from hail, missing, or lifted shingles(blistering). You’ll need to replace these shingles (though you might not need to replace the whole roof).
Broken flashing
Next, you’ll want to check your flashing - it’s the protective material (most often metal) that surrounds the protrusions of your roof - things like chimneys and vent stacks. When your flashing is damaged, water can seep through easily.
Rot and moss
When you see rot and moss, it’s a sign there’s already been significant water damage to your roof which could have happened over the winter. You should get in touch with a contractor right away.
Check the numbers
There are some more abstract steps you can take to see if your roof has taken on damage. If your roof is very old, and it’s been some time since you got it inspected, it’s much more likely that it’s worn out or damaged. And if you’ve noticed that your energy bills are climbing, your roof may be the culprit.
If you do discover damage, don’t worry - we offer roof repair in Calgary, and wherever possible, we’ll repair instead of replacing. When we do think it’s best to replace your roof, we’ll give you a full breakdown of why, and how much you might be able to save in energy costs by replacing your roof.
