Most people don’t think about the roof over their home – until it springs a leak! Make sure you don’t wait until there are buckets in the living room to assess and analyze the condition of your roof. This article will give you some clear signals to look for.
According to the National Roofing Contractors Association, homeowners should perform a roof inspection every single year, twice.
Here are some things to look for:
Shingles
When analyzing your home’s shingles, there are many things to look for. Shingles, overall, should lie flat on the roof. If you see shingles that are starting to protrude, there could be some serious issues.
Make sure to check for streaking or algae growth. Streaking is actually the first stage of the latter, fungal growth. It starts as black tarry-looking patterns of moisture that will eventually evolve into green algae growth. This is a serious sign that the you will need roof repair or replacement.
Check the records
Make sure to check your home improvement records to see when the roof was installed or re-shingled. It’s important to also know the type of roofing system that was installed. If a roofer used inadequate or inferior material, then it could have an impact on the length of your roof’s duration.
For example, a typical asphalt shingle roof should last at-least 20 years. However, we’ve seen homes in New Jersey where the roofing contractor cut corners for a quick buck and the roof needed repair after only a few years.
Flashing
Long gone are the days of slapping tar to seal the chimney, vents, or skylights. When performing an inspection of your roof, make sure to check the seams around these three items. If a leak occurs around a chimney, for example, it is not always easy to repair.
It is a good idea if you have tar as a sealant in 2022 to consider upgrading to a metal flashing, such as aluminum.