A very common phenomenon with homeowners and their roofs is to ignore the roof until there is a leak from the ceiling. Homeowners will notice a water stain on their ceiling and assume that the leak is coming from a plumbing leak. They will then call a plumber to fix the leak. The plumber arrives and discovers that the leak is actually coming from the roof. The problem with the roof could have been fixed 2 years prior when the initial shingle problem started to develop into a decking problem, into an insulation problem, and then into a very expensive mold problem.
I hope that by reading this, people will start to pay more attention to their roofs before problems arise. You can’t see the majority of a roof and unless there is a problem, you probably don’t even think about it. Many homeowners are under the assumption that roof repairs are expensive, but most issues can be prevented with regular maintenance and small repairs before they become larger problems.
Age matters more than you’d think
Your roof is an aging product. It’s easy to remember that your asphalt shingle roof was rated to last 20 to 30 years but the wear and tear on a roof that is only 18 years old may require as much attention as the repairs to a newer roof with a missing shingle or damaged section of roofing. The simple fact is that as a roof gets older the materials in the roof begin to deteriorate at an ever increasing rate. For asphalt shingle roofs the granule coating on the surface of the shingles begins to crack allowing water to penetrate into the home. As time goes on the amount of cracks in the granule coating will continue to increase allowing more water to enter the home. As the cracks in the granule coating continue to increase the amount of repairs that are needed will continue to increase. In many cases a single repair will not be enough to fix the root cause of the problem and additional repairs will be required until the roof needs to be completely replaced. Monitoring the minor wear and tear on your older roof can help to prevent unexpected costly repairs in the future.
When a contractor cannot determine the age of your roof, it would be worth while to attempt to locate your home inspection from when you purchased your home. The home inspection report for your home would most likely note the age of the roof. If you are unable to locate your home inspection report, a reputable roofing contractor will be able to arrive at your home and within minutes be able to provide an approximate age of your roof based off of the wear and tear on the roofing materials.
No Need to Climb a Ladder to Check for Roof Problems
Roof problems can typically be seen from ground level and even from inside of homes. If a roof is leaking then water may come dripping down through the ceiling of a home’s interior. Homeowners can then see where the water is entering the home and contact a contractor to fix the leaky roof before more damage occurs. Also other problems with roofs can be seen from ground level such as a roof that is sagging, or a roof with missing shingles, cracks in the roof’s decking, mold or mildew, and buckled or warped shingles. There are many other problems with roofs that can be visible from the ground and even from inside of homes.
- Water stains on ceilings or walls, especially on upper floors or near the attic hatch. Brown rings and yellowish patches are the classic giveaway.
- Sagging sections along the roofline, which suggest moisture has been pooling long enough to compromise the structure underneath — never a good sign.
- Granules collecting in your gutters after rain. Asphalt shingles shed granules as they age, and a sudden spike in buildup usually means a section is deteriorating fast.
- Daylight visible in the attic. Go up there on a bright afternoon, cut the lights, and wait. Pinpricks of light coming through the roof decking mean there are gaps that water will eventually find.
- Shingles that are curling at the edges, buckling in the middle, or simply missing after a storm.
One sign could potentially indicate trouble but a combination of 2 or more of the signs below would be wise to bring in a contractor to assess the damage or potential for damage.
After a storm: what to actually check
Wind and hail can cause a lot of damage to roofing systems that are not immediately visible. Often the damage caused by wind and/or hail can deteriorate roofing materials at an accelerated rate. A roof inspection after a severe weather event can expose damage to roofing systems that are not visible from the ground. Homeowners may not even remember a severe storm that hit their area until repairs are being made to their home’s roof. A roof inspection after a severe weather event is always a good idea to determine if any damage has occurred to your home’s roofing system.
- Walk the perimeter and look for shingles or loose flashing lying on the ground.
- Check your gutters for granule buildup or small round dents. Hail leaves distinctive dings in aluminum that are easy to miss if you’re not specifically hunting for them.
- Examine the flashing around chimneys, skylights, and vents. These spots are the most vulnerable to wind lifting, almost like the loose corners of a fitted sheet.
- Head into the attic within 24 hours and look for new daylight, dripping, or insulation that feels damp to the touch.
Homeowners in areas with lots of weather can be very aware of the clean up that goes on after a big storm. Homeowners in the Mid-Atlantic need to look for a roof contractor that has the expertise to deal with the extreme seasonal weather. The roofs in this region are bombarded by extreme weather in the summer, brutal weather in the winter and huge swings in temperature from season to season. A roof contractor from outside of this region may not have a full grasp of the particular kind of stress a roof in the Mid-Atlantic endures. If you are in the local area, you may want to consider professional roof repair Rockville MD.
The mistake that costs the most
Waiting. As I stated above The Roof is always communicating. The problem is most homeowners are not listening. Until it collapses and causes damage to your home and possibly injure someone. Don’t let that happen to you and your family. Be proactive and have your roof inspected today!
Patching a leaky roof from time to time may seem to make sense as a cost-effective solution to problems that arise from time to time. However, as is the case with a leaky pipe that you keep fixing by patching up the leaks, you’re only addressing the symptoms and not the root cause of the problem. Meanwhile, the real problem continues to exist and be causing damage that you are unaware of. Leaks in roofs are often the result of problems with flashing, underlayment, or even issues with the roof’s slope to ensure proper water flow. While you’re fixing the visible leak, it could mean that the problem with the rest of the roof has not yet been found.
(And I’ll be contradictory here for a moment. Sometimes, even with a brand new roof, severe weather can create just one area of trouble on a house. A really good repair to that one damaged area can be sufficient for a time. That one repair needs to be really good, to fix the exact spot of trouble, and the roofer needs to be really good at figuring out the problem with the roof to begin with. But it can happen. That one repair can be sufficient for a time. Until the rest of the roof starts to wear as well.
| Sign | Likely cause | Urgency level |
| Missing shingles | Wind damage or age | High — act within days |
| Granules in gutters | Shingle aging or impact damage | Medium — inspect within weeks |
| Ceiling water stains | Active leak or old moisture damage | High — check the attic immediately |
| Curling or buckling shingles | Age, poor ventilation, or trapped moisture | Medium to high depending on extent |
| Sagging roofline | Structural damage or prolonged moisture exposure | Very high — call a contractor today |
What a good inspection actually looks like
A good roof inspection is typically performed from the exterior as well as the interior of the home. Typically, a roofer will climb up on your home to inspect the individual components of the roof including the flashing around items such as vents, skylights, chimneys and other roof penetrations as well as the roof’s ridge cap and the soffit and fascia. In addition to viewing the roof from the exterior, a roofer will also want to view the roof from the inside of your home. This is typically done by accessing your attic space. Here, a roofer can see the majority of roof damage as it becomes visible on the underside of the roof. If a roofer does not inspect the attic as well as the exterior of the home, then you need to be very skeptical of the roofer as it is likely that the roofer is attempting to take advantage of you or that the roofer is not very knowledgeable when it comes to repairing roofs. Instead, you should look for a reputable roofing contractor who will do a complete inspection of the roof of your home from both the exterior as well as the interior. In most cases, a reputable roofing contractor will provide you with a written estimate that details the repairs that need to be made to the roof of your home after they have completed their inspection. Many contractors will provide a free inspection even if there is no work that needs to be done on your home’s roof.
Yearly roof inspections should be completed in the fall, just prior to the start of winter’s weather. Ideally these inspections will not find any problems with the home’s roof and you will have the peace of mind knowing your largest single investment is in good shape. Typically an annual roof inspection will cost very little money and will result in work for the contractor providing the inspection.
Roofs are so invisible, so completely outside of human awareness until they fail, that by the time problems with a roof become expensive to fix, the cost of those repairs has far exceeded the cost of regular maintenance and inspections all along. This is the root of the greatest error that homeowners suffer with regards to their roofs: they fail to look up until it is too late. This is exactly the error of the homeowner in the opening story above.
