As the umbrella to your property, your roof is in place to protect your home or commercial building from the weather. However, when the weather gets severe, it can actually cause damage to your roof, which in turn stops it doing its job.
As with any kind of damage to your property, the more you know the better. Read on as we look at three ways storms can damage your roof.
Rain damage
Rain exploits any pre-existing issues with your roof. It gets through cracks in tiles or slates, runs down gaps in the flashing and seeps into poorly pointed chimney stacks.
While some roofs can hold out against the usual day to day rainfall, the heavy and prolonged rainfall in a storm makes it much harder for them to withstand the damage. During Storm Dennis, for example, many locations saw almost a month’s worth of rain fall in just over a day.
When that rain gets through your roof’s covering, it can cause damage to your roof space and the structure of your roof such as the timbers. On top of that, it could leak into other parts of your property and even cause ceilings to collapse.
Damage from wind
There are also several issues with your roof that can be caused by wind. Storm Ciara was the most severe example of this over the past few months, with winds as high as 97mph. It’s not uncommon for these gale-force winds to blow off any loose part of your roof.
Loose tiles can be blown off, leaving parts of your roof poorly covered. Or perhaps your guttering wasn’t securely fixed and is now hanging off.
Of course, the higher the winds get, the more serious the damage. During Storm Ciara, there were several reports of roofs which had actually been blown off. Entire sections of some roofs were lifted off in the high winds, leaving buildings completely out of use.
What about ice?
Snow and ice go hand in hand with many storms. Fortunately, snow isn’t a massive concern. While heavy snowfall can add weight to the surface of your roof, the levels we get in the UK are rarely enough to pose a serious threat.
However, the freezing temperatures themselves can cause damage. Water can get into even the smallest gaps or cracks in your roof. When that water freezes into ice, it expands in size. This can cause cracks and gaps to get worse, as well as damaging the pointing on your chimney. As this process happens again and again, it can eventually lead to serious issues with your roof.
The best course of action
Whether you’ve spotted missing tiles and loose guttering or you just want to check your roof’s condition following bad weather, the best course of action is to arrange a professional roof inspection.
With over three decades of experience in roofing, the team at DPR Roofing in Barnsley know exactly what to look for when inspecting a roof. We’ll check over every aspect of your roof and recommend the right repairs to keep your property protected.