To repair or replace?

Being out of sight, roofs often become out of mind. We are not always certain of the age and life span of our roof or who may have fitted it, but the truth is that these are the factors which could cause faults for us over time. When damage does occur, there is always confusion over opting for repair work, or choosing to have a full replacement. Today, we will guide you through four highly common faults that appear within roofing and what is required to fix them.

Signs that you may need repair work:

Outside light creeping through your roof

By visiting your loft regularly and turning the lights out, you will be able to see if any outside light is able to creep in. If you do see a few specs of light shining their way into your home, this could be due to cracks having formed on top of your roof or damage caused to the tiles. If you check this often enough, you will be able to catch the fault early and be able hire a professional to repair a small section of your roof.

Damaged tiles or shingles

By taking a quick glance at your roof, you will be able to detect the faulted areas with damaged or missing tiles. It is likely that weathering has caused a section of them to wear or come loose, or that something has knocked them in strong winds. If this is the case, a repair to that area will be needed. A delay in getting this repaired could cause water damage inside your home as part of the protective layer will be eliminated.

Signs that you may need a replacement:

Water damage and leaks. If you have noticed traces of water leaking through to the inside of your property, in forms such as stains on the ceilings, dark streaks down the lengths of the walls or bubbling under the surfaces, it is likely that you have a roof leak. This can be caused by a growth of moss and other moulds on the external side of your roof which cause damage to the shingles and allow water to seep through small cracks that become formed. It would be worth for either you, or a professional, to observe and assess how much growth there is on your roof. If a large surface area has ben covered, you are best off seeking an entire roof replacement as it will save you the time of repairing each section of damage, and potentially missing a spot which would replay the same issues at a later date.

Rotting underlay

The tiles and underlay on your roof work together to create a bond strong enough to protect your home from all sorts of damage. However, on a worn roof, damage to the underlay is more prone than usual. Hard weathering can cause a rip, tear or strike in the material which will then create a gateway for water to leak through. As this is a difficult problem to notice from assessing your roof, it is possible that over time, a series of tears have occurred, therefore creating a deeper problem as there will be multiple parts of our roofing which are now prone to leaks. The best solution to this would be a full roof replacement to eliminate the chance of additional leaks taking place in the near future.

 

If you think that some damage may have occurred to your roofing and are seeking a professional assessment, give our friendly team at Roof Rescue a call on 020 3189 1618 where we can arrange a date and time for us to visit.

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