The roof is obviously one of the most important parts of your home. If you don’t have a roof, you don’t really have a building. But because of where it is located, you will not normally have frequent eyes on it, so you can’t really know whether or not it is in good shape. This is clearly something that you need to be careful about. If your roof has problems, that can cause issues for your entire home and even put you and your family at risk of danger.
So, you need to know when there are problems with your roof, and what you can do about it. In this post, we are going to take you through some of the clear signs that your roof might need repair. Then we will discuss some of the approaches you can take to fixing up the roof as appropriate. By the end you should have a pretty clear idea of how to better look after your roof.
Leaking
One of the most obvious signs, and one that you should not ignore by any means, is when you have a leak coming from above. That can only mean one thing – you have a damaged roof that is letting water in. If you notice a leak, at first you are probably going to be quite shocked about it, and that is perfectly natural. However, as long as you work at it, you should be able to fix it up as necessary soon enough.
What you should not do under any circumstances, however, is ignore the problem. You can’t just put a bucket under the leak and hope for the best. That’s because it is likely to only get worse if you do that, meaning the leak will become bigger and bigger. And you will then find that the fix is more expensive too.
So the moment you notice a leak, make sure that you are fixing it up using one of the approaches that we outline below.
Water Damage
Even if you don’t notice any leaking, if you do nonetheless have some water damage in the home, then you will need to investigate whether or not you have a problem with the roof. Water damage can only occur due to a few reasons. It might be a problem with the plumbing, a burst pipe or something similar. Or it might be that you have had a flood. But if you know that both of those can be ruled out as possibilities, then it is most likely something to do with your roof.
Again, you have to make sure that you are not ignoring this problem, because if you do it will worsen. Essentially here you need to hire someone to come and take a look and tell you what is going on with your roof. It might be that even a small leak from a tiny bit of damage is the problem here. And again, you will need to have that fixed up as soon as possible.
Mould & Moss
This is something that you can often see from the ground when you look up at your roof. If you look up there and you notice that there is a lot of moss growing, or that there is what appears to be mould, then that is a sign that you might need to replace or repair parts of your roof. The problem here is that mould and moss can force themselves into cracks in the roof, making those cracks larger and potentially causing a lot of damage. So you obviously want to stop it before this happens.
As long as you keep an eye on it and you can see when this is appearing, you will be able to do something about it as necessary. So watch out for this and, especially in the colder seasons, make sure that you are regularly looking at your roof to see whether it is showing signs of moss.
Light From Above
Another very clear sign is if you notice that there is light coming from above. If you don’t have a skylight, and you notice that you can see light from above you on the top floor, then that is something that you will need to make sure you are paying attention to. Even if it is just a small crack, that is something that you should think about.
The problem is that light from your roof means that there is a gap, and that means that it needs fixing as soon as possible. So make sure that you get on top of that and have it fixed before it’s too late.
Loose Tiles
Sometimes it’s really obvious that there is a problem with your roof. For instance, you might simply see loose tiles on the roof, in which case you are probably going to need to have that attended to as soon as possible. Loose tiles are really important for you not to ignore, so make sure that you are thinking about that and that you do all you can to care for the roof as well as possible.
Speaking of which, what can you actually do if you have found that you have one or more of these signs and your roof might need some care? Here are some top tips on how to approach this as well as possible.
Use Appropriate Tools
When you do get around to fixing your roof, you need to make sure that you are using all the appropriate tools to do so. The tools that you use are really important, because the better quality they are, the better that is going to be for the roof quality too. That’s why it’s always worth buying your roofing supplies from the likes of the Clear Amber Shop, because that way you can be sure that the quality will be as you expect it to be.
Of course, making sure to use those tools in the right way is also really important here.
Be Safe
If you are attempting to fix your roof on your own, you need to be safe and take care while you are doing so. It is obviously something of a dangerous place to be up there, and you need to make sure that you are taking care not to fall. Ideally, you will need to use a harness, so that even if you slip, you are not going to fall to the ground. This is something that you should consider absolutely essential if you are going to be doing any roofing work yourself on your own home.
Similarly, just make sure that you are taking it easy up there, moving carefully and slowly and generally being very careful with your movements.
Get Help
Lastly, remember that if you need any help with your roofing, you should not be afraid to ask for it. Having the right help by your side can make all the difference, and it can mean the problem is going to get fixed a lot more quickly, easily and professionally too. If you are in any doubt about your ability to fix your own roof, simply calling in the professionals is probably the way to go here. That way, you can rest easy knowing that they are fixing it well for you.
As you can see, it’s perfectly simple to fix up your roof, as long as you follow this advice and you keep a close eye on your roof as often as possible.
