What To Do If Your Roof Starts Leaking

Whether your roof is older than you or is newly installed, leaks will find their way into your home if proper maintenance doesn’t play a role in your overall home care regimen. Water damage is the worst offender and can cause corrosion or deterioration of your entire roof structure if it’s not fixed in time.

Water damage comes in many forms like wind, rain, snow and hail. When water gets in through downspouts, gutters, vents, chimneys or air conditioners that weren’t properly installed, your home doesn’t stand a chance. Screw fasteners and air vents that haven’t been correctly sealed are also known to let water in. So, if your roof starts leaking you need to call a professional to repair it right away.

What causes a roof to leak?

There are four major issues that Canadian homeowners face when it comes to leaking roofs.

1. Ice damming:

   This is when a thin layer of ice pools at the edge of your roof, preventing melting snow from draining off. Ice is heavy and can cause severe damage to your roof. In order to prevent ice damming, you can purchase a roof rake. This is basically a sideways shovel with a long handle that you use to reach up and remove snow from your roof’s edge before it turns to ice.

2. Clogged gutters:

   Your gutters are supposed to help rainwater travel away from the roof. When they become clogged, the rainwater has nowhere to go except leak into your home. To fix clogged gutters you can risk cleaning them out yourself which can be very dangerous or you can call a professional to do it for you. Unless you are a skilled eaves and roof worker, you may not even have the proper equipment handy like a ladder and a tarp to catch the falling debris as you remove it from the gutter.

3. Cracked Chimney:

   The thick mixture of water, sand and cement that your chimney is composed of is called mortar. Inclement weather can cause the mortar to erode leading it to crack and let water into your home. Chimney repair is not something you can, or should attempt to, DIY. It is a very dangerous repair to undertake on your own and mortar replacement should be done by a professional.

4. Attic condensation:

   If you notice a strong, musty odour coming from your attic, you probably have mould, mildew and water damage. In the winter, your attic is a prime conduit for condensation because it lives between indoor and outdoor temperatures. You have heat rising from the rest of the house and cold coming in through the roof vents if they’re not properly sealed. As with any repair, especially those in which you need to access your roof, it’s best to let a professional handle it.

Call Royal York Roofing today and we’ll not only find the source of your leak, we’ll fix it!