The holidays are over, and now it’s time to take down the Christmas lights, making it an excellent opportunity to assess the health of your roof. Here’s what you should look for:
The number one concern during these winter months is ice buildup in gutters!
If present, ice damming is a potentially dangerous and slick condition, which means that you should not be on your roof. An ice dam is a chunk or formation of ice that forms at the edge of a roof that can cause damage not only to your roof, but it will put gutters and downspouts at risk too. Ice dams happen when the roof over the attic spaces becomes warm enough to melt the underside of the first layer of snow. Denver is known for its fluctuating temperatures so there is often a lot of ice dams this time of year. The water seeps between the outer layer of snow and the shingles until it reaches the roof’s eave, which tends to stay colder since it extends beyond the side of the house. The water quickly freezes, and as more of it collects, it gradually grows into a dam of ice. When the barrier gets big enough, the water has nowhere else to go because of the backup and will cause the water to drip underneath shingles.
If left unmanaged long enough, it can end up trickling into insulation and down into the shingles, causing all kinds of potential damage. If the ice dam breaks loose, it can pull shingles and gutters off to compound the situation.
Some other things that you should look for are pulled up or missing shingles. Also, cracked or broken tiles (applies to tile roofs), missing or damaged flashing, swelling siding, or cracked paint, all of which could allow water to penetrate and cause damage. Which, if the roof sheathing stays wet, it can form mildew and start to rot.
If you see any of these things while on your roof, or if you aren’t comfortable getting up on your roof, please give our Littleton-based roof experts a call so one of us can give you a free and honest evaluation of your damage. If you do have damage, most likely you’ll qualify to have your roof replaced through your homeowner’s insurance. Call 720-574-2081
