The Five Biggest Hazards For Your Roof

When you ask most people what the most dangerous hazard their roof faces is, most will immediately answer “rain.” While it’s true that rain can be a serious issue and no doubt deal immense damage to your roof, you might be surprised to learn that it’s not the biggest issue that Mother Nature throws at it. Rain can easily get into small cracks and leaks in your roof, but a water-tight roof that’s in good condition actually will repel water effectively for a long period of time.

There are actually several other hazards your roof faces that many homeowners may not think about but could deal far greater damage. On this blog, we’ll discuss five of the biggest hazards your roof faces and what you can do to help minimize the impact they could have on your roof and prevent serious damage to your home.

Sunlight

Anything that’s left in sunlight for an extended period of time is going to suffer damage. Your roof is not immune from this. Sunlight is full of all sorts of harmful radiation, including infrared light, ultraviolet light, x-rays, and gamma radiation, all of which can cause your roof to dry out, shingles or tiles to crack, wood to warp, and small leaks to form.

The heat from sunlight also causes the materials in your roof to expand—a process which reverses when the sun goes down and temperatures cool off. This constant expand and contract cycle eventually causes materials to wear out and become brittle, creating more cracks and leaks that could come back to haunt you the next time rain starts to fall.

Ice

Ice forms on your roof when the heat from inside your home rises to your rooftop, melts the snow on your roof, and the snow then re-freezes in non-flake form as a chunk of ice. Ice tends to build up quickly, and is tremendously heavy. Not to mention it’s a constant source of water on your roof surface, which could lead to damage, especially as it starts to melt. Ice is also a pretty big hazard for those on the ground below: as ice melts, it becomes unstable, and as it becomes unstable, chances are it could come sliding off your roof and crash into the ground below, causing damage to any property or potentially injuring anyone who might be in the way.

Hail

Hail is particularly damaging for everything in its path, including your roof. These small chunks of ice that fall to the earth have a considerable amount of force behind them: enough to crack clay tiles or damage shingles if the stones get large enough. While most hailstones are fairly small, larger stones may happen in freak thunderstorms or sudden severe weather, causing anything and everything that isn’t sheltered to risk severe damage. It’s not uncommon for hail to create leaks in your roof, which are often discovered not long after when the next rainfall happens.

Snow

Falling snow is soft and peaceful, and for many people it’s one of the reasons they absolutely love living in Colorado Springs. However, whatever you might think of snow, your roof isn’t really that big of a fan. Unlike rain, which rolls off your roof into your gutters where it can be carried away, snow can build up and accumulate, adding hundreds or even thousands of extra pounds to your roof. That extra weight places stress on your rafters, joists, and other structural materials.

Wind

When it comes to disrupting your roof’s surface, nothing is more dangerous than wind. Wind can lift shingles and tiles clean off your roof, particularly if they weren’t installed properly or their connection has worn out. Wind can also carry debris, causing it to collide with your roof and shatter or crack your tiles or shingles. Finally, wind also places a lot of pressure on the surfaces of your roof, particularly those that are directly in its path. The added weight of all that air pushing against the structure of your roof could cause the structure to flex, meaning your roof needs to be sturdy and in good condition to withstand it.