How to Tell If Your Roof Has Been Damaged Following a Thunderstorm
When the humidity gets extremely high, severe thunderstorms can pop up anywhere. Some of these storms can be significant and involve torrential rain, massive hail and raging wind. If you've just lived through one of these events from the safety of your home and marvelled at the fury of mother nature, you may need to do a close inspection once everything has calmed down. In particular, you should have a very close look at your roof to see whether you need to take action. What should you be on the lookout for?
Shingle Inspection
If you have a roof made from shingles, then it will have been designed to cope with bad weather and will, to a large degree, emerge unscathed. However, a particularly bad storm can cause damage that may not always be visible to the naked eye. Therefore, you may not be able to see anything unusual during a casual inspection from your front or back lawn, and it may be necessary to have a much closer look instead.
Wind Damage
If the wind blows from a certain direction for a sustained period, it has the capacity to get underneath each shingle, to lift up the edge and to break the seal. The shingle itself will, however, return to its normal position when the wind abates, but it will not be able to provide as much protection as it did before. When it rains in the future, water could flow through the cracks that are now exposed and with time, could saturate the underlay and work its way into the attic.
Hail Damage
Large hail can also damage the surface of a shingle and can compromise its ability to protect in a different way. As you may know, each shingle is covered with granules that are meant to protect the surface and to ensure that each unit is shielded from the heat of the sun. Without these granules, the underlying layer may be visible and therefore be vulnerable to those UV rays. Over time, this can lead to failure and water infiltration.
Hard to See Areas
It's also important to have a look at areas of the roof that are hard to see from ground level and especially around the chimney, any vents or skylights. The flashing will need to be checked to see if it is still in place and able to redirect rainwater away from these locations.
Action Needed
If you have suffered this type of damage following a major storm, you need to take action before the next tempest rolls around. Get in touch with a storm damage repair expert so they can help you out.
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