Roof leaks are a genuin concern for many homeowners. A lot of different things can cause roof leaks. But how do you know why the leak happened? Roofing experts from M&Y Remodeling Pittsburgh Roofing will reveal the top three causes of roof leaks.
Top causes for roof leaks in Pittsburgh
- In Pittsburgh, many houses have old roofs. The chance of a leak increases significantly when the roof is over 15 years old. With age, the protection wears out, making the roof more prone to water ingress. One small drip often indicates a larger roofing issue. Most common areas of the leaking will be in the roofing accessories such as pipe flashing, chimney flashing, valley or wall flashing.
It’s common practices to use lower quality materials on the builds and one of those items is a aluminum ridge which gets secured with regularly roofing nails and the all the nails gets ceased with caulking. Caulking also is being used at the chimney flashings and wall flashing. Within time The U-factor from the sunlight and extreme freezing temperatures will break the sealant apart and it will start to crack and fallen out. When the sealant is out then the rain water or melting snow eventually will penetrate and create the leak. Now we have to worry about the interior damage which could be prevented with routine inspection discussed in previous topic. Next, most common, area of leakages wold be a pipe flashing unit. The unit made from the aluminum base with the rubber gasket on the top. Sometimes we may see a vinyl units used for the pipe flashings but those won’t even reach a 10 year’s mark before they leak. Rubber gasket will worn out and fall apart, when that happened the water will get into the living are even faster.
- Second source of leaking would be a incompetent installation. Yes, “brand new” roofs leaks even worse some of the old ones. Again, the areas for the leak, will be the same accessories mentioned above but they will leak due to not knowing how to install it. Shingles almost never leak, if it’s installed semi-right, but accessories that’s where the skills, knowledge and proper training takes place. That’s where we can separate “do it all” contractors from real roofing professionals. Of course we see brand new shingles leak sometimes and the entire roof is “butchered” by who knows whom but those type of roofing easily can spot almost any homeowner and see how bad it looks before it even finished. It’s just simply looks ugly.
- Third source would be a weather event such as wind or hail. Wind is more common in Pittsburgh region and every year we see it happen more often. Typically after the heavy winds older roof will have few blown off shingles, sometimes more than a few but you get the point. When you find a shingle or two around your house you should ask yourself “who is the lucky buyer of a new roof, in the near future” is it you or one of your neighbors? Walk around your house and try to look at all the sections of your roof. See if you can find any suspicious areas or maybe even missing shingles. If no obvious sections were identified then compare the color for those shingles, are those matching your roof or we need to bring that “present” to your neighbor. When shingles are missing the actions should be taken immediately as every time it will rain the water will go straight into the house. This has to be prevented ASAP. When homeowner drilling with wind or hail related damages it will be a wise decision to hire a qualified roofing professional who’s trained and certified shingle inspector as it may be qualified to be covered through your homeowners insurance. In many cases homeowners will get their roof replacement covered by the homeowners insurance at the price of the homeowners deductible, typically $1500.00. Can you imagine to have your roof replaced for only $1500 compared to a typical value of $15000 or more.
Hail will do a permanent damage to the shingles but it will be a long term affect. In about 2 years all the damaged areas will loose the shingles granules. The granules is a shield for the shingle itself and without it the shingles will start wear out and will fail in the next year or so. So with the hail it’s also important to take actions right after it takes place.
How to prevent the leaks?
The secret to a reliable roof is thorough and timely maintenance. Saving money on roof inspections can lead to irreparable roof damage. If you want to keep your home safe and sound, get your roof checked by M&Y Remodeling Pittsburgh Roofing experts. Our specialists are always happy to answer all your questions. Contact us on our website or call (412) 218-7082.