When it comes to roof repair, timing is critical. If your roof leaks, the problem will get exponentially worse if you allow it to continue unabated – it won’t get better on its own. A leaky roof can cause a tremendous amount of damage to your home, and the damage can extend far beyond your roof. Water can seep into your attic and cause mold growth, and it can even rot the wood that holds your home’s structure together.

Untreated roof damage and roof leaks can compromise your roof’s integrity. In the worst-case scenario, your roof could collapse and destroy everything beneath it.

A lot of things can cause a roof to fail. When the failure occurs in a small area, some of the most common causes include:

• Mature tree branches. Mature tree branches hanging over your home can be dangerous to your roof. In some cases, branches break off and damage part of a roof. In other cases, the overhang provides a cooler, damp environment where mold can thrive. Mold can quickly deteriorate your shingles and the materials beneath them, and a severe case can make roof replacement necessary.
• Improper water shedding. Roofs are typically built to shed water, but sometimes things prevent that from happening properly. Water buildup resulting from poor design or clogged gutters can cause significant damage to your roofing materials.
• Heat. All attics need proper ventilation. If an attic isn’t vented the right way, heat can build up inside and cook your roof from the inside out.
• Chimneys. Chimneys can be particularly troublesome areas. They often have both head walls and wall steps – two tough-to-install components – and flashing can be installed incorrectly. Flashing is the material that prevents water from getting in around cracks (like where your chimney meets your roof), but if it’s damaged or installed the wrong way, water can seep between the chimney and your roofing materials.
• Plumbing vent flashing. Flashing is important around all roof protrusions – it needs to be present when something is sticking out of your roof. Your plumbing vents, which allow damp air to escape from your roof, can be especially tough to seal off properly. Because they’re round, poor roofers sometimes leave gaps. Those gaps can let water sneak by; worse, they can simply allow moisture to build up and sit, which encourages mold growth. Leaks in the flashing around a plumbing vent can run down the plumbing and soak into wood and drywall. In many cases, homeowners only notice these problems when someone discovers the rotting wood.
• Satellites. Satellite sway can cause damage to the roof around the mounts. Heavy winds can push your satellite dish back and forth, causing further damage – and in cases where the dish is ripped from the roof in heavy winds, you can definitely expect shingle damage.
• Clogged gutters. Leaves, small twigs and other debris can build up in gutters quickly, especially during stormy seasons. The clogs prevent water from flowing freely to the downspouts and away from your home, which leads to a sort of dam – and those dams allow water to sit up against your home. Clogged gutters typically cause damage to your roof over time.
• Wind. Wind can damage an entire roof or just a small area section. Because shingles are your roof’s first line of defense, each one needs to be securely fastened in place… but when wind lifts the edges of your shingles, it creates a pathway for water to work its way in. You need to have wind damage repaired by a professional quickly. Otherwise, you could be facing significant amounts of damage (and significant costs) that you could’ve avoided.