Dover Roofing Blogs

In certain areas of the country Oldman Winter and Mother Nature are poised to dump a ton of trouble onto your roof in the form of snow, ice and severe winds that can turn your home or business into an uninhabitable pile of rubble very quickly.

Follow along with info from the experts at Dover Roofing that can help you avoid the disasters awaiting you this Winter.

Ice

The first of these issues is ice, with decreasing temperatures along with precipitation and moisture you can see one of two issues with ice dams and icicles.

Ice Dams

If the ice on your roof thaws, flows out to the edge of the roof then re-freezes due to varying surface temperatures, ice dams will form.

Theses ice dams will cause melting runoff to form barriers that will trap moisture behind it where it will find its way under the layers of your roof protection. Over time this will damage the tiles and lift various layers to allow moisture to enter the home.

Although they can’t be prevented entirely with sufficient insulation in your roof and proper attic ventilation will reduce the likely hood of ice dams forming.

Icicles

One of natures unparalleled beauties icicles on your room pose a serious threat to the roofs integrity and safety of those walking below them possibly causing serious injuries to all who walk beneath them.

Besides the dangers to health and life they pose another threat to your home, forming on gutters, possibly damaging them and like ice dams will cause a backup of moisture onto the roof structure. Oftentimes icicles can be prevented by keep gutters clear and unblocked so that runoff water can be carried away from the roof and to a better location. Dover Roofing experts all agree and suggest that a thorough cleaning of all gutters be performed during the Spring and Fall months.

Wind

During most Winter storms the wind can pick up and be fairly considerable presenting the possibility to shingles and roofing materials to be pulled from your building.

Dover Roofing highly recommends that you do a walk around your building to determine if any part of the roof has been damaged by the high winds. Check for pieces of roofing material on the ground and visually inspect the roof for materials which although not torn loose are lifted up. We also highly suggest that you inspect all flashing materials at the roofs edges, corners, ridges, chimney, vents and skylights.

Condensation

Condensation can occur when your roof or attic remain cold while the outside temperature warms up. Sounds minor, my car has a layer of condensation on it whenever we see this condition and it doesn’t cause any problem.

This condensation can cause the growth of mold on the outside of the roof and inside it as well. Possibly rendering your home or business uninhabitable. To help prevent this problem make sure your attic is properly ventilated which will prevent the mold buildup but will increase the life of your roof

Conclusions

Nature does pack a punch and left unchecked can destroy your home in a season but following these simple steps will keep your home safe and comfortable for decades.