Roof Repair Tips: What to Do When Your Roof Leaks

There’s nothing worse for a home or commercial building than having a leak. Roof leaks are one of the worse and they can cause substantial damage within a very short period of time. It’s so important to take immediate action the moment that you notice that there is a leaking roof. Fortunately, there are ways to help fight off some of the damage and manage the leaking roof until professional help can arrive to sort out the problem. This is what you should do when you encounter a roof leak.

Common causes of roof leaks

There are a variety of reasons why you may be experiencing a leak in your roof. Some of the most common causes of this leak include:

• Aged roof, this usually happens at the end of a roof’s lifespan
• Damaged roofing
• Poorly installed roofing
• Weather damage
• Cracked Chimney
• Missing roof tiles
• Incorrect roofing materials
• Clogged gutters
• Broken roof tiles

These are only a few of the many reasons why a roof would leak. No matter the cause of the leak in your roof, you need to locate the source of it and have it fixed as soon as possible.

Contain the leak

If your roof is leaking, especially if it’s going through to your ceiling, you’ll need to begin containing the leak as fast as possible. This includes grabbing containers such as buckets, garbage cans, towels, bowls, and whatever else that you can to catch the water. This has to be done as it can help reduce the impact of water damage on areas such as your floors, furniture, and walls.

Water damage can destroy so many of your precious belongings, and nobody wants to deal with that. This includes fabrics such as carpets, rugs, and furniture. They can trap fabric in the water which will cause mold. So it’s very important to take care of this moment you see any water leaking.

Minimize water damage

Once you try to contain the leak by protecting your furniture and layout containers to catch the water, you’ll want to next try to minimize the water damage. This includes quickly cleaning up and drying areas that have gotten soaked from the leak.

Locate the leak source

As soon as you notice that there’s a leak, you should begin sprinting to action to find the source of the leak. You’ll first want to begin by looking at the roof uphill from the water stains. Usually, leaks happen from something penetrating the roof. If you have an attic, you’ll have an easier time finding water stains, leaks, or even mold.

Contact a roofing company to repair your leaking roof

It’s vital to contact a professional roofing company as soon as you can so they can help out in minimizing the damage to your home or commercial building. It’s best to let the pros step in to take care of this. The longer you wait, the worse this leak will get, which is why it needs to be taken care of immediately. Professional roofers such as Mitchell Roofing will repair the damaged areas but will also assess other possible spots where your roof could be damaged at.

Dangers when delaying repairs

Other than your belongings receiving water damage, there are plenty of other hazards that can happen from pushing off having a roof leak repaired. This can include:

• Expensive Energy Bills – the water build-up has the ability to destroy the insulation in your home. This lack of insulation can cause you to turn your thermostat or air conditioning to be turned up much higher than usual, leading you to possibly have higher utility bills.
• Fire Hazards – a fire is just waiting to happen whenever a roof leak is present. These leaks can easily affect the wiring in your home whether it be in the walls or the ceiling. This can cause a short circuit in your home which then causes the wires to spark. This also has the risk of someone being electrocuted as well. It’s very important to get this leak checked immediately as fires run the risk of putting you, your whole family, and even your neighbors in severe danger.
• Mold –  as stated earlier water damage from roof leaks has the potential to mold furniture, rugs, carpets, and other fabrics. However, the mold can go much further than that. Moisture is a breeding ground for mildew and mold which can easily spread. This mold can spread to wood framing, ceiling tiles, flooring (besides carpet), and destroy walls. Not only will this decrease the value of your home, but depending on the severity of the mold, such as black mold, no one will be permitted to live or work in the building.