Are you questioning if you need a new roof? Well, there are a handful of signs you can look for when trying to determine a decision. Your new roof cost will be a significant investment for your home. That is why you should ensure you need a new roof before making a decision. Inspect your own roof and look for the following signs.
1. Sunlight or Water in the Attic
Before you go outside to examine your roof, start inside with your attic. Take a flashlight, but don’t use it right away. Instead, start by looking around your attic with the light off. Look around for any beams of sunlight. This will reveal holes within your roofing that should be addressed as soon as possible.
After looking for sunlight, turn the light on and be on the hunt for stains. Stains indicated a leaky roof. Water damage is a serious issue because it encourages the growth of mold and bacteria. Then, the wood starts to rot and decay. In turn, your home’s structural integrity becomes at risk, and the air quality plummets.
2. Missing or Broken Shingles
Once the attic has been glanced over, head outside to the roof, and look for missing or broken shingles. In some cases, they may even be displaced or moved. High wind speeds can rip off shingles and the nails that hold them down. In the event you are missing shingles, you most likely have a leak too. When shingles expose the bare roof to the elements, it doesn’t take long for moisture to seep through.
3. Blisters, Cracks, and Shrinkage
Asphalt shingles decay over time, and you’ll notice a few obvious signs of decay when looking over your roof. Often, rotting shingles crack or shrink up. Shrinkage occurs naturally from the sun’s ultraviolet light. However, shrinkage can cause the nails to pop out of their designated place and cause a leaky roof. Moisture entering any part of your home is a serious issue.
Cracking occurs in hot and cold climates. Extreme temperatures in either climate can create cracks. For heat, cracks usually appear alongside shrinkage. Heat can remove volatiles from the singles, which are chemical substances that maintain the boiling point. When those are removed, the heat has a more significant impact on the shingles’ health. In the case of the cold, the asphalt shingles freeze, become brittle, and have the potential to crack.
Finally, look for blisters on your asphalt shingles. Blistering occurs when moisture gets trapped underneath the shingles. Extreme heat will warm the water up, and it evaporates. Since the water has nowhere to go, it escapes through the shingle creating a blister.
4. Damaged or Missing Flashing
Roof flashing is usually made of tar or metal. It is found at the seams of your roof, such as around the chimney or at the base of roof elevation changes. The purpose of flashing is to direct water away from seams in the roof. Shingles often get the credit for keeping us dry, but roof flashing does most of the work.
Examine your roof flashing closely. Look for potential rips, tears, and holes. Older homes may use tar for flashing while the standard anymore is metal. If you have serious issues with your flashing, then a new roof should be in your very near future.
5. 20+ Year Roof
The average lifespan of an asphalt shingle roof is 10 to 20 years. In the event your roof is older than 20 years, you should heavily consider a new roof. Even the highest quality asphalt shingles only last about 15 to 20 years. After that time, they drastically decay and cause water damage problems for homeowners.
It’s Time to Install a New Roof
How bad is your roof? Do any of the problems mentioned above appear? If you found any of the signs listed above, then it’s time for you to call Golden City Remodeling. We offer residential roofing services to those in the Greater Los Angeles Area. Give us a call today for a free estimate.