Ice can be damaging to your roofing materials, which is why it is recommended that you use products that help prevent ice from forming in the first place. If you have recently moved to a part of the country where ice forms in the winter, you may be wondering how exactly ice can damage your roof and lead to you needing a roof repair. Here are a few of the most common ways that ice can damage your home's roof.
The Weight of the Ice Can Damage Your Roof Supports
One of the ways that ice can damage your roof is by breaking your roof supports with the weight of the ice. Your roof is not designed to carry large amounts of weight. As such, if large amounts of ice or snow are sitting on your roof, it can affect the structure of your roof. The structural support beams can become damaged, and if that problem is not caught, your roof can even start to cave in. Structural damage is one of the most expensive roof repairs that is needed, so you want to prevent this type of damage from occurring.
Ice Can Cause Your Roofing Material to Crack
Another way that ice can damage your home's roofing is by causing your roofing materials to crack. As water freezes, it expands. Water that is sitting on your roofing materials, such as your shingles or tiles, will expand in freezing weather and lead to ice forming. This expansion can cause small cracks or tears to develop in your roofing materials. As this process is repeated multiple times over the winter months, those cracks or tears form. Eventually, this can lead to a leak in your roof. Roof repairs are needed to fix small tears before they turn into larger problems.
Ice That Starts to Slowly Melt on Your Roof Can Lead to Algae, Moss, or Mold Growth
The final way that ice can be damaging to your roof is that, as the ice slowly melts, water sits on your roof. This allows organic plant growth, including algae, moss, or mold, to start to grow. These materials can stain or damage your roofing materials. If these materials start to grow on your roof, you will need your roof to be professionally cleaned to remove all organic plant life.
There are products you can use to help prevent ice from forming on your roof, but if ice has already started to form, you need to take action quickly to prevent damage. Reach out to a roofing professional to help safely melt the ice before it causes damage to your roof. If damage has already happened, reach out to a roofing company to inspect your roof and determine what roof repairs are needed.
For more information on roof repair, contact a professional near you.
Very few roofers would say their job is easy. In fact, many describe the work as downright tough! But that does not mean that roofers do not enjoy or value the work that they do. Many workers get satisfaction from working with their hands, and they really enjoy creating a roof from simple materials. They also like the logistical challenges, such as figuring out how to get shingles up on a tall roof, or how to most safely repair a damage gutter. If you'd like to learn more about roofing as a profession, then you've arrived at the right blog.