What Happens If You Ignore a Roof Leak?
Roof leaks can occur from numerous sources. This is especially true in storm-prone places like East Texas. If your home sustains roof damage from a storm, it’s important that you handle it right away by contacting a local roofing company in East Texas such as Steele Roofing out of Tyler and Longview, Texas.
After a storm, it’s important to have a professional roof inspection to determine what roof repairs are necessary. You may need emergency roof tarping to prevent further water damage; emergency roof repair; storm restoration services, or roof cleaning to make sure more damage doesn’t occur to your roof or home’s structure.
Having a trusted Texas roofing contractor perform a storm damage roof inspection after you’ve sustained hail damage, wind roof damage, or damage from debris, means you will know right away if you have everything from a small roof leak to if you need a roof replacement.
Maybe it looks like you only lost a few shingles, or your gutters all blew down.
But do you know for sure you don’t have a roof leak?
You don’t know until you’ve had a professional inspection performed by an experienced East Texas roofing company.
Why DIY Roof Repairs Are a Risk
But what happens if you believe the storm damage myths and think a little leak is no big deal. You’ll get it fixed down the line. Maybe you’ll even get on the roof yourself and grab some of those roofing materials from the shed you’ve been holding onto and do a little roof repair yourself…
A recommendation?
Please leave the roof repair to a professional local roofer—for all the roofing safety reasons.
A roof leak needs to be taken care of by a professional roofing company as soon as it is discovered.
Structural and Health Risks of Ignoring a Leak
If not, it could very quickly cause major damage to your roof, walls, home structure, and the valuables in your home. In addition, leaving a roof leak can cause the growth of harmful mold and mild that can cause or make worse health issues for people living in your home.
This can especially be true for the elderly, children, and people with immune issues. Mold and mildew can start to grow and spread quickly in a humid environment such as East Texas. For this reason, it’s crucial to repair a roof leak as soon as possible.
Sometimes mold and mildew can be difficult to find, but there are signs you can look for such as a musty smell developing in certain rooms of the house, household members developing respiratory issues, stains appearing on the walls, ceiling, or around windows, or obvious growth appearing anywhere within your home.
How to Tell If You Have a Roof Leak
How do you know you have a roof leak?
Sometimes the signs are noticeable, but other times it can be more difficult to determine if there’s a leak. This is especially true if the leak is in an attic, crawlspace, or high in the rafters where it’s not immediately visible.
If you see obvious signs such as exterior roof damage; damaged insulation; stains on drywall, wood, or window molding; drywall that’s peeling or sagging; mold or mildew growth; or obvious dripping when it rains, you know it’s time to call and have someone inspect and repair your home as quickly as possible.
If you are at the stage where you’re putting out a container to catch a drip in your home, then it’s definitely time to call a local roofer.
How Quickly Damage Can Escalate
The timeline for damage when it comes to not fixing a roof leak depends on how bad the leak is, how much rain is occurring, and where the leak is. A small leak might not show noticeable signs for days, weeks, or even months. In this way, a small leak can have the potential to cause the most damage, as an obvious leak might get fixed quickly. However, major, long-term damage that could lead to the necessity of a new roof could be the end result of a small leak that goes unnoticed for a prolonged period of time.
An important way to help ensure a roof leak doesn’t go unnoticed for months or even years is to schedule regular seasonal roof inspections with a Texas roofing company. An unnoticed leak might be causing the growth of mold and mildew, rot in your walls and structural materials, and the potential for major damage to spread throughout your roof and home necessitating expensive roof repairs in addition to the potential for dangerous health conditions.
Why Early Repairs Save Money
A roof leak might not seem like a big deal, but especially in humid places like East Texas, a small leak can very quickly become a big problem. It is much simpler and more cost effective to have your roof inspected by a professional roofer and have the roof fixed than it is to deal with problems that have gotten worse over time.
If your home has recently gone through a major storm, you have an older roof, or your roof hasn’t been inspected recently it’s a good idea to make an appointment for a professional roof inspection with a local roofer and fix any leaks, big or small before any more time goes by.
