Roof damage in heavy rainfall – Protecting Your roof from sustained rain.

It’s been a rainy winter so far for those of us here in the Mid-South area, and we’re not headed for blue skies anytime soon! In fact, we’re forecast to receive anywhere from 6-8 additional inches of rain in the next week or so. While rainy days can sometimes be cozy, they can quickly turn into a huge hassle if your roof hasn’t been properly maintained. Whenever it rains hard, and for extended periods of time, there’s a potential for major damage, from worn-down shingles to the structural integrity of your home being compromised.

Here at Pinnacle Roofing & Restoration, we want to keep you warm and dry as we head into spring! Let’s take a look at some of the effects heavy rainfall can have on your roof, and how our expert team can help you prevent and correct them.

Leaks

Your roof does a lot of hard work protecting your home from the elements. Unfortunately, this constant dress can cause shingles to eventually curl up or buck. If this happens, the shingles become compromised, and can create bare spots on the roof where rain is able to seep in and cause further damage.

Stains

A rain-damaged roof that has begun collecting water inside your home can lead to stains on the ceilings and sometimes the walls. Because these stains are often an indicator of a larger roofing problem, we recommend contacting a professional roofing team like Pinnacle as soon as possible to inspect your roof and determine the cause of the water damage.

Wood rot and mold

Flashing is a roofing material that is used to prevent water from saturating the roof joints. Heavy rains can sometimes cause this flashing can become compromised, putting your home at risk for water damage. Continued exposure to moisture creates the perfect conditions for rotting wood and growing mold. This can not only affect the safety and integrity of your roof and home, it can also be a health hazard. Mold has been shown to cause a variety of ill effects on the health of those exposed to it over time. Some people are especially sensitive to it, and may find that unaddressed mold leads to things like nasal stuffiness, throat irritation, coughing or wheezing, eye irritation, or even skin irritation.

Cracks

Although freezing rain isn’t traditionally too much of a problem for us in this part of the country, it’s still worth nothing that freeze-thaw cycles can cause cracks to form in your roof. Freezing rain quickly saturate your roof before solidifying into ice, causing the materials to expand and crack. As we’ve seen in the examples above, a cracked roof provides an easy opportunity for moisture to seep into your home, causing potential leaks, water damage, and mold.

Other potential issues

If you happen to have a house with a sloping or gabled roof, you may be presented with special challenges when trying to protect it from rain damage because water has a tendency to collect where the parts of the roof connect. Fortunately, professional roofing experts like Pinnacle are able to install waterproofing for these types of roofs in order to protect against moisture damage.  

Problems can also arise from clogged gutters. Normally, gutters will channel water through the gutter trough, into the downspouts, and away from your home. When a gutter becomes clogged up, collected rain water sits stagnant in the gutter trough, against the roof. Over time, this can lead to rotting, weakening the structural integrity of the roof, and eventually allowing water to seep into the interior of your home. This can lead to a whole host of problems that may be very expensive to repair! If enough damage occurs, the entire roof may need to be replaced. Not only that, but damage to the interior of the home can lead to ceilings needing to be replaced, as well as furniture or any other items that have been damaged by water.

The problems aren’t limited to your roof and home, either. As water flows over the sides of clogged gutters, rather than into the downspouts and away from the home, it can cause landscape erosion and damage to the actual foundation.

Pinnacle Roofing & Restoration are proud to offer high quality gutter systems. If it’s time to replace your gutters, you’ll find that we have a wide variety of styles, sizes, and colors for the ultimate in efficiency and curb appeal.

Protecting your roof from heavy rainfall

The only surefire way to protect your roof against the effects of heavy rainfall is to know where any potential weak spots are and correct them as soon as possible. We recommend always checking the condition of your roof after an extended period of rain or any major storms. Look for obvious issues, such as missing shingles and damaged flashing, but know that some damage may be hard for the untrained eye to see. A professional inspection each year is one of the best things you can do for your home!

When you schedule an inspection with our roofing experts, they will know exactly what to look for to assess all possibilities for damage and to help you figure out how you can prevent further difficulties. As with your car or your health, preventive maintenance is the best way to prolong the life of your roof and get the most out of your roofing investment. As storm damage specialists, our team is able to give you an honest evaluation of your residential or commercial roof, both before heavy rainfall and after the storms have passed. Should you encounter any major damage, you can rest assured that we work side by side with all major insurance companies to make your claims process as smooth and timely as possible.

Get ahead of the weather by calling Pinnacle Roofing & Restoration

To avoid expensive water damage issues caused by heavy rainfall this spring and summer, take advantage of our roofing maintenance services! Our many years of experience in the roofing business have given us an advantage when it comes to preserving the integrity of your roof so that it can hold its own when exposed to the elements. If you’ve noticed any symptoms of rain damage to your roof, call our Memphis roofing experts at 901.250.2607. We’ll be happy to schedule a FREE evaluation for you and help you safeguard your home against what’s turning out to be a very wet weather year!