Everything New Homeowners Need to Know About Roofs

While most people are aware of the major threats to their roofs, from large storms to nearby trees that might overhang the property, there are many threats out there that can cause problems without you even knowing. Roofing repair is always best done as soon as a problem occurs, not days or weeks after the fact, but often issues go unnoticed for much longer. Here are three unexpected causes of roofing damage that you should be on the lookout for that could be more serious than you realise and a few key tips on how to spot them.

Birds

Birds might not seem that dangerous to something as strong as your roof, and that is sort of true. The threat birds pose to your roof is not from their claws or from their nests, but rather their waste. Bird poo contains a lot of acidic material that is well known for destroying building materials of all sorts. Roofing shingles, cement and everything in between are at the mercy of the birds that might fly around your roof or rest on it. If you notice a lot of birds around your home for months at a time and know that they poo quite a bit in your area, then you might want to consider getting your roof checked on a yearly basis at the minimum.

Summer

Summer is, in itself, quite a risk to older roofing material because the quick and extremely severe changes in temperature during the morning and night can wreak havoc on tiles, shingles and metal roofs alike. Heat causes materials to expand, but instead of gradually returning back to a normal temperature at night, often the mercury plummets with the sunset and this, in turn, can crack tiles and shingles and prematurely age metal. Of course, it takes quite a few years for this damage to build up to the point where it will cause major roofing damage, but the point is that you don't have to have a big weather event or a tree falling on your roof for it to sustain damage. Every couple of years a roofing repair or check-up appointment can be a good idea to get rid of any cracked tiles or shingles. 

Possums

Another animal problem that is a little cuter than birds, but perhaps more scary in the dark recesses of your attic, are possums. Possums are constantly looking for warm, dry spots to sleep in and if they can sense that underneath your roof there is a good resting spot, they often have no trouble removing tiles or shingles to get there. If you hear scampering across your roof at night or actually find one living in your attic, there is a good chance that some part of your roofing underlay and the above tiles or shingles have been displaced and you need roofing repair as soon as possible.