1) Time

The average life of most roofs is 10-25 years. If your roof is 15 years or older, you should consider getting it checked out by a professional. You might be one month away from elemental damage rendering your roof useless. As Roofers Nottingham, we feel it’s our duty to explain these obvious reasons to prevent you having a massive expense in the future. You’re going to need professionals to solve most of these problems.

It’s important to consider getting things fixed before you need to call out an emergency roofer who is going to charge more if you want a fast service, especially if you have a large issue. Like they say, prevention is far more efficient than curing. Local roofing contractors like us at M&S will always give you an honest assessment as to what your best options are moving forward.

Make sure you speak to someone that you know won’t talk you into getting something you don’t need, or this defeats the object of checking if anything DOES need doing. They at least HAVE to be a licensed roofing specialist.

Metal roofs have a much longer average life of about 30-60 years so you don’t need a consider replacement for longer. We estimate at around the 30 year mark you should ask a professional to check on the strength of your roof.

Ideally, everyone should be checking their roof every year but we know that isn’t realistic what with the business of life. Every 5 years is certainly feasible and what we would suggest so that you aren’t tirelessly getting roof check ups every year. Go for local metal roofing contractors that actually know what they’re doing with a metal roof.

2) Shingle Damage

Shingle damage is an easy indication that your roof is weathered snd either needs repair or replacement.

What you need to look out for…

– Discolouration. Some discolouration is always going to happen but if your shingles look horrible, it’s an obvious sign that their durability is wearing out.

– Curling. Your shingles become misshapen and curl… they’re inevitably going to break.

– Missing. This is the worst of the three as a potential cave-in could occur. Less worrying issues could arise like leaks, but these are still definitely a concern and will only continue to get worse.

Shingles are an important aspect of a roof so if you think your roof is suffering from any of the above, use your best judgement as to how damaged you think the shingles are. In some cases you might want to call a local tradesman out soon, or you might want to see how they do in the months to come.

3) Water Damage

Your roof is being pounded by the elements 24/7 and here in England, rain is obviously very common. Here in Nottingham, and other parts of Nottinghamshire get hit particularly hard by storm weather. If you have any signs of water damage, this won’t go away and it WILL need to be dealt with either now through repair or later with whole replacements…

The signs of water damage are…

– Watermarks. As soon as stains and watermarks start appearing on any ceilings close to the roof, it’s an obvious sign that your roof is susceptible to water damage. It will be even more obvious that is is in fact water damage if the stains and marks keep arising after rainfall or storms.

– Leaks. If you can hear drips anywhere or the watermarks are particularly pertinent, there’s a good chance that water is actually leaking through your roof somehow. This will only get worse and should be resolved ASAP.

4) Mould

Moisture from any water damage described above is very likely to create mould. Mould looks bad. Much worse than looking bad is that moulding wood will make the structure of your roof susceptible to a cave-in – mould totally weakens wood and renders it useless. The other way it can do damage is by creating space between tiles and allowing water to seep into other precious parts of the roof.

The ‘good’ thing about mould is that it can sometimes be spotted from the outside of your roof. Check for moss, rotting or mildew, that’ll let you know quickly if your roof is showing signs of moulding. Call a professional if you see excessive mould and you can’t do anything about it yourself.

5) Sunlight through your loft or attic

If sunlight appears through your ceiling in your loft or attic, you have a hole, and you’re going to be in a whole lot of trouble eventually unfortunately. If sunlight can get in, the elements are flooding in. This means water, cold air and snow, which is a terrible result for your home. It’s worth trying to investigate how bad the damage is yourself and how much of the elements are getting in.

You might be able to just get a roof specialist to patch this damage up for you but it’s likely there’s other damage and other damage that will occur. If your roof is old and you’re getting problems like this, it might be a good idea to get the whole thing replaced so that you aren’t constantly paying for repairs and can just get the whole thing over and done with. Remember, the best local roofing company will always be straightforward and honest with you. Residential roofing contractors that don’t encourage you to get another quote or speak to other roofing contractors don’t want the best for you…

6) Guttering Getting Blocked

Your guttering can easily be blocked by debris that breaks away from asphalt shingles. There’s a layer on top of your roof that is used to protect your tiles – if that’s filling up your guttering, it’s worth getting your guttering checked. Some debris is normal but any sort of large build up might be of concern.

Another thing to look out for is tree debris filling up your guttering. Make sure to keep your garden well maintained. Guttering is one of the main jobs we do in and around Nottingham , it’s a problem that could occur every year or at least every few years so you can expect something to go wrong with your guttering eventually.

7) Sagging

If your roof is misshapen in anyway, you can be sure your roof is in trouble. The shape of your roof should always be as it was when you had it done or if you didn’t see it at that stage it should look upright, strong and stable. Any sort of dip in the shape is a good indication that something is wrong with the structure and you could be susceptible to a cave-in or steady damage. You can double check misshapenness of your roof from the outside or in your loft. Call us immediately if you have this issue. Leaking roof repair contractors don’t exist as such, so you can get any reliable residential roofing company to help you out. However, it is important to pick someone you can trust… See us on Facebook, Yell, soon to be Checkatrade.