What’s not to love about summer? Fall brings leaves that can clog the gutter and cause plumbing problems, winter brings ice and heavy snowfall, and spring is the start of the rainy season.
Summer may seem like fun and games from our point of view, but to your home, summer weather brings harsh conditions that can damage and erode the longevity of your roof.
4 Common Causes of Roof Damage in Summer
While other forms of roof damage are more obvious, some of the more common causes may be harder to spot.
Storm Damage
The south is no stranger to harsh weather. Our homes put up with a lot throughout the year: from heavy rains brought in by tropical storms to lightning and hail from an everyday thunderstorm. Severe weather conditions cause more obvious roof damage, including:
- High winds - Fast-moving wind can grab the edges of curling shingles and displace or tear them from your roof.
- Heavy rains - Missing or loose shingles leave gaps for water to enter the inner areas of your roofing. This can lead to water damage that may be hard to spot until the damage is extensive.
- Hail - Hail is one of the more obvious forms of roof damage and destruction. Individual pieces of hail can be as large as a softball, and when flying at high speeds, can cause major damage.
- Lightning - Your roofing system is designed to dispel and avoid a direct lightning strike, but the real damage caused by lightning comes in the form of indirect damage — when lightning strikes something near your home (such as a tree) causing it to fall and hit your roof or home.
UV Rays
Exposure to UV rays can cause more damage to your roof than you may think! UV exposure can dry out roofing materials such as asphalt and untreated wood shingles, causing them to bleach, crack, buckle, and split.
While roofing systems are designed to handle most weather conditions, summer days are longer, meaning there’s more exposure to UV rays during summer than at any other time of the year. Since UV rays are present every day (even in cloudy conditions), it’s impossible for your roof to avoid exposure.
Heat
Excess heat can speed up damage caused by UV radiation. Your roof is typically the most exposed part of your home. In summer, when temperatures reach 90 degrees, your roof is hitting temperatures of close to 160 degrees!
These temperatures may seem extreme, but your roof should be designed to handle them. If your roof has improper ventilation, however, you could face problems with mold and mildew caused by temperature imbalances and buildups of condensation.
Thermal Shock
Thermal shock is another problem caused by extreme heat. Thermal shock is a term used to describe temperature drops from daytime to nighttime. High heat causes roofing materials to expand, and cool weather makes the materials contract. When these happen in succession over the course of one day, it can weaken the integrity of your roof over time.
Proudly Protecting Homes Around Georgia and South Carolina
Roof damage happens — there are no two ways about it. But when disaster strikes, Fraser Roofing, LLC is here to help you and your family get right back to life as normal. Our team can assist with a wide range of roofing problems including storm damage, reroofing, roof repairs, roof leak repairs, and emergency roofing! Contact us online or by phone at (404) 341-7663 to speak to a member of our team today.