When was the last time you or professional roofing contractors inspected your roof’s condition? Whether it’s listed building roofing or flat roofs, proper maintenance is required to avoid preventable roof replacement and new roof work.
Many aspects come together to make a successful property maintenance schedule, but roofing services should always be a priority. This is because the flat, slate and tile roofing atop homes in the Winchester area and accompanying leadwork provides a watertight seal that keeps the elements out. As a result, your home or workplace, not to mention everyone and everything inside, stays dry, warm, safe and secure.
If this seal becomes compromised, your roof is subsequently exposed to water ingress. If left unresolved, this can cause issues that require costly solutions, such as partial or full flat roof replacement, lead replacement, major repair work or even a brand-new roof. When present on listed building roofing, such issues can even land you in trouble, as the owners of such properties are responsible for their upkeep.
To avoid issues like damp, rot, mould and mildew, not to mention wildlife gaining access to your loft, you must remain aware of the early signs that your roof has a leak. As your reliable, genuinely local roofing contractors, we have looked at some of the most common signs of leaking roofs below.
If one or more ceilings in the rooms directly beneath the loft have a damp patch or a dried water mark, it’s highly likely that flat roofs have leaks. What’s more, it could show that the leak has been around for a while and may even be quite advanced.
Assuming your leak starts small and then grows, it takes time for the appropriate amount of water to soak through the timberwork and into the ceiling below. When you see this sign or similar markings on the walls, call our roofing contractors without delay.
What might look like annoying “shadows” at first will soon progress to more extensive damage. This includes peeling and bubbling paint or wallpaper, damaged plaster, sagging timbers and structural damage.
This is the perfect example of how a small initial problem at your Winchester property can escalate to a point where you need to invest in flat roof replacement work, leadwork or even a new roof.
Slate and tile roofing installed by our team provides robust protection against the elements for decades. However, the older your roof grows, the more susceptible individual slates and tiles become to slipping and cracking. Of course, this is especially true for listed building roofing. But age isn’t the only issue – storms can also cause damage to otherwise healthy roofs.
If you aren’t in the habit of inspecting your roof twice a year, or you don’t call our roofing contractors to do it for you, it’s easy to miss the relatively minor damage of a crack or slippage.
Should this happen at your Winchester property, your roof will be exposed to water ingress. If you also don’t venture up into your loft often, you may also miss early signs in that space, such as:
In many cases, it’s this undetected issue that leads to the damp patches on ceilings. This is why a proactive approach to maintenance and small repairs is so vital in delaying the need for roof replacement work or an entire new roof structure.
As obvious as it sounds, dripping water in your loft is the clearest sign that your roof no longer has a watertight seal. Even though it confirms damage to flat, slate and tile roofing alike, it’s also one of the easiest ways to recognise smaller issues early.
Our roofing contractors advise property owners in Winchester and all surrounding areas to go up into their loft or attic space during heavy or persistent rain. Spending a few minutes listening in silence will confirm if water is penetrating through a crack or hole in pitched or flat roofs. This is particularly important for listed building roofing, as any undetected water ingress can cause significant damage throughout the entire property.
Put simply, if you don’t hear anything unusual, your roof is likely in good condition. Any dripping, however, is a cause for concern.
If you ignore this habit, it’s likely the first sign of water dripping you see will be from a ceiling beneath the loft. When this happens, the problem is already far more advanced, as the water has passed through multiple layers of building material and the leadwork to reach that point. The likely outcome, then, is major lead replacement, roof repairs or roof replacement work. In extreme cases, it’s often more cost-effective to install a new roof.
