It always happens at the most inconvenient time. You’re sleeping soundly and wake up to a sound that is at first, not quite clear. That feeling of dread slowly sinks in as you realize what the sound is. It is the steady sound of water dripping from your ceiling. You flip the lights on and quickly grab a bucket to place under the drip and you see not only is it a small drip, it is a big one and growing steadily larger as the rain falls outside. Taking a closer look at the room around you, you realize that it is not just one drip that has overtaken your space. There are several and they are dripping steadily around you. What do you do when this happens? The question begs an answer. Is this dilemma going to make it necessary to replace the entire roof?
The truth is that this question cannot be easily answered without someone first completing a careful inspection of the roof whether it be you who does it or a professional. It must first be determined why the leaks are happening and what is causing them. Then depending on how much damage has been done, a decision can be made on whether the roof needs to be replaced or whether or it just requires simple repair. It depends too on how long the drip has been ignored. If it is something that happened once and you put buckets under it hoping that it would go away, then continued to ignore it as it happened again and again, the damage could definitely be extensive. On the other hand if it was something that you noticed happening once and the next morning you sought out a roofing contractor or professional to get the problem inspected and fixed, then the problem may have been caught early. By not putting off getting help for the problems within your home, you truly save yourself time and thousands of dollars in the long run.
There are several causes for a leaky roof. Most of them occur due to no fault of your own. The problem could lye with the shingles or simply that the roof or the flashing is wearing out. Luckily, there are fairly easy fixes to solve the problem such as patching holes or replacing old shingles that are worn out. Whether you choose to fix these problems yourself for free or hire someone who will complete the job for around a few hundred dollars, it is up to you. It is important though that the job gets completed by somebody before the water damage has a chance to continue. This could lead to bigger problems in the long run. If left ignored for too long, the quality of your roof will gradually deteriorate and the years in the life of your roof will be cut drastically short.