A good roof should be able to withstand the weather elements because as we all know it is properly exposed to these elements. A roof that can stand these elements will offer you good protection and will lower your power expenses in the house since it protects the house from excess heat or cold keeping your air conditioning bills to the minimum. Ice and snow are the most destructive elements on your roof. Here is how ice and snow impact your roof brought to you by your local Shrewsbury Roofers.
Stress on the roof
Accumulation of snow and ice on the roof will cause undue stress on the roof. The roof of the house is big and accumulation of snow on it will increase the weight of the roof so much. This can cause caving in of the roof or it is going to weaken the roof structure. This can accumulation and stress can cause the roof to leak also.
Causes cracks and leaks
When there is accumulation of ice and snow on your roof it can cause cracks and leaks. This is because the snow will thaw when the temperatures increase. Also the snow at the bottom which is under high pressure will thaw even when the snow at the top doesn’t. When that happens, the water seeps into the cracks and small spaces between the roofs which can leak. If the water does not leak and it refreezes then the cracks can expand because when water freezes, it expands increasing in size. This will cause very small cracks to expand. It can also cause the shingles to move and become misaligned causing leaks.
Ice dams
These are caused when ice and snow on the roof of the house melts and flows down the roof but before it has a chance to be drained away it refreezes at the edges of the roof and the eaves. When this happens then water cannot be able to flow off the roof or in the gutters. When water cannot run off the roof, it then finds its way through roof cracks or spaces in between the roofs and causes leaks.
Icicles
These are formed when there is accumulation of ice and snow on the edges and eaves of the roof. Any water flowing is not able to flow off the mass of snow and freezes. This continues until those pointed sharp structures called icicles are formed. These are a major concern because after become heavy they fall off and can cause injury to people passing below them.
These are some of the harmful effects of having snow and ice accumulation on your roof. However these problems can easily be controlled and protected using the right measures like warming or using a roof rack to remove snow accumulated there.
Next Post: Benefits of having a roof inspection annually
