Most have seen the comic that shows a person enjoying a beautiful summer morning, then they are caught in a monsoon durign mid-morning, taking shelter from a tornado at 2pm, are in a blizzard at 4pm, followed by a beautiful Fall evening. The caption says something along the lines of “Just another day in the Ohio Valley”. The point being is this; we have a lot of variance in our weather patterns in the Louisville area. This past week, Louisville saw temperatures pushing 70 degrees to be followed a few days later with rain, then a snow shower later that afternoon with temperatures falling again into the teens. We have also had a lot of moisture this year. One concern home owners should have is their roof during these cycles.
The freeze-thaw cycle can cause damage to your home and you may not even be aware of it until months later. Ice damming can occur on your roof, preventing water from flowing off. Heat escapes through your roof, melts the snow and then it slides down to the overhang to refreeze. This ice dam actually prevents ice, rain, and melting snow from draining off of the roof and into gutters properly. Water can then get backed up into the seams of roofs, under shingles, and around chimneys causing water damage to the underlying structures. Take a quick trip up into the attic to make sure that it has proper insulation and ventilation. Keeping the temperature even in the eaves of your roof will help to prevent ice dams from forming.
Sometimes, when water freezes and expands into ice, it can cause flashing to come undone. This will allow for water to enter your home around chimney and vent areas. A quick check in the attic for any unwanted entering moisture will quickly let you know if this is a problem. When the temperatures warm up, a brief inspection on the roof around chimneys and vents will tell the bigger pictures. Fixing flashing issues is usually easy as a DIY or fairly cheap when hiring a contractor to repair.
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