Now is the perfect time to protect your home—your most significant investment. It is important to evaluate the state of your home and more specifically, the state of your roof. High-quality spring roof installations can make a big difference in your home’s appearance and performance!
An underperforming roof can result in multiple problems this spring season, including costly moisture damage such as mold and mildew growth. Let’s start with a ROOF INSPECTION CHECKLIST that you can do on your own.Â
Use this roof inspection checklist to help you ensure that your roof is up to speed.
If you begin to realize that your roof is showing warning signs, call us or sign up here for a no-obligation, FREE roof estimate. We are a GAF Master Elite Roofing Contractor and we also install metal roofs and solar roofs!
Why Focus on Residential Spring Roof Upgrades?
Having a high-quality and problem-free roof is essential to keeping your home, your most valuable asset, safe. At Coastal Windows & Exteriors, quality begins at home and we want you to be safe. We’ll begin by sharing Roof Warning Signs that your roof is in trouble.
Roof Inspection Checklist: Do You See Any Of These Roof Warning Signs?
Grab a pair of binoncoulars and get ready to head outside. It’s time to take a look and see if your home is showing any of these red flag warning signs.
Dips in the Roof
 Roof dips usually occur when the water has leaked into your roof and caused rotting to occur and sheathing in that area to partially collapse. You will usually see roof dips next to chimneys or at the edge of the roof.
Stand on the ground and look upwards at the slope of the roof to see if you notice any dips on your roof. You can verify a suspected roof dip by checking in the same spot in your attic for sheathing that is dark, discolored, and possibly moldy.
Damaged Shingles Around the Gutters
This indicates that there was previous damage from ice dams, which can be heavy and strong enough to pull the gutters right off of your roof.
Damaged shingles are an open pathway for water to enter your home. Clean out your gutters using a trowel or large scoop to prevent you from having a leaky roof and to prevent water damage to the inside or outside of your home. This will also give you the opportunity to notice whether or not there are damaged shingles around your gutters.Â
Black Streaks and Stains on Your Roof
Tar staining and Algae growth are caused by bacteria eating away at the shingles’ weatherproofing properties. Cheap shingle manufacturing companies use fillers like limestone to keep the cost of shingle production low.
Trees will eat away the limestone causing the black streaking which is caused by the asphalt that is exposed on the fiberglass mat of shingle. This causes all weather-proof properties to be lost and makes it necessary to replace your roof.Â
Moss and Lichen Growth
This happens when gutter and roof cleaning are neglected. When you don’t clean your roof or gutter often enough, branches and leaves prevent rain from flowing as they should and can allow excess moisture to build up.
This causes lichen and moss to form. Drainage might also be negatively impacted if your roof wasn’t installed properly, to begin with, or if it is damaged from normal wear and tear. This can also cause lichen and moss to grow.
Clean any debris off of your roof using a soft broom or leaf blower in order to get a clearer picture of your roof’s surface and to prevent water build-up from occurring. Also, assess the trees in your yard. Are there any that have grown overpowering and threatening to the safety of your home?
Or perhaps there are trees that have started to leave an excess of debris on your home. Consider calling a professional roofing contractor to trim or cut down trees in your yard to keep your home clean and safe, especially in the event of a big New England storm.
Curling and Buckling Shingles
Curled or Buckled shingles are a clear sign that your roof has aged. Buckled shingles can occur because of moisture in the attic space forcing nails to push up and out of the roof’s decking.
This mishap can leave your home exposed to the outside elements as well as being prone to shingle blow-offs during storms.
Missing Granules on the Roof
Missing granules is a sure sign that your roof is dramatically losing its weatherproofing properties. To check to see if you are missing granules, check your gutters for granule build-up.
You can also check your downspout splash pan for granules. Sometimes if you shake it you will hear granules, and that is another sign of roof replacement.Â
Your Roof is Missing Shingles
Missing shingles directly expose your home to the elements and result in many issues, ranging from energy loss to moisture damage.
Checking Inside Your Home
Leaks in Your Home
One of the common areas where roof leaks occur is around inadequate flashing as well as valleys. Flashing around the chimney plays a prominent role in preventing moisture problems.
These leaks can lead to major structural damage in the roof and chimney if they are not addressed quickly. Inside your attic, look for stains on the rafter beams, discoloration, and mold or mildew. This further indicates that there is a leak that is coming from somewhere in the roof.
Mold & Moisture in the Attic
 When attics are not vented properly, warm moist air rises and it gets trapped in the attic. Condensation develops on the underside of the roof, causing rusty nails and eventually mold growth.
Unfortunately, if left long enough, plywood can rot out and you’ll need a new roof. It can happen with new or old roofs as sometimes this is due to over-insulating, which blocks some of the vents.
Just like a car, a home needs appropriate intake (soffits) and exhaust (ridge vent). Since mold and mildew are extremely intense health hazards, it is very important that your roof has proper intake and ventilation. You should act now to impede any extra costs of replacing all damaged wood as well as mold remediation.
Your Attic is too Hot
 Your attic’s temperature should be consistent with outdoor temperatures because it should have sufficient ventilation that takes in cool outdoor air to flow throughout the attic.
This ventilation is crucial to preventing moisture buildup and ensuring you won’t have the cycle of melted snow running down your roof and refreezing at the edge of your roof since this leads to ice dams.
If your attic is warmer than it is outside in the wintertime, your home is prone to ice dams. You may also see signs of blistering/peeling of exterior paint due to poor attic ventilation.
Each roof should have a ridge vent to remove excess heat and moisture which can also save on your energy bills and prevent the premature peeling of interior paint. Â
Daylight is Coming Through the Roof Boards
This is also an obvious warning sign that your roof needs replacing as this opens pathways for moisture to enter the home.
If you see light streaking from the roof’s decking, you may have a big problem since this means the nails have fallen through or corrosive materials used have lost their weatherproofing properties as well (i.e. flashing, collars, and step flashing).
You Have Excessively High Energy Bills
High heating and cooling bills can be from energy escaping due to poor ventilation and insulation in your home especially in your attic and roof. If you notice you have high energy bills in addition to any of the warning signs listed above, it could be because your roof is underperforming.
If your roof isn’t performing properly, you can lose up to 30% of your home’s energy! Use these tips to help protect your home and family and make sure that your roofing system is protecting your home…for a lifetime.
Our warrantied roof installation keeps energy locked inside of your home while preventing leaks which combats against mold and mildew, energy loss, and structural damage…for a LIFETIME! Best of all, we install energy-efficient spring roofing materials!
High Energy Bills? Switch to Solar This Spring
The key to energy-efficient spring roofing materials is installing an entire roofing system, not just new shingles. But by switching to solar roofing, you can save up to 100% of your home’s energy bills! Our solar roofs are different than the standard bulky panels that you know about. Coming as an entire roofing system, our solar roofs come installed with solar shingles. This offers you the sleek and stylish look that many New England homeowners love!Â
Get Springtime Roof Replacement Deals from Coastal Windows & Exteriors: 0% APR Financing is Available!
Did you find this spring roof inspection checklist helpful? If you think your roof is nearing the end of its life span, contact us today for a FREE no-obligation roof inspection. Our spring roof renovation services will prevent leaks and mold growth during the season ahead.
Best of all, you can see your home in 3D for FREE. Get a preview of what your home will look like with a new asphalt, metal, or solar roof!
Contact us here to learn about roof replacement costs. We pride ourselves on being a GAF Master Elite Roofing Contractor offering award-winning products with 25 years of labor workmanship warranty and a lifetime on the shingles.
At Coastal Windows & Exteriors, we care about keeping your home safe and making it beautiful and energy-efficient. That is why we are offering FREE estimates to get your project started.
Call 978-817-7072 today or sign up here for a free estimate.
