A good home requires a good roof. That’s not the only thing you need, of course, but it’s a pretty critical element to ensuring your home is a safe and happy environment. And in Florida, there are a few things that make roof issues a little more likely than they are in other states.
Sure, Florida is home to some of the sunniest cities in the country, but that doesn’t guarantee your roof will remain in pristine, sun-baked shape. Here are some occasions when you’ll need to get a roof inspection in the Sunshine State for roof damage. And if you’re not sure how to go about doing that, just keep reading.
Get an inspection after a storm
Florida gets a lot of rain and lightning. You can blame its unique location between two coasts for the fact that it gets an average of more than 25 lightning strikes for every square mile. When you’ve got that much heat surrounded by that much water, you’re more likely to get thunderstorms and related weather events.
If you hear a lightning storm in your area, stay indoors. Contrary to popular belief, you’re not 100 percent safe from lightning strikes even if you’re inside a house, but your odds of avoiding electrocution are still a lot better inside your house than outside it.
Don’t rush outside five minutes after the storm passes to check for damage to the exterior of your house. You don’t want to do that and get caught by the storm’s second wave. You can look for signs of damage the next day. That means looking for wind damage or lightning damage around your property.
It doesn’t mean climbing up on your roof to get an up-close-and-personal look; that’s a great way to get hurt. If you’re worried about storm damage in Central Florida, start calling roofing contractors in Orlando. They can safely and swiftly tell you what, if any, harm befell your roof.
But try to call the next day rather than the next week. Housing contractors are in high demand whenever a storm passes through. You don’t want to be left waiting a few weeks or months for someone to come out and either give you the all-clear or say you’re going to need X amount of repairs.
Other signs of roof damage
It can be harder to spot roof damage when things are normal. If you’re in the middle of a sunny and clear summer with no clouds in sight, you may not think much about the roof. You shouldn’t stay up at night staring at the ceiling and wondering what trouble lurks beneath your shingles, but you should practice basic awareness.
For instance, pay attention to your electric bills. If you have a higher bill than usual (and there wasn’t a recent heat wave), it could be because of a gap in your roof that’s letting air escape. If air is escaping, it can’t cool off your home. If it can’t cool off your home, then your air conditioner has to work even harder to keep up.
Don’t forget to clean your home’s gutters on a regular basis as well. This is important for a few reasons, especially since it allows you to find out what kind of stuff is draining off your roof. If it’s leaves and pine needles, that’s not a huge deal. But if chunks of your roof seem to be coming off and landing in the gutters, you need to get a roofing inspector out there right away.
One or two shingles breaking off might be an anomaly. But if there are several of them coming loose, that’s a pattern that must be addressed.
