According to the Farmer’s Almanac, this winter is supposed to be cooler and wetter than normal. Right about now, that sounds pretty good to me! But, what will it mean for your home, and specifically your roof? If you have any storm damage and haven’t called your Orlando roofer for repair and we do have a wet winter, it’s going to get bigger and potentially cause damage throughout your home. If you were lucky and didn’t sustain any hurricane damage, but your roof is nearing the end of its life, you could see roof leaks too.
How Cold Affects Your Roof
Granted cold in Orlando is very different than cold in most of the rest of the country. We won’t see snow or ice dams but that doesn’t mean we won’t see a day or two below freezing. If those freezing temperatures come while your roof is still wet from rain, small cracks in shingles can grow. That’s because water expands when it freezes. Little cracks grow when water freezes in them. When small cracks become big ones, you sustain roof damage. Unlike storm damage, this isn’t something easily seen by the untrained eye or from the ground. When you call your Orlando roofer, they should inspect it by climbing on the roof.
Not only can water cause damage but the simple change in temperature can as well. It’s not uncommon during a cold snap for the high temperature to be in the 50’s or 60’s and then drop into the high 20’s or low 30’s at night. This big swing in temperature can cause the shingles to swell and then shrink up. If your roof is older it won’t bounce back as well. Think about a rubber band. An old one doesn’t recover well the more it’s stretched. As your shingles stretch and shrink, the nail holes can stretch and the next big windstorm may lead to shingles blowing away.
Inside Affects the Outside
When it gets chilly, we tend to close up our homes and turn off our A/C. When we do this, we’re trapping moisture from showers, dishwashers, and people in the home. In homes with poor insulation that moisture rises up and goes into the attic. If your home has poor ventilation, that moisture is trapped in your attic. This can negatively impact your roof in several ways but mostly the roof’s structure.
We won’t know the accuracy of the Farmer’s Almanac until sometime in March. If they’re right, you’ll want your roof to be in top condition before winter sets in. You’ve likely seen that we, like most Orlando roofers, are very backed up with Hurricane Irma calls so if you’re needing roof repair or an inspection, call today to get your name on our schedule. Again, thank you for your patience – 407-388-7700.
