Welcome to Family Roofing

• Missing Shingles: Missing shingles from your roof is one of the primary reasons that it will leak any time of year.  However, the winter winds do have the potential to knock shingles loose from your roof.  Unless you see loose shingles in your yard, it’s pretty hard to know they’re missing without a professional inspection.

• Trapped Snow or Ice: This is the main way that snow and ice can cause a winter roof leak.  If snow or ice becomes stuck on your roof and is unable to drain, it will begin to leak through your roof as it melts.  If your roof only leaks directly after a snow storm, this may be the reason why.

• Shingles Nearing End of Life: The shingles are your roof’s first and best line of defense against the elements.  However, as they age, they begin to lose the grit and granules that make them resistant to water.  If your shingles aren’t the best quality or are extremely old, they will begin to leak.

• Exposed Nail Heads: Correct installation is the key to a long lasting, leak-free roof.  However, if your roof was badly installed, it may contribute to winter roof leaks or leaks any other time of the year.  On a properly installed shingle roof, the nail heads will be completely secure.

• Poor Flashing: Flashing does an important job in sealing your roof to water.  If it was done incorrectly, it can lead to serious problems.  Flashing is the part of a roof that diverts water away from areas where it is vulnerable to leaks, such as chimneys, skylights and where the roof meets the siding.  This can be a factor in winter as poor flashing can go hand in hand with leaks from melting snow and ice.

Ice Dams

The primary cause of winter weather roof leaks are ice dams.  If your roof is poorly insulated and lacks proper ventilation, warm temperatures in your attic can cause condensation  and the snow on your roof to melt and accumulate in your gutters causing ice dams.  When ice dams start to melt during the sun of the day and refreeze at night, will cause the freezing water to back up and under the shingles causing leaks.

To prevent new ice dams from forming, make sure your roof is well insulated for your climate.  Not only will this help avoid ice damming, it could also lower your heating and cooling bills year round.

Additional Sources Of Winter Roof Leaks

If you don’t find any ice dams and the “leak” is in a damp room of your home, such as an unventilated or poorly ventilated bathroom or kitchen, the problem may actually be condensation.  Consider adding ventilation to those rooms by installing powered bathroom or kitchen range vents.

Bad Seams:  During any season, the seams on your roof are some of the most susceptible areas for water infiltration.  If the seams between panels or between rolls of membrane are already faulty, winter will make them leak.  You’ll especially see the bad seams on a roof leaking when the temperatures rise in the days following a heavy snowfall.  This causes the snow to rapidly melt, which funnels the runoff into the faulty seams, causing serious winter roof leaks.

Cracking in Roof Membrane:  The membrane of your flat roof works hard year-round to keep the building watertight.  However, winter can prove to be a difficult season for the membrane to survive.  The consistent freezing and thawing cycle of winter puts stress on the membrane itself, causing cracking in older roofs and eventually leaks.