Seven Effects of Wind and Rain on Commercial Roofing Materials
Just one heavy windstorm can cause serious roof damage. It doesn’t even have to be a hurricane or tornado. Your preferred Atlanta, GA, roofing and restoration company advises you to have your commercial roofing structure inspected at least once a year. If it’s an emergency, we encourage you to seek help immediately. The following seven scenarios depict examples of wind and rain effects on rooftops.
1. Wind Blows Debris Across Your Roof
Wind can abruptly sweep trash, branches, nails and litter at harsh speeds across a commercial rooftop. It can dig into or poke, scratch and tear its materials, which often causes leaks.
2. Air Blows Underneath Shingles, Causing Curling
When this happens, it’s part of what causes potentially dangerous puddles of water to collect on the roof. Additionally, it results in the appearance of moisture-thriving pathogens such as mold or bacteria. Wind could turn up some edges so much so that water penetrates through weakened seals of many commercial roofs and cause hazards for employees, guests, customers and more.
3. Wind Puts Extra Pressure on Flashings
The thin metal strips that prevent water from seeping into your rooftop vents, smokestacks and plumbing are called flashings. Fierce winds can twist, warm and bend these metal strips. When this happens, the flashings become weakened and loosened. This damage provides an extra entryway for water to flow into your building’s interior.
4. Rain and Snow Increase Deck or Flashing Destruction
If it’s not flying debris, rain and snow along with harsh winds increase precipitation pressure on the deck and flashings. Don’t forget hail, which pelts into your commercial roofing materials and causes dents, nicks and gashes. The impact could be so hard that it adds another way for rainwater to stream through your roof onto your furniture, floors, walls and belongings.
5. Contrasting Indoor and Outdoor Pressure Causes Roof Blow-off
Violent hurricanes or tornadoes are not the only causes of roof blow-off, and it might not happen immediately upon the first moderate windstorm you ever have. Whether sudden or gradual, one or more gushes of wind can weaken the roof’s frames, bonding and adhesive, hardware, and other roof construction materials. With this happens, at least a part of the roof can blow off from your building, which is also caused by the dramatic differences between the indoor and outdoor air pressures.
6. Gutter Debris Accumulates, Causing Clogs
Winds can push leaves, twigs, mud and other trash in all directions, and sometimes these matters end up inside your rooftop drains. This will add pressure to your deck, shingles, insulation and frame and contribute to causes of roof sagging or cave-ins. Clogs also increase instances of standing water puddles, which result in moisture damage plus mold, moss, bacteria or other unwanted organism growth.
7. Moisture Damage Caused by Standing Water
A roof often starts to bow after a severe storm. This, along with curled-up shingle edges, can result in standing water that needs to be removed before it sits too long and causes the growth of pathogenic germs and the accumulation of contaminated litter. Increasing water weight could also max out your roof’s load capacity.
Schedule Your Commercial Roof Inspection Today
You can never be too sure, especially after a severe windstorm, tornado or hurricane. Even if you don’t notice any visible damage, we welcome you to contact us and schedule your commercial roof inspection today.
