Smyrna Georgia / Cobb County Georgia
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Home, Condo, Commercial Inspection Services

Home Inspection Library J C Weise Property Inspector Woodstock, GA www.UpscaleInspections.com

Understanding Your Roof

A lot of us live in Atlanta because of the climate. However, it is that same climate that can play havoc with your roof. Here’s what happens: When the lumber was ordered for your house, it was what we call “green lumber,” having a typical moisture content of 20%, sometimes higher. The natural drying process as the house was being built typically causes the moisture content to fall to between 7% and 10%. Now that construction is finished, the house has to suffer through twelve months of beautiful Atlanta sunshine, as well as Atlanta rainfall. During those sunny months, the moisture content in wood can fall to between 1% and 3%, causing shrinkage gaps between various wood components. At the same time, the flashings and sealants on the roof are drying out, becoming brittle, and cracking. Now the heavy summer thunder storms come. Leaks everywhere! Yes, in our climate, the roof and flashing on your house can fail at any time.

Here’s how to protect your investment without spending a lot of money and without waiting until thousands of dollars worth of damage occur because of a roof leak. Put in your annual maintenance budget a couple of hundred dollars or so for a qualified roofing contractor. Then, every October when you set your clocks back (or any other easily remembered day in the Fall, but definitely before the rainy season), pay a roofing contractor to come out and examine your roof. Some roofing contractors also provide a one-year warranty against leaks. Of course, if they find problems, they will want to make repairs before they provide a warranty. Now you should make it through the rainy season with no problems. And a couple of hundred dollars or so in preventive maintenance is much better than waiting until the roof leaks and going through the anguish of major damage to the interior and to your furniture, pictures, and other priceless mementoes of you and your family (like your wedding album).

Your roof covering will last a long time in our climate if you’ll do three things: First, make sure your attic has adequate ventilation, such as any combination of gable, soffit, static, turbine, and ridge vents; or attic fans. Second, make sure you attic has adequate insulation, typically fiberglass batts or loose fill insulation. Some older properties might also have a loose material called vermiculite, many types of which are known to contain asbestos. If such insulation is present in your attic, it will be noted in your email report. Third, give a roofing contractor a couple of hundred bucks or so each year, or toward the end of whatever warranty period the roofing contractor provides you, to inspect your roof and flashing. Such preventive maintenance many times will save you the heartache of a roof leak and damage to your furniture and othe r valuable or sentimental property.

If you have any questions about anything, simply contact me.

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