Flashing is the unsung hero of your roofing system. It keeps out bugs, water, and air of all temperatures at your roof’s weakest spots. Not a lot of people fully understand how important their flashing really is!
Here at Accent Roofing, a significant number of roof repairs we perform are simply flashing work. When flashing needs to be repaired, small defects can look like big problems. The good news is, a lot of these repairs are simple and relatively inexpensive.
Here’s what your flashing does – and why you should be giving it more credit.
Flashing: Your Roof’s Protector
Flashing, typically made out of aluminum or another lightweight metal, is designed specifically to cover the gaps in your roofing system. Most of these gaps occur where your roof meets other things, such as your chimney or skylight, and others happen at the seams of the roof itself. Flashing is your roof’s first line of defense against all manner of threats, primarily water.
How Do Flashing Issues Occur?
Flashing doesn’t last forever, and it almost never lasts as long as the roof itself. Over time, nearly every kind of flashing will degrade. Over the years your flashing is likely to rust, to become warped in the heat or cold, and even to be knocked loose by falling pinecones or hail. Like any part of your roof, your flashing is only as effective as its installation, so the less professional your original flashing job, the sooner your flashing is likely to fail.
When Flashing Stops Working
From the ground, flashing may not look like much, but it’s vitally important to the overall health of your roof. Broken or bent flashing fast becomes an entry point into your home for unwanted water, and depending on the way the flashing is best, the water could actually be routed directly under your roof! When flashing isn’t functioning properly, moisture gets underneath your roof’s protective barriers and eventually, inside your house. This causes a multitude of problems like mildew, mold, and property damage.
Malfunctioning flashing is also terrible for the effectiveness of your HVAC system. When flashing isn’t forming a tight enough seal at the joints of your roof, air gets in and out. This throws off the entire ventilation system inside your roof and drastically decreases the effectiveness of your heating and air conditioning systems.
How is Flashing Repaired?
The good news is, repairing (or in most cases, replacing) flashing is a relatively straightforward process. Flashing itself is pretty inexpensive and depending on how long the problem has existed, repairs are usually pretty limited in scope. Larger problems emerge when flashing has been ineffective for months or even years; the water damage caused in cases like these can be extensive.
Questions about your flashing? If it’s been a few years since you’ve had your roof inspected, you’re overdue. Reach out to an experienced Georgia roofer today to learn more about what you should be looking at and why an annual roofing evaluation can add years to the life of your roof.
Give us a call today to schedule your evaluation:
1-770-477-4869
