When homeowners find pests around their property, they may assume that the creatures have come from inside the home. However, many times, pests can be tracked to a roof. When a roofer comes to your house for a site visit, they might check the roof and be able to tell you what type of damage was done by rodents or insects. Of all the different types of insects, wasps are perhaps the most dangerous, especially wasp nests.
Sometimes wasps can be a bit territorial, and build their wasp nest close to your house. This is why wasp nest removal needs to take place regularly to help prevent any damage from occurring. Both rodents and insects can cause roof damage. Insect infestation is not normally a problem on roofs. However, it becomes ideal for insects to breed when the roof has already been damaged. The following are some types of roof damages caused by animals or pests.
Destruction of Shingles or Tiles on Roofs
Even with proper pest control measures taken, rodents and insects will continue to come back into a home because of nearby sources of food that attract them, such as garbage cans or pet dishes outside. Homeowners should keep their properties clear of clutter as much as possible to prevent the animals from living in places such as fallen leaves or piles of debris.
As rodents are mammals, they will create nests for their young in attics, which may cause fire hazards if the home is not equipped with proper fire detection systems. Small animals also bring insects into a structure through their feces and urine, bringing even more destruction. Specifically, these animals can carry insects that destroy shingles or tiles on roofs.
Rats especially are known to gnaw through just about anything to find food, including metal vent pipes, vinyl siding, wood beams supporting floors and roof structures, or other components that are crucial to keeping a house standing strong. Rats have even been known to chew gas lines within walls of homes that eventually lead to gas fires. Using a combination of specific traps and insecticides, a pest exterminator can completely remove unwanted visitors from your home, preventing damage to your property and belongings.
Roof Damage Caused by Rodents
Rodents and insects can damage a roof in many ways, including causing structural issues that may collapse. Rodents are one of the main causes of rooftop destruction. They are drawn to homes because they are warm, dry shelters for animals during cold weather. The buildup of urine and feces inside attics is another major reason rodents cause severe damage while living in a structure.
Their cozy habitat may be underneath the insulation in an attic or within components that become damaged due to the animal’s presence, including air ducts. Rodents can cause serious damage to your home’s exterior if their population is not controlled quickly. They only require a small opening or hole in the exterior walls of your house or building to gain access.
Once inside, rodents will eat through siding, insulation, wiring, piping, and any other part of the structure that gets in their way as they look for food, water, and shelter. Their droppings contaminate everything they touch, making it unhealthy for humans to live in a building invaded by rodents. When these creatures have been captured, they must be removed from the home safely to prevent them from returning.
Roof Damage Caused by Termites
Termites can cause extensive damage to the building structure of any home or commercial property if not detected and treated at an early stage. These insects eat through any cellulose material they can find, including wood, paper, cardboard, and even insulation. Like rodents, termites leave their droppings everywhere they go inside a structure, contaminating everything they touch.
Once a colony is established, no amount of treatment will stop them from eating the entire property until it collapses upon itself. Rodent entry points include broken pipes, gaps around outside components of a house such as vents or downspouts, and holes in basements or crawl spaces. Roofing services will seal these openings after an exterminator has been called to eliminate the animal inside the home.
Rodents must be out of a structure for this process to occur successfully. Rodent-proofing a house is also crucial to stopping infestations quickly. Time is needed for rodenticide baits that kill them before they can reproduce and cause even more damage. A whole-house inspection of rodents and insects is recommended two times annually in most homes. In some cases, more frequent inspections are required.
Damp Spots on the Ceiling
The most common damage caused by animals is a buildup in cooperage on the top surface. This usually occurs in attics with a considerable amount of insulation that serves as an attractive food source for insects or rodents that fall into it from the attic space above. The buildup over time makes it difficult for moisture to pass through and leads to damp spots on ceilings below. This can later cause mold growth within homes when left untreated. In these cases, the pests must be removed from all affected areas before repairs occur.
Roofers will often need to be involved after a pest exterminator has visited the property to care for pests that cause damage to roofs or below them. Roofing companies are commonly called out to fix various types of damage caused by animals attempting to access food sources within homes or structures on top of them. These damages are normally to shingles, wood, vents, or siding. Insects, rodents, bats, and birds can cause various types of harm to roofs.
In some cases, squirrels will continue to access a structure by chewing through vents located on roofs. This allows them to live in the attic’s insulation and build the house in the space between the walls within the structure. Find the local roof installer to replace the vents and any parts of the roof that have been damaged. Often, a roof replacement company replaces the timber around these vents if there are signs that squirrels have been gnawing on them.
Damage to Roof Wooden Components
Insects such as bees or wasps can also cause damage to wooden components found throughout the property, including roofs. These pests generally build nests under loose shingles, soffits, rakes, overhangs, and other areas beneath roofs where they cannot be seen from the ground. In these cases, health risks must be assessed before any affected area can be removed. If possible, a roofer should wait until an animal removal expert can assess the problem and remove pests from affected areas.
In some cases, birds or bats will use roofs as resting points throughout the day even if they are not nesting there. These pests do not cause damage directly to roofs. However, they may leave droppings that contain corrosive acid on exterior surfaces below them, leading to rusting over time. This does not typically present a safety hazard. A roofer must be cleaned up as soon as they have been alerted about it, so it does not create slippery hazards for those walking along the exterior of structures. There are many types of roof damages pests can cause. Residential roof repair companies are trained to handle these repairs once they have been taken care of.
If you suspect a pest problem in your home, it is best to call an exterminator immediately to assess the situation before any major damage occurs on your property. Once this has occurred, contact a reliable roofer to fix the damage caused by these creatures.
Roof Leaks
Mice, bats, birds and squirrels chewing on wooden structures can cause damage if not treated right away. Time is an important factor when doing repairs. It is crucial to get the fix done quickly before any more damage is caused. If you do not want an expensive bill from your insurance company for rodent damage, it is best to catch any pest before the roof is damaged. Roofers know how to inspect.
The roofing experts also fix leaks as soon as possible because they deal with them daily. Roofers also patch up holes in roofs caused by large birds like sparrows, starlings, and woodpeckers. The holes can cause a lot of damage when these birds build their nests inside the attic. This can lead to insulation loss and moisture buildup that damages wooden beams and rafters.
The first step for fixing the hole made by these large nests is calling an exterminator. After removing the nest from the structure, a professional roofer will repair any damages from having a bird’s nest on your roof. Roofers also need to know how to waterproof roofs properly. This can be done by using different types of membranes, which is a material that prevents water from passing through them.
The membrane will run the entire roof. Roofers use special adhesives or sand-to-shingle methods for attaching the membrane onto the roof’s surface. Membranes are often made of rubber. However, they can also manufacture with polyurethane or glass.
Roof Flashing Damages
When shingles start to fall off, one repair would be putting the new one on top of them. New shingles can be attached to an existing one with nails. However, the new layer must overlap the old one properly to prevent water from seeping underneath to avoid future leaks. Shingle granules can also add up, causing a worse leak.
Granule loss results from wind, sun exposure, and other weather elements. As shingles age, they lose these granules, which fill up gutters with debris over time. The roofer makes a minor repair to replace the missing shingle granules and replace any damaged or detached shingles. Mice and other pests can cause a roof that needs to be fixed by professionals like roofers.
There are many different types of damage. Roofers are called when rodents or insects damage the roof in some way. Residential roof repair must be done properly to fix any damage caused by rodents or insects. There are special types of nails that roofers use when repairing flashing.
One type is called pop-rivets. The aluminum nail with a circular head is designed to attach through the roofing felt and into the structural decking of the roof. Another type of nail is called cut-ring shank nails. The nails are used with a special application technique to pull down the metal flashing where it is needed.
Roof Gnawing Damages
One of the biggest problems that homeowners can face is rodent infestation. Rodents cause damage by gnawing on wood and plastic. This can end up causing major holes in roofs, decks, and even siding. Rats and mice love to chew on electrical wires and cables for insulation. They do not get electrocuted when dining in your house.
Roofers deal with the types of damages rodents or insects cause by replacing guttering if necessary and repairing any holes where pests have access. When gutter systems are not maintained on homes and businesses, they become an easy entry point for pests. Gutters also need to be cleaned out regularly to flow quickly and smoothly through them.
If gutter cleaning is neglected, roof leaks may develop, leading to costly repairs. Rodents such as squirrels often build nests in gutter or vent pipes which cause the system to back up and overflow. This, of course, leads to a major gutter repair issue. If water is dripping down your walls or ceilings, it might be because rodents chewed directly through the exposed pipes. This can leave you with serious water damage if not spotted early enough by a roofer. Schedule an inspection as soon as you notice anything odd.
Insects such as roaches carry bacterial diseases that can cause allergies and irritations in people living beneath the roof. Rodents damage your roof. They will also contaminate your stored food because of their urine and stool. There is no doubt that you need to get rid of them as soon as possible. After an exterminator is called to deal with the rodents or insects causing damage, ensure you hire a roof repair expert to help repair your roof.
