Animal Damages to Your Roof: Should You Call Your Roofers?

Making sure your roof is in top shape against all the weather-borne challenges it'll face is troublesome enough. However, you'll need to deal with one other issue: small animals damaging your residential roof. While small creatures wandering around the village and town looks beautiful, you wouldn't want to see them wandering in your attic or on your roofing materials.

Bird nests above asphalt shingle roofs look beautiful and photogenic. If you quickly search images about it, many photographers have captured its visual magic. However, these animals can cut your roof's lifespan extremely short. Birds have a highly-acidic diet, making their droppings dangerous to your asphalt shingles, clay tiles, and slate tiles' welfare.

Squirrels look cartoonish and have their respectively adorable traits. However, these cute critters are the stuff of nightmares once they start chewing against your vents and asphalt shingles. Squirrels are attracted to warm places, especially when your heater reaches your well-insulated attic. They'll use your attic as their residence and droppings area. Regular cleaning and roofing consultations can keep them away from your roof.

Whittles Roofing has an excellent post about addressing animal roofing damages. Read more about it below.

Seeing an animal on your roof could at first be a delightful sight. Upon further consideration, though, you might wonder whether they could damage something up there. In fact, you should get a ladder out and go check. Even a small animal could do substantial damage. Here are some of the most common culprits.

SQUIRRELS: CHEWING ON VENTS AND SHINGLES

Squirrels seem harmless, but they are commonly found nesting in attics for a reason. They look for areas that are warm in which to nest. If they want to nest in your attic, they may decide to cut straight through the shingles and vents. Squirrels are very good chewers; it may not take them much time at all to cut through even solid structures.

Once you've gotten rid of your squirrels, you may need to have your roof patched. A roofer will be able to find their entryways and deal with them appropriately. Without patching, water is eventually going to leak into your attic. In the short term, this will cause mold and mildew; in the long run, it can cause rot.

BIRDS: BLOCKED GUTTERS AND ACID DAMAGE

Nesting birds can be pleasant and sweet, but they can also cause damage. Birds can block your gutters with their nests, thereby making it more likely that your roof will flood during intense rains. This flooding isn't great for the birds, either: their nests or eggs may easily be washed away.

Acid damage is another problem. Birds excrete acids naturally. The acid from their droppings will slowly wear through your shingles and your paint. Not only will these stains be unattractive and difficult to clean, but they could contribute to mold and mildew damage. The acid from bird droppings could also eventually bore through your shingles and lead to leaking and other damage. (Continued)

If you're facing residential roofing problems without any recourse, you can always count on us at Slavin Home Improvements to provide you with the best solutions. Contact us today to learn more about everything that we can do with you.