The wild temperature swings and heavy precipitation common in spring around Waterloo, IA are annoying and can cause a variety of issues with a home. For example, roofing companies in Iowa often have to deal with sleet-related roof damage just about every spring.

If your roof has experienced a lot of sleet damage this spring, you need to read through this information to understand this topic more thoroughly. Sleet may not be as damaging as hail or snow, but it can still cause unique issues that roofing companies in Waterloo can help you repair if they happen to you during this spring or even later in winter.

How Sleet Develops

Sleet is a frustrating type of spring and winter precipitation that typically occurs during warmer parts of the seasons. Typically, sleet forms when the cloud temperature is warm enough to produce rain, but the air temperature is cold enough to freeze it, slightly, as it falls. In this way, sleet is similar to hail but isn’t as solid. Instead,it’s more like a slush that falls through the air in small clumps.

This type of precipitation is so frustrating because it falls very heavily through the air and can cause a variety of issues with your home. For example, you might see sleet build up on your roofing tiles and in your gutters. Sleet also has a tendency to slap heavily against a home’s siding and other areas of your house and can cause a variety of damage that is often hard to manage.

Thankfully, sleet typically doesn’t stay solid for long and often melts to form water more quickly than hail. However, sleet can also damage your roof in a variety of problematic ways. Understanding how sleet impacts your home can give you a better insight into how to protect your roof and the various ways that you can keep your home safe from spring precipitation.

Damage Sleet Does to a Roof

Although sleet may not be as problematic as hail for your roof’s health, you may still see signs of damage that require roofing companies to fix. For example, just a few of the ways that sleet can impact the structural integrity of your roof include:

• Damage to Shingles – Cold sleet can cause exterior damage to a shingle, issues with their staples or nails, or even trigger curls around the edges of each shingle
• Issues with Interior Roofing – Sleet often makes its way into various areas of your roof and causes water-related damage that can lead to leaks and other concerns
• Issues with Interior Roofing – Sleet often makes its way into various areas of your roof and causes water-related damage that can lead to leaks and other concerns
• Underlying Damage – Your shingles attach to the underlying area of your roof, and damage to this area can trigger a myriad of problems that are hard to manage
• Window Problems – Sleet may cause cracks and other types of damage around your windows, which can let in high levels of precipitation that may damage your home even further
• Other Issues – Damage to your gutters, spouts, and other roofing areas may occur during a sleet storm, which can become a big issue during the heavy rainfall of spring

All of these issues make sleet a real problem for roofs, particularly in spring when the sun is starting to warm up the ground and your home more thoroughly. Warmer temperatures are pleasant, but they can cause surprising expansion and contraction issues that, when combined with sleet, may trigger a variety of damage that you need to know how to spot to keep your roof safe from other issues.

Inspect Your Roof for Damage

If your home suffered from a sleet storm and you’re worried about your roof, you should perform a simple inspection to ensure that no damage occurred. Start by walking around your house and looking up at the roof. Pay special attention to your shingles around the areas where the roof meets the sides of your home. These areas are often the most heavily damaged by sleet and other types of precipitation.

After you’ve done a from-the-ground inspection, carefully climb a ladder and inspect the roof from its rungs. However, avoid getting on top of your roof after a sleet storm, as it is likely to be quite slick and dangerous. Have someone hold the bottom of the ladder while you climb and inspect to avoid any accidents. Try to spot signs of single damage, such as cracks in the surface or missing nails.

While you’re on the roof, also check for the possibility of ice dams – which may linger into the spring – as these damaging areas can combine with sleet to cause serious issues with your home. Carefully break them apart to let the water and ice flow away or call roofing companies to help you with this problem. These experts can ensure that you don’t make a mistake and damage your roof by accident.

Signs of Real Issues

When you’re checking for damage on your roof, you need to pay attention to the following common issues as much as possible. These problems are more serious than other types of roof damage and must be addressed as soon as possible:

• Damaged Flashing – If the flashing of your roof shows signs of real damage, then there is a good chance that you’re going to experience leaks in the near future
• Bubbles On Your Roof – This problem occurs when moisture gets trapped under your roof cover – which commonly occurs with sleet – and causes hard-to-fix damage
• Cracks Throughout Your Roof Structure – Multiple cracks throughout your roof, such as on your singles or on the roof structure, can indicate widespread damage that you need to manage as soon as possible

The moment you see any of these problems with your roof, you should contact roofing companies to help you manage them. You simply can’t perform DIY on these types of problems – you’re likely to do more damage to your roof than good if you try.

Contact Professionals If You Need Help

The best step that you can take in this situation is to call a professional if you think that sleet has damaged your roof. Expert help is wise because they can come to your home, inspect any damage, and come up with a repair plan that meets your needs. Rather than risk DIY fixes that could cause complications with your roofing materials, contact us at Community Builders to learn more.

Our experts and their skill with high-quality repairs make us one of the most trusted roofing companies in Waterloo, IA and the surrounding areas. We work hard to provide you with a safe, reliable, and inexpensive repair process that is fully insured to protect your financial needs. Don’t hesitate to contact us and let us know if you need our help with sleet-related damage this spring.