There's never a good time for your roof to reveal whatever problems have been developing silently overhead for the last months or years. The expense of dealing with a failing roof is never something a homeowner is happy to face, and the tendency is to try to solve the problem while spending as little as possible. While that impulse is understandable, it's not always the best option, as this advice from a roofing company in county shows.

How to Know Your Roof Has Problems

• If your gutters start getting clogged with granules from your shingles or other roofing material, you have issues.
• If you can see broken, cracked, or misplaced shingles or other roofing material as you look at the house from the outside, you need help.
• If you’re in the attic and you notice light, that’s obviously an issue,
• But if you notice that your insulation is damp or wet, that’s just as much a problem.
• If you find flashing on the ground outside your home or you can see that there is flashing missing from your home as you look at it from the outside, your roof probably deserves attention.

Those are the ‘early warning’ signs — they require you to pay attention in places you normally might not. If you miss them (and sometimes even if none of them are present), you’ll eventually start seeing warning signs inside your home, like:

• Your wallboards are starting to discolor.
• The paint on your exterior walls or ceiling is starting to bubble or crack.
• Your wallpaper is peeling.
• Mildew or mold is starting to form in the attic, on the ceiling, or on the tops of the walls.
• Your ceiling is starting to show spots, and you don’t know what they are or why.

If you see any of these signs, immediately seek out a roofing company in Plymouth Meeting, PA to assess your roof and tell you how bad the damage is. In general, here are the rules to keep in mind:

Aim for a Repair If…

• Your roof is less than 20 years old (depending on the material and workmanship),
• Your roof’s warranty hasn’t expired yet,
• There is only a small leak, and it has an obvious, repaired source, or
• You’ve never hired a contractor to deal with your roof before.

Aim for a Replacement If…

• None of the above bullet points apply,
• Your roof has been repaired several times in the past,
• Multiple leaks were found in several different places of the roof’s structure,
• You tried a repair, and it didn’t work.

Obviously, the best of all worlds is noticing the problem early and finding out that it’s a minor thing. But if you ask a roofing company in Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462 and they tell you the problem is hairier than you’d like, don’t hesitate. Get the right thing done, promptly and thoroughly.