Staying out in the sun for an extended period of time can be very uncomfortable. Your skin starts to flake and your body starts sweating as a response to all that heat. Your roof isn’t safe from the sun either and it can suffer extensively with how hot it can get. So we’ve put together just a few ways the sun destroys your roof.
Different Ways The Sun Destroys Your Roof
Despite being the Earth’s best friend, the sun isn’t exactly the best when it comes to making sure your roof stays in top condition for years to come. The sun can easily shorten the lifespan of roofs, especially in excessively hot areas like Arizona and Texas.
Rapid Expansion and Contraction
When dealing with the sun, you can expect that the heat will eventually dissipate when night comes. This might be a quiet respite for your roof to relax from the heat but it has its own dangers.
During the day, the heat expands the materials in your roof, especially if it’s made of metal. As the day transitions to night, that heat rapidly dissipates and causes your roof to contract. This will happen almost every day of your roof’s life. This repeated expansion and contraction will slowly wear your roof out and cause it to become more brittle as the years go by.
UV Damage
UV rays are what you want when you want to get a tan nowadays, but it extensively damages your roof in the long run. A freshly installed roof will be able to reflect these rays but as time goes by, the UV rays will begin peeling off this protective layer. This causes your roof’s shingles to curl and crack under all the heat.
Bleaching
Your roof’s beauty isn’t safe from the heat of the sun either. Bleaching is something that can happen to anything left out in the sun too long. This is where the material, in this case your shingles, start losing their color and start becoming white.
What Can You Do?
It can get as hot as 100 degrees in the span of just a few hours and this can easily cook your roof from the inside out. Your attic isn’t safe either as the heat will turn your attic into an oven. Your roof will start baking from the inside out if that happens. So, what can you do to protect your roof?
Use Heat Resistant Materials
The market has specially designed shingles that are built to withstand even the hottest weather. Ask your contractor to have these installed if you ever plan to have a re-roofing project.
Don’t Underestimate The Power of Insulation
Your insulation is a key component in keeping the heat in your roof balanced. Not only do you have to pay less for air conditioning, you also don’t have to deal with your roof baking from the inside out since your insulation will absorb and dissipate the excess heat.
Constant Inspections and Maintenance
This should be an important part of any homeowner’s routine. This helps keep your roof in top condition regardless of what happens on the outside, rain or shine. If you aren’t confident in finding all the problems, feel free to contact a professional to fix your roofing problems for you.
Renco Roofing is always ready to give you the best service in the industry, regardless of the temperature outside or the overbearing sun!
