Year in and year out, your roof works hard to protect you from the harsh Nevada sun, rain, snow, hail, and nearly everything else that falls down from the sky. Sometimes, just a few roof shingles get banged up or torn off, in which case a quick repair job will do the trick.
It’s wonderful to see Nevada’s suburban neighborhoods covered in snow! Families build snowmen, sled down hills, or just lie down and make snow angels. But, as with all good things, too much snow can mean bad news, especially for your roof.
Firstly, snow may melt and refreeze into ice dams that could compromise the watertightness of your roof and cause leaks.
If water drips down from your ceiling or walls during one of Nevada’s torrential rainstorms, your roof likely has a leak. Not only can the water drench carpets, damage furniture, or create slip hazards, but it can also initiate wood rot in the roof’s infrastructure and foster the growth of toxic mold in your house.
It’s no secret that Nevadans love Christmas, and they celebrate it by going all out with their holiday decorations. In cities like Reno, you’ll find giant Christmas trees festooned with countless garlands and baubles. And in the suburbs, homes are decked from walkways to roofs with dazzling Christmas lights.
Well-built roofs are meant to withstand extreme weather conditions and heavy loads such as accumulated snow (up to a point), but all sorts of critters can diminish roofs’ structural integrity and strength. To make the crown of your Nevada home last as long as possible, watch out for these pests:
Termites and carpenter ants
When your roof suffers a leak and wooden structures start to rot, termite and carpenter ant infestations usually follow.
Nevada experiences all sorts of extreme weather year after year. If your roof suffers extensive damage due to hail or a severe thunderstorm, paying for repairs or replacements all on your own would be a tremendous financial burden. If you’re a home insurance policyholder, however, your insurer may cover most of the expenses.
Skylights are best included in the design of your Nevada home before you have it built. This is because you can immediately incorporate skylights into your total construction costs. You can also install one or more skylights on an existing roof, provided these make sense design-wise, fit into your desired space, and can be installed in a structurally sound way.
The most popular type of home roof ventilation in Nevada and most of America is passive vertical ventilation. This does not use anything mechanical and relies solely on convection to release hot air and pull cooler outside air into the house.
Roof ventilation is important because hot air carries water vapor.
In a previous post, we discussed the signs that you need better roof ventilation for your Nevada home. Here, we’ll take a look at ventilation methods, the most common vent options available for each method, and how they may be what you need for your roof.
Roofs shield us against the Nevada sun, wind, rain, and hail. While they’re built to be tough, our roofs will suffer dents, scrapes, and cracks — all of which can lead to water leaks. However, water dripping from the ceiling is only the least of your worries.