Roof Collapse: Signs, Causes, Risks, and Prevention
Are you sure that you’re safe under your roof? Too bad, you might even be putting yourself into danger as you stay within the comforts of your home. That is if you failed to get your roof intact to endure any external pressure ascribed to bad weather that can literally bring the house down in a snap, thereby triggering roof collapse.
Perhaps you have been warned about dangerous roof collapse. Sure, the breaking news every winter about unfortunate incidents of roof collapse shall come handy. That should be enough to tell you more about the risks involved in roof collapse. The same should also compel you to explore on the signs, causes, and prevention of roof collapse.
Signs of Roof Collapse
Of course you should always conduct a roof check. That is the best place to look for irregularities that might indicate weak roofing structure such as deformed roof steel and sprinkler heads protruding on ceiling tiles. Finally, you might have also experienced excessive rainwater leakage during wet season.
Cracks can definitely crack you out especially when they are simply telling you to watch over your roof. Yes, you should never ignore emptied spaces on concrete, wood, or steel structures. Common red flags may include cracked walls, wood members, and welds supporting roof structure.
Did you know that doors can warn you against possible roof collapse? Doors that swing open with you hardly touching the door knob might be suggesting an unlikely scenario. Although it may sound ironic, hard-to-open doors might also suggest an ugly accident. The same also applies on jammed windows.
Once you’ve spotted any of these unlikely signs, you better spend more time checking out your roofing condition. If you’re not the handyman type, feel free to ask some help from a carpentry expert. After all, you’ll be needing carpentry service to fix your roofing structure anytime soon. In most cases, you’ll be advised to move out of the building while still on repair.
Causes of Roof Collapse
Although the transparent seam on your rooftop might not seem dangerous, trust me that solid ice can press the structure down the ground. Accumulated snow during winter season is the most common culprit in cases of roof collapse. No wonder, northeast residents have been haunted by ice capping their roofs.
Heavy rain can also put on unbearable pressure on your roof that it may just let it all go. Rain outpour might have just triggered roof collapse, though. Most, if not all incidents are ascribed to highly depreciated roof structure. That explains why the roof becomes prone to water tickles.
Strong winds blowing against your roof may also cause the structure to collapse. More often than not, it happens amidst natural disaster attacks such as hurricane, tornado, twister, and the like. These fortuitous events can be very aggressive that your new roofing may not stand a chance.
Weather is definitely a strong factor rendering the demise of roofing structures hence the snow, rain, and wind that commonly wage battle against your rooftop. Unfortunately, your roof has limited capacity to resist the pressure. Most roofs can only handle 20 pounds of weight per square foot. That might not even be the case if you’ve got ancient roof structure up there.
Risks Of Roof Collapse
Roof collapse is not a simple household disaster. In fact, you should not dare go back in the house to check some interior details. The aftermath can be more dangerous than the collapsing roof. Roof collapse can trigger domino effect thereby leading to full structural collapse. That means ruined roofing can lead to ruined ceiling, walls, flooring, and more of your home structures.
Apart from ruined solid structures, roof collapse might also lead to poisonous gas leakage. The collapse can cause broken gas lines leaving toxic fumes behind, not to mention broken vent pipes. Worst, these gasses trapped by a cave-in might lead to possible explosion once ignition takes place.
Electrical wiring might be another casualty in roof collapse since electrical wires may also be found creeping on the ceiling. Sparking electric wires can instantly ignite combustible gas trapped inside the house. That is why power shut down is highly recommended as soon as possible after a roof collapse.
Incidents of roof collapse are handled best by experts so you would be better off calling the emergency hotline. There are trained professionals that can go into the building to check structural condition. No worries, you shall get a clearance, as soon as things have been settled, in order for you to grab some items that can still be salvaged.
Prevention of Roof Collapse
There are many different ways to prevent a roof collapse. For instance, you can closely monitor roofing condition, particularly during winter season. Perhaps you can ask an expert to see whether your roof needs a touch repair. This way, you wouldn’t have to see your roof kissing the ground only to know that something is wrong.
Since accumulation of too much snow on the roof can lead to structural breakdown, you should keep your eyes up there. As much as possible, you should manage to scrape off snow deposits on the roof from time to time. Some tools shall definitely come useful such as some roof rakes.
Building codes imposed in US States also provide preventive measures against roof collapse. More often than not, margin of safety is dependent on roofing material. Heavy roofs are more tolerant than lightweight roofs. Roofing construction is also another factor that can trigger overload. Flat roofs are prone to snow deposits, specifically on step-down area, that is the portion in between roofing sections.
Most importantly, you have to learn more about roof overload to prevent roof collapse. Fresh snow does not normally cause intense pressure on the roof, not until snow deposits reach over four feet. Unlike fresh snow though, you should be more alarmed with packed snow given two feet maximum threshold.
Given these handy facts, roof collapse shall never knock you down. Just keep in mind the signs, causes, risks, and prevention of this household disaster. Besides, you know better about roof collapse this time around.