Paranasal sinuses (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

My sinuses have been killing me lately.  I made it in to the office today, but my head feels like it is on another planet.  I’m not quite sure what’s up with this weather, but it sure is confusing.  Besides being confusing, the drastic changes in temperature can be quite damaging to your roof (as well as my sinuses).

The pain in my sinuses, I think is caused by changes in the atmospheric pressure as cold fronts or warm fronts move through our area.  These same fronts can bring wild swings in temperature that can exceed the ability your roofing materials to accommodate the change.

Expansion and Contraction

Warm temperatures heat up the roofing materials and they expand.  Cold temperatures cause your roofing materials to contract.  Good roofing details allow for this expansion and contraction to occur at planned locations so that the roof itself is not damaged.  Sometimes, however the materials in the field of the roof, lose their elasticity.  This may happen because of UV degradation or just due to plain old age (maybe that’s the case with my sinuses too?).  When the materials lose their elasticity and changing temperatures cause the materials to expand and contract, bad things happen to your roof.

• Splits can occur in built-up roofing felts
• Seams can begin to pull apart on single ply roofing systems
• Flashing can pull away from walls or curbs
• Edge metal joints will split open
• Fasteners in metal roofs may need to be resealed 

What Can Be Done

I’ve often hear it said that…

“Knowledge is power”

Knowing that these things occur gives you an advantage in being proactive and preventing serious damage to your building and it’s contents.  Check your roof, or have it checked by a professional roofing company in the Spring and in the Fall.  This allows you to catch minor items before they become major issues that will cost you major dollars.

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