Water that sits on your roof from a heavy rainfall or a snowstorm can cause leaking and damage. This sitting water, if left unattended, often leads to the need for costly roof repair. The residential roofing experts at Columbia Roofing in Elkridge, MD, define sitting water as any amount of water from precipitation that has not drained from your roof within 48 hours. Here, they explain why sitting water can cause damage to your roof.

The main reason why sitting water can damage your structure and lead to roof repair is weight. While you may not realize it, water is exceptionally heavy. One inch of sitting water on one square foot of your roof weighs approximately five pounds. As you can imagine, this weight builds up quickly as more water accumulates over a wider area. In fact, if you have just one inch of standing water over an area of only 10 feet by 10 feet, you’ll have an additional weight on your roof of 1,000 pounds! Your roof was designed to hold a certain amount of weight, and when that limit is exceeded, you run the risk of leaks or even roof collapse.

Another reason why sitting water on your roof can cause leaks is due to pinhole imperfections on the surface of the roof. These little holes run all the way through the material of the roof. Normally, pinhole imperfections are not an issue because precipitation simply runs off the sloped roof as it’s designed to do. But when you have a buildup of sitting water, the water can leak through the pinholes and into the interior of your home.

If you have questions about sitting water and what you can do to prevent it, contact Elkridge’s most trusted roofing company today. Call Columbia Roofing at (410) 479-6100, like them on Facebook, or visit the website for more information on their roof repair services.