If your house has a flat roof, you need to be watchful for signs of water ponding on the surface. Even though your roof is flat, it should still be designed with enough of a slant that rain rolls to the gutters. However, sometimes water accumulates on the roof instead, and this can lead to a variety of problems. Here are some reasons ponding on your home's roof is bad and what a roofer can do about the problem.

Reasons Ponding Is Bad For Your Roof

Water is heavy, so if the puddle of water is very big, the weight might be too much for your roof and cause the roof to sag. This creates further problems with ponding since a sagging roof is even more likely to hold water puddles. Your roof could eventually collapse if it sags too much, especially if the deck is rotted due to leaking in the roof depression.

Water that ponds on your roof can also attract pests. You don't want mosquitoes hanging around your home. The water might attract birds and rodents too, and those pests can cause damage to your roof, so you want them to stay away.

Another problem with ponding is that a roof that's always damp might start to grow algae. That can make your roof look ugly with a slick layer of black or green growth. If you use your flat roof for a deck, the sight of algae growing on the roof could decrease your enjoyment of the roof deck.

Ways To Correct A Roof Ponding Problem

The first thing roofers need to do when dealing with a problem on a flat roof is to determine the exact cause of the issue. If water stands on your roof, it's because it isn't draining as it should. This might be due to an accumulation of leaves or other debris that blocks rain to keep it from rolling toward the drain. The problem might even be a clogged drain or gutters that are full of leaves.

Another reason a flat roof won't drain can be due to an alteration in the slope of the roof. This might happen if the roof settles or begins to sag. Also, repairs to the roof might have altered the slope so rain can't drain.

Your roofer might need to clear out leaves or correct problems created by recent roof repairs to restore proper drainage of the roof. They might also need to build up the roof slightly to create a slope that allows rain to drain. Creating a roof slope might need to be done by cutting out the damaged part of the roof and putting in new roofing.

If you get a new roof, the roofer might use spray foam to create a slope that improves drainage or they can adjust the slope of the roof frame and deck to make sure water drains as it should. The roofer might also consider installing an internal drain so rain doesn't have to roll all the way to the edges to leave the roof.

If your roof doesn't need to be repaired or replaced to fix the slope, once the drainage has been improved, the roofer needs to make sure the roof wasn't damaged by the ponding water. If the deck under the membrane roofing is wet, it could rot over time, so the roofer may need to make repairs that dry out the roof.

For more information on roof ponding, contact roofers near you.