Asphalt Roofing Shingles & Wind Resistance

We all know wind can be a nice thing, and we also know it can be a bad thing. For your roof, it’s usually the latter. Strong winds, such as those generated by thunderstorms, can cause severe roof damage; asphalt-shingle roofs are particularly vulnerable. Let’s look into how to mitigate, or at least reduce, this aspect of storms.

Not Quite Bidirectional

In its simplest terms, wind is either blowing toward you or away from you. Out on an open field, this may be all you need. But wind interactions get a lot more complex when there’s things in the way – such as your roof, for instance. However, it does act fairly predictably when running into your home. If it hits the side, it’ll go up and over the roof with varying degrees of uplift pressure; uplift pressure is highest at the corners of the roofline, and almost as high at the edges. These areas are particularly vulnerable to wind damage. Wind moving across the roof surface creates negative (sometimes called suction) pressure, which may pick up shingles from your roof as it goes along and carry them away.

How Can We Help!

You’re Unique

How exactly wind is going to interact with your roof is an entirely unique set of circumstances specific to your home. However, there are several dependable factors that may affect wind’s capacity to harm your roof. Wind speed and direction are two factors that affect everyone, but the following list is different for every home:
Location and weather patterns. If your home is in a hurricane or tornado-prone area or an area with frequent high winds, roof damage is more likely.
Roof geometry. High-pitched gable roofs can be damaged more easily, while four-sided hip roofs can take more of a beating.
Flawed installation. If something wasn’t done right during your roof’s installation phase, that will make it more susceptible to damage.
Age and condition. If your roof is old, or it has suffered previous damage already, the decreased resilience will make it easier to damage further.
Unaddressed previous damage. If your roof is already damaged and that damage has yet to be repaired, it’ll be at increased risk of further damage in the meantime.

What Do I Look For?

Signs of roof damage range from obvious to subtle. Obvious damage includes punctures from things like fallen branches, large swathes of exposed underlayment where shingles have been removed by the wind, mangled, missing, or outright destroyed sections of flashing, and missing hip or ridge shingles. Subtle damage is considerably harder to spot. Our professionals know exactly what to look for, however, so if you think your roof has been harmed by a recent storm, give 1OAK Roofing a call.