Leaky roofs are problematic in residential properties. For commercial or industrial properties, they can be an emergency that cannot be fixed soon enough.

For one thing, a leaking roof exposes your business and properties to the vagaries of the weather, which may potentially lead to the loss or damage of important or confidential materials. For another, a leaky roof constitutes a health hazard to you, your workers, and your business partners. A leaky roof denigrates the ambiance you’ve carefully crafted for your business, not to mention the fact that it doesn’t speak well of you to potential clients.

It’s best to fix a leaky roof as soon as you notice the issue because the following are just some ways a leaky roof may impact your business negatively:


1. Mold and Mildew Growth
There’s a quick and easy way to identify the presence of mold or mildew in your commercial property. Check the walls and ceilings for discolorations. If you notice black or brown stains on any of those areas, it means that they’ve been affected by mold and mildew.

The bad news is, that as soon as you begin to notice these stains, it means that quick and drastic action needs to be taken immediately. Mold spreads rapidly and can cause health problems as well as the destruction of property. It’s usually caused by water seeping through leaks in your roof and pooling in the corners of your ceiling. This stagnant water then becomes a fertile breeding ground for mold and mildew to develop and wreak havoc.


2. Customer and Employee Health Concerns
Leaky roofs can pose adverse health concerns for you, members of your staff, and your customers. Mold and mildew may spread rapidly and it would not be long before their ill effects would begin to be made manifest. Many people are seriously allergic to mildew, and productivity will take a massive hit when people start reacting to the allergens. Even worse, if there are people with respiratory illnesses or poor immunity among your staff or customers, the impact could be much more severe.

A slippery workplace is never a good thing, but that’s exactly what a leaking roof exposes your workers and customers to. And if anything else apart from their pride is hurt after they slip on a small pool of water in your work premises, they just might be inclined to hit you with a damaging lawsuit.


3. Ceiling and Wall Damage
Discolorations caused by mold and mildew are frankly eyesores. They detract from the beauty of the areas around which they appear by sticking out like a sore thumb. Such a view is unlikely to do much for your business in the eyes of potential customers. To fix it, you may have to repaint the entire area, which is a whole lot of unplanned expenses.

Beyond this, excess moisture can damage the integrity of structures. Moisture trapped in your drywall will eventually weaken its cohesion, causing it to eventually sag. As a result, the wall may begin to chip away, or the ceiling might cave in.


4. Electrical Shorts
Everyone knows that water and electricity should never mix, but a leaking roof exposes your commercial property to this very possibility. A shoddy wiring job may leave exposed electrical wires in a position where they can come in contact with accumulated moisture from a leaky roof.

This will lead to the shorting out of wet wires. Usually, this would only trigger the main circuit breaker, but if this continues, sparks may begin to appear, dramatically increasing the likelihood of a fire outbreak.

5. Financial Impact
Roof repair or replacement and its attendant inconveniences can take a heavy toll on your business. Apart from disrupting your schedule and bringing productivity to a grinding halt, having to fix your commercial building’s roof often and under emergency, conditions can have a draining effect on your business’s short and long-term finances.

Also, if your commercial roof does need to be replaced, the increased inflationary aspects of materials in today’s marketplace could be absolutely devastating to your company’s long-term capital reserves. Putting money into a new roof rather than keeping it in capital reserves or using it for capital assets such as new equipment and new computers could drain your emergency funds, which could have potentially negative consequences on the survival of your business.

Conclusion
To give your business’s roof adequate protection from the elements and insulate your business against heavy losses down the line, it’s a smart move to commit the installation, maintenance, and replacement of your commercial property’s roof to experienced and expert roofing professionals.

 

By committing to a regular maintenance program by NIR Roof Care, Inc., you’re giving your building a better chance of avoiding the pitfalls of leaky roofs and other negative aspects of roof damage. Get in touch with us today at 1-800-221-ROOF or service@nir.com for a customized roof maintenance plan.