A Cute Little Woodpecker Can Cause A Lot Of Roof Damage
Woodpeckers are pretty birds, but they can be annoying when they decide to start pecking on your roof. It's common for woodpeckers to fly in occasionally when they're searching for food or when they want to make pecking noises during mating season. When one of the birds decides to stay, then you may be looking at trouble. A persistent woodpecker can cause roof damage and holes that cause roof leaks. Here's how to handle a woodpecker problem and the roof repairs your home may need.
Why You Should Shoo A Woodpecker Away
A woodpecker drills small holes in your roof. They like to drill in rotted fascia boards since the rotted boards attract bugs they can eat. The birds will also drill on metal, and they can drill holes in metal flashing that leads to a roof leak. They'll also drill holes in your roof shingles.
Besides causing roof leaks and water damage, the holes could allow air from the attic to escape and entice raccoons or rats to do further damage to get inside the attic. Woodpeckers can make large holes too when they're hollowing out wood to make a nest.
How To Shoo Off Woodpeckers
You don't have to harm a woodpecker to get rid of it. Instead, you can hang reflective streamers, pinwheels, or pie pans from your roof temporarily that scare it away.
Reflective things and objects in motion drive a woodpecker away, and if you keep the deterrents in place long enough, the woodpecker will move on eventually.
What Roof Repairs Your Home May Need
If you drive off a woodpecker before it claims your house as its own, you probably won't see a lot of serious damage. If the woodpecker drills on your house very long, you'll see many holes of different sizes.
Your roofer may need to replace or patch damaged shingles and flashing. It may also be necessary to replace the rotted fascia boards rather than repair them, especially since they could attract another woodpecker.
You probably don't want to keep pinwheels or pie pans on your roof permanently, but you might want to keep them handy so you can put them up if the woodpecker returns or if a new one moves in.
The birds not only harm your roof, but they can also drill holes in your siding and other parts of your home too, so when you hear drilling on your house, take action to drive away the bird so it doesn't cause expensive damage. Contact a roofing company like Roofers of Minnesota Co. to learn more about roof repairs.