We love our sunny weather here in Florida! But with the sun inevitably comes the rain, and often, the damage caused by leaks and flooding can catch Miami residents off guard. Keeping up with home repairs throughout the year is essential to keeping your budget intact. But if the unexpected strikes and you find you’re the owner of a leaking roof, it’s something that needs to be addressed immediately. Here are 7 different dangers you face when your roof is leaking:

1. Mold and Mild Dew: Leaks cause an excess of moisture in your home, and this can lead to a host of problems. Mold eats away at materials like wood, paper, and fabric. Don’t forget to tally the potential cost of repairs and replacement for wallpaper, carpet, and ceiling tiles if mold is left unchecked. Extreme cases can damage a home so badly that it can never be repaired, and that’s after the dangers of ceilings or walls collapsing.
2. Poor Health: Not surprisingly, if mold does that kind of damage to the inner framework of your home, just think what it’s doing to you! Common complaints after exposure to mold include nasal stuffiness, scratchy throat, itchy eyes, and coughing. Even though in small amounts it doesn’t necessarily affect everyone, people cursed with mold allergies or chronic lung illness can have more severe reactions that affect their breathing and lead to the need for medical attention.
3. Damaged Insulation: Leaking roofs allow water to seep in everywhere, and yet another thing you would need to worry about in this scenario is the cost of replacing your insulation. Wall and ceiling insulation can become saturated by excess water coming in, essentially destroying it and its effectiveness.
4. Structure Damage: Water-logged homes can lead to rot in the wood holding your home together. When this happens, homes start to have issues with the very structural supports holding them upright. For example, walls may start to bow, the roof will start to sag, and the house’s foundation itself can become spongy.
5. Fire Hazard: If water is coming in through your roof, the ceilings of your home will be affected, not just from the possibility of collapse mentioned earlier, but also the very real danger of the water combining with electricity. This can lead to safety concerns like electrocution or even electrical fires.
6. High Energy Bills: When your insulation is waterlogged and is no longer doing its job, your home has essentially developed a slow leak of precious energy resources. Heat escapes the house more quickly, causing your furnace to work harder to keep things warm during winter months. In the summer, pricy air conditioning bills have consumers looking for every possible way to keep their homes cool and properly-functioning insulation is key. All of this is aside from the fact that every bit of energy conservation helps the environment in the long run.
7. Slip and Fall: While it can be funny in the movies and in sitcoms, slipping and falling is no laughing matter in real life. In fact, the World Health Organization estimates that 37.3 million people’s falls each year are so severe that they need medical attention. Water in unexpected places can cause slippery floors increasing the risk of someone in your home falling and injuring themselves.