Bird poop is an unpleasant fact of life. While having birds around your home is usually pleasant, their droppings can have some serious negative effects.
A good example of this is the impact that bird droppings have on your car’s paint job. If you frequently park in an area where birds tend to congregate, you’ll most likely notice damage, like corrosion, in the spots where the droppings were left to sit for too long.
Why does bird poop cause damage?
The reason why bird poop is harmful is essentially because of its uric acid content. Bird droppings are very high in uric acid. This acidity is what causes corrosion in car clear coats and paint.
How does bird poop affect my roof?
Your roof might be a popular gathering spot for local birds; it’s high off the ground and has a relatively large surface area. Plus, it might be located close to your bird feeders or trees, making it extra appealing to birds.
Unfortunately, bird poop’s potential to cause damage isn’t limited to your car’s paint job. In fact, it can cause serious damage to your roof!
If you have a traditional shingle roof, the shingles are susceptible to the high level of acidity in bird droppings. In fact, because the droppings are so acidic, they will eventually start to eat away at the shingles themselves.
This means that something as innocuous– and nearly inevitable– as bird poop could mean that you need to get shingles repaired or replaced, which is an expense that you most likely want to avoid for as long as possible.
Do bird droppings damage all kinds of roofs?
Theoretically, bird poop can cause damage to all kinds of surfaces because of its chemical makeup. Acid is harmful to lots of things!
So yes– bird droppings can damage all kinds of roofs.
It’s not quite that simple, though. You can avoid the damage that bird poop causes by regularly cleaning your roof, just like you would clean your car if it tends to get covered with bird poop on a regular basis.
The key difference in the extent of the damage your roof might incur is in the ease of cleaning. If you’ve invested in a long-lasting, super-durable metal roofing system, your roofing material is simply much easier to clean than a traditional shingle roof.
Shingles are a naturally rough surface, which means that there are plenty of nooks and crannies for the acidic bird droppings to seep into and cause long-term damage. Even if you clean the droppings off at the surface level, the damage might already be done if it’s seeped into the shingles or even the underlayment.
Meanwhile, a metal roof is a smooth surface; it won’t absorb the bird droppings and it’s durable enough to resist corrosion for a much longer period of time. Plus, when it comes time to clean the surface of your roof, it’s a much easier job!
How can I avoid damage from bird poop?
It’s impossible to avoid bird droppings entirely. You don’t want to get rid of the birds; they play an important role in our local ecosystems! It’s inevitable that they’ll land on whatever surfaces are available to them, and that often means that they’ll leave droppings behind.
Rather than avoid droppings entirely, you can just prepare for them to keep your roof in good shape for years to come. Choosing a metal roofing system means that it’ll be much easier to handle and minimize damage as it happens– in addition to all the other benefits, like increased lifespan and energy efficiency.
If you’ve got questions about the benefits of choosing a metal roofing system or are ready to switch to a metal roof, give the experts here at Metal Roof Pros a call today!