Tips for Maintaining Your Roof Throughout the Year
Many people think maintaining your roof throughout the year is difficult. However, there is nothing you can’t do with a ladder, some elbow grease, and consistency. To avoid major roof repairs and maintenance jobs, break up your work into smaller tasks that you can evenly spread throughout the year. Doing things this way won’t just help you maintain a healthy roof and extend its lifespan. It’ll also make everything easier for you. Let’s go through this short list of roof maintenance tips and discuss when you should use each to avoid all unnecessary damage.
Clean your gutters – Throughout the year
Let’s start with the task that should be done consistently throughout the year. No matter the season, the weather will bring debris that can clog up your gutters. Clogs can make your gutter system stop draining water properly, which can lead to all kinds of damage. If the debris build-up is too heavy, it can make your gutters pull off the side of your roof and even fall.
It’s possible to avoid all this trouble. The only thing you have to do is get up on a ladder or call a trusted cleaning service now and then to clean up your system. If you are DIY-ing it, ensure you observe all the safety precautions. Plan to do this once every season and after every heavy storm.
Remove mold and moss – Twice a year
Removing all kinds of growth is a big part of maintaining your roof throughout the year. Mold and moss spores quickly move from one rooftop to another because of the wind. These growths can be detrimental to the health of your roof. Moss can cause curling in asphalt shingles. That increases the potential of your shingles falling off, which allows moisture to get into other parts of your roof and can cause serious leaks. Mold can eat away at the very structure of your roof. If left unchecked for too long, this can cause severe damage and even pose a health hazard for you and your family.
You can call professionals to clean your roof or do it yourself twice a year. You must spray any area where you notice these with a mixture of liquid chlorine bleach and water. After that, you can let it sit for between 15 and 30 minutes. Then just power wash any remnants while ensuring run-off directed correctly to avoid any further issues. It’s best to do this during the seasons with extra humidity and moisture in your area.
Look for leaks – Quarterly
You can accomplish a lot in roof maintenance by simply checking the exterior.
But you’ll have to venture into your attic occasionally if you’re looking for leaks. It should be enough to check before every season begins and after every heavy storm. It is also wise to check whether anything has gone south if you notice any damage from the outside while doing other tasks.
Thankfully, this can be pretty easy if you look closely enough. Look for any moist or soft spots in the ceiling and see if you can find any leaks. If you find severe water damage, fix this as soon as possible since leaks can get out of hand quickly. Consider calling a professional roofer to help with significant issues. Botching a leak repair can make things worse for you and might cost even more money.
Check the state of your shingles – End of summer and winter
The extreme weather patterns that summer and winter bring can take a severe toll on your shingles. Excessive heat and moisture in the summer can make your shingles shrink, warp or even crack. Intense storms, heavy rain, and snowfall can even tear them off, leaving your roof bare and vulnerable. Shingle problems are one of the most common causes of roof leaks.
After the summer and winter seasons, set aside time to inspect your roof’s exterior for any shingle damage or missing shingles. That will significantly contribute to maintaining your roof throughout the year. You can do this from the ground, or if you think you can handle it, climb up there for an even better look. If you find any problem areas, get in touch with roofers right away to patch everything up.
Remove snow from your roof – Winter
A sheet of snow on your roof can sometimes look aesthetically pleasing. However, if the snow piles up too much, it can make your roof look worse. If your roof has already been around for a while, too much heavy snow can even lead to a complete collapse. Then there is also the danger of ice dam formation and leakage.
That is a task that you should do throughout the winter. You must carefully pull off all the snow you can reach with a snow rake every time you see a thick layer. That will take away some of the weight and make it easier for the upper layers to drain off properly.
Conduct a roof inspection – Spring
One thing that is sure to help you with maintaining your roof throughout the year is an annual roof inspection. It’s best to do this every spring after all the trouble your roof withstood during fall and winter. You can make this part of your spring cleaning and maintenance plan since it’ll help get your home ready for the coming year.
Calling a professional to check your roof can help you confidently move into the next seasonal cycle. The keen eye of an experienced professional might notice things you wouldn’t. Of course, if you can afford to, do this more often.
Trim your trees – Beginning of fall
One of the best roof maintenance tips has little to do with the roof itself. At the beginning of every fall, go around your property and check your landscaping. If you notice that the trees in your yard have grown too much and that their limbs are getting dangerously close to your roof, it’s time to trim them. The windy weather that falls can cause those tree limbs to break off and start hitting your roof. And if too many branches and too much foliage get into your gutter system, it will be a lot of extra work for you to clean all of that out.
To wrap up
As you can see, maintaining your roof throughout the year doesn’t need to be complicated. As long as you use these tips at the correct times and spread out your work, every year should go over without a hitch. Of course, if you find any issues or damage you cannot handle, you can always call for help. Choose the right roofing contractor and work with them to extend the lifespan of your roof for years to come.
