As a homeowner, you want to do whatever it takes to care for your home. Therefore, you must understand that roof maintenance isn’t reserved for when the weather is nice. Some things must be done year-round to ensure that your roof is safe from damage, no matter what season it is. Here are a few year-round roof maintenance tips that can help ensure your home is safe from damage year-round. While this may seem like a lot of work, it’s better than letting things go and risking damage to your roof and, ultimately, your home.
Maintenance Tips for Autumn
Autumn is a great time to prepare your roof for a long winter by ensuring that it can withstand the harsh winter weather conditions common in the Tri-State area.
Schedule a Pre-Winter Inspection
If possible, check the inside of your roof to see how stable the deck is. You may want to consider calling a professional for a roof inspection to ensure that you don’t need any roof repairs before the winter. Taking these precautions now will help you avoid a disaster later on.
Clean Your Gutters
You know that the leaves can get into the gutters and clog them if you have trees. Make sure that you take the time to clean them out now; otherwise, you’ll have a mess by spring, and by cleaning them out now, you decrease your risk of snow dams forming on your roof and causing issues.
If you want to avoid this chore, you might want to consider having some gutter guards installed. This will keep larger objects, such as leaves, from getting into the gutters and causing problems.
Maintenance Tips for Winter
While it’s true that you can’t do a whole lot of roof maintenance in the winter months, there are some minor things you can do to ensure that your roof remains in good condition through the snowy season.
Remove Snow from Your Roof
If you have 8+ inches of snow on your roof, you might want to consider using a roof rake to remove some of it. If you don’t have the appropriate tools or don’t know how to carefully remove the snow from your roof, consider hiring professional snow removal service. Snow can be very heavy when it sits on your roof. Some experts say that 1-inch of light, fluffy snow can weigh around 0.26 pounds per square foot. This means that for every 6.5 inches of snow, you have the weight of a compact SUV on your roof. If the snow is wet, it’s even heavier, at 1.66 pounds per square foot. It is especially important to remove snow from the overhangs because that is the weakest part of your roof.
Remove Ice Dams
If ice dams are starting to form on your roof, remove them as soon as possible. You can hire reputable and trusted roofers to do it for you. If you are not sure what you’re doing or you use the wrong tools, you could end up causing significant damage to your roof. If you are having lots of problems with ice dams forming, consider increasing the insulation in your roof to keep this from happening.
Maintenance Tips for Spring
When spring comes along and the snow begins to melt, it’s the ideal time to do some spring cleaning, including roof cleaning and maintenance. Wintertime, especially in snowy climates, can put a lot of wear and tear on your roof. Therefore, spring is the ideal time to schedule a roof inspection and do some roof maintenance to ensure that your roof is still healthy. Here are some roof maintenance tips for spring.
Inspect Your Roof
Once all the snow has melted, take some time to inspect your roof. You can see lots of things from the ground and look around the exterior for any missing or damaged shingles, clogged gutters, or algae growth. Then, check your roof from the inside for signs of moisture or sagging. Then, hire a reputable and a reputable roofing company to do a detailed roof inspection to check for any issues that you may have missed.
Clean Your Roof
Leaves, twigs, and other debris left behind after the snow has melted need to be cleaned- especially from your gutters. This will ensure that water can flow through easily. You can use a trowel for fishing out any debris and use a hose to flush the rest out.
Check for Mold/Algae
Cleaning your roof is a great time to check for mold and algae growth. One of the obvious signs that you’re dealing with mold/algae is black stains. If you suspect that you are dealing with mold/algae growth, contact a reputable roofing company to help you get your roof back to normal.
Maintenance Tips for Summer
Summer is the perfect time to do some maintenance on your home, especially on your roof. Since windy rainstorms often move through during the summer, it’s critical to make sure that you keep your roof clean. Here are some roof maintenance tips for the summer months.
Trim Trees
One of the best ways to protect your home against damage from wind is to make sure that your trees are trimmed. Trees and branches can do significant damage to your roof if they fall on it. By taking the time to trim them, you will lower your risk that trees and branches will fall on your roof.
Check for Mold
The summer months are another ideal time to check for mold, especially since it’s so wet due to the rain. You should ensure that you pay close attention to your roof during the summer and address any issues with mold and algae as soon as they come up.
Look for Animal Holes
When you inspect your roof, pay attention to areas where animals may decide to make your home their shelter. Bats are great at finding small holes in your roof, and finding and sealing these helps keep critters from turning your home into theirs.
Do You Need a Professional for Your Roof Maintenance Needs?
At A&J Reliable, we have more than a century of combined experience, and we have served more than 1,000 property owners in the tri-state area. We know what goes into roof maintenance for every season and will be happy to care for your needs. We pay great attention to detail, and we can help you ensure that your roof remains in tip-top shape, no matter the season. Contact us today to schedule your free roof inspection. We will be happy to help you with roof cleaning and provide you with a roof estimate if your roof needs to be replaced.
