How To Prepare Your Roof For Winter

Fall and winter bring cold, snow, and rain. On their own, these can be rough on your roof. The weather has a big indirect impact on your roof too. As the weather gets colder and wetter, critters look for warmer and drier places to nest. Attics make for nice cozy dens. Rodents, bats, raccoons, squirrels, and others will take advantage of small gaps or openings. Once inside, they do further damage, potentially affect your health (urine and feces). Now you need a pest control solution AND roof repairs.

If you’re planning your home maintenance schedule, late fall is a great time to have your roof inspected to make sure any little issues do not become ghoulish surprises later. The pitter-patter of footsteps, noises in the wall, the incessant sound of water dripping – save them for the haunted house, not your home. 

The essentials for fall roof maintenance:

Hire a professional. This may sound self serving but the average homeowner is not qualified to identify many issues or repair them. Missing even one could cause bigger problems later. There’s the safety issue as well. Roofs are dangerous, from falling off to falling through, not to mention ladders. Roof inspection, repair, and maintenance should be left to a professional.

Start with an overall inspection. This will give you an update on the overall “health” of your roof and help determine what is most important and done first. This inspection will look at

  • The condition of the shingles and underlayment (Missing or damaged shingles and soft spots in the decking)
  • The gutters and downspouts
  • The soffits and Fascia boards
  • Flashing along valleys, vents, chimneys, etc
  • Your chimney
  • Signs of water damage
  • Signs of critters and possible entry points
  • Moss and algae growth
  • Other hazards like trees growing close to the roof line

A physical inspection is still the best way to properly determine the health of your roof and its related components.

Get it cleaned or repaired (trees trimmed). Now that you have any issues identified, you can get them cleaned, repaired, and pruned before bigger problems.

Get it on the schedule. The best way to prevent surprises is to have regular inspections. Get one set up for the spring to make sure nothing new arose over the winter and get a clean bill of health.

Don’t end up with a haunted house

Not only will a fall roof inspection and cleaning/repairs help prevent problems, it will help extend the life of your roof, improve your home’s curb appeal, and help when it’s time to sell. 

Make sure the only thing scary this season are your decorations. Contact us today to schedule a fall roof inspection.

Tweet
Pin
Share
0 Shares