Roof Maintenance Tips to Protect Your Home

1. Keep Excess Water Off

One of your roof's primary jobs is to keep water out of your house, but your roof needs your help to get rid of the water that falls on it. Make sure to keep your roof's gutters and downspouts in tip-top shape so that it can drain properly, and trim your trees so that they do not hang over the roof, dripping water and shedding leaves into the gutters.

2. Conquer Moss

Keeping your trees trimmed away from the roof will make the roof less friendly to moss by minimizing moss-welcoming shady areas, but moss may still grow. Use Wet & Forget to safely and gently remove any moss on your roof, and re-treat at the first sign of new growth to prevent moss from coming back.

3. Check Your Insulation

Good attic insulation helps keep your house warm in the winter and cool in the summer, and it also helps protect your roof. A good layer of insulation on the attic floor with no gap for air to get between the house and the insulation is a must. This prevents big temperature exchanges between the house and attic, which will cause damaging water condensation on the underside of the roof

4. Do a Yearly inspection

Check your roof at least once a year, preferably in the spring, for any signs of damaged or lifted shingles, moss growth, or other problems. If you don't feel comfortable checking the roof yourself, you can hire a roofing professional to do the inspection.

5. Maintain Good Ventilation

Like insulation, good attic ventilation will also protect your roof from damage caused by water condensation. Without good ventilation, water vapor can cause the roof sheathing and rafters to rot and can even damage the shingles. Make sure your attic has good, unobstructed vents with screens to keep birds out. Ventilation fans are available for larger attics.

Why Your Roof Is Leaking

• Windowpanes Can Be a Problem:

Although built in windowpanes can really add dazzle to a home and let in natural light, when not built properly they can cause a lot of problems. If they are too old or haven’t been updated recently, they can easily let water into the home.

• Flashing is Most Common

Flashing is the most common reason that roofing will get leaks. Sometimes flashing is poorly installed which makes it highly susceptible to leaks. If it’s not the installation, it could be a bad quality product or perhaps affected by high winds or weather damage.

• Age of your roof

Think about how long you’ve had your roof for. How many years has it been? How good of a job did the last contractors do? Roofs that were built fifty years ago were made with much different materials and were much less durable than what is used today.

• Check Your Closures and Shingles

Material such as roof fasteners can easily become damaged or pulled up after a heavy storm or high winds occur. When the fasteners get pulled up, water is easily able to get into the underside of the roof itself and cause other problems.

• Workmanship

Many roof leaks are caused by poor workmanship and less-than-professional contractors. To avoid the entire issue, never hire someone without first checking that they have successfully completed roofing projects similar to yours in the past and that their previous customers were satisfied.

ROOF-REPAIR SAFETY TIPS

Working on a roof can be risky. Keep these safety precautions in mind before dealing with a roof repair :

·         Roof maintenances should be done on a sunny day when the roof is completely dry. A wet roof is slippery and very dangerous.

·         Adequate safety precautions must be taken for any roof repairs. Always use safety ropes.

·         On steep roofs, use a ladder framework to provide secure attaching.

·         Rubber-soled shoes provide the best grip when working on a roof.

·         The location of power lines should be kept in mind when working on a roof