Winter seasons is definitely everyone’s favorite, but definitely not for your roofs. We all know how harsh winter can be at destroying your shingles or attic. The temperature difference between the inside and outside can cause your roof to leak.
The storm can break and cause holes in your roof. With all the damages that the cold weather can cause your roof, in this article, we have curated our top 7 roofing maintenance tips to help you combat the weather.
So without further ado, let’s check out all the tips below:
1. Inspect Your Roof Regularly
You might be too busy spending time with your family that you could easily forget to inspect your roof. Right before fixing any problems, you should always inspect your roof to see if there are any underlying problems, especially during this season.
Make it a routine, at least twice a week. Walk around your house and check each and every corner of the roofs. The shingles are the area most prone to any damage. Look for damaged gutters, ice dams, or anything that might be off. You might even consider looking at the roof inspection checklist to get the idea of what to inspect.
If you want certainty and professionalism, consider hiring a professional roofer to do an inspection once per winter may also be a better option. Besides just checking your roofs, they will also do the repair and maintenance work for you, in case there is any problem.
2. Remove Snow And Debris
Each and every roof has its own limit to be able to handle the snow and debris. Make sure you consult with the professionals regarding this. But even if your roof can handle the snow and blizzard, you might still want to consider removing any excess snow due to the following reasons:
1. Ice Dams
Ice dams can cause extensive damage to your roofs and house. The snow is one of the main reasons for ice dams formation. By removing excess snow, you’re reducing the chance of the dam formation.
2. Weights
It’s pretty obvious that excess snow on your roof can cause extra weight, more than the roof can handle, which could lead to broken roofs or even collapses.
3. Roof Leak
The third reason why you might want to remove any excess snow on the roof is to prevent the melting and refreeze cycle, which can lead to an extensive roof leak.
As snow melts, the water seeps through your shingles, and when the temperature drops and the water freezes, it expands. This can lead to larger cracks, loose shingles, leaks, and more. Removing the snow from your roof can prevent this kind of damage.
3. Clean Your Gutters
The job of the gutters is to act as the passage of any runoff from the roofs. This includes things like excess water, precipitation, debris, etc. to prevent any accumulated matter that could cause your roof to rot and eventually leak.
However, during the winter season, the ice and snow can block the gutter passages which make the water and melted snow to seep through the cracks, hence increase the chance of roof leak. Besides that, the snow can also add excess weight to the gutters and can eventually cause it to collapse.
So make sure to check your gutters regularly and clean out any accumulated matters.
4. Don’t Forget Your Attic
The roof attic is often neglected by most homeowners and it’s often too late when they realize that the root cause of their problems actually come from this part of the roofing system. As you probably know, your attic is responsible for proper ventilation to maintain the temperature distribution of your roofs.
This helps to prevent the formation of things like ice dams and can help reduce the cost of the electricity bill in your house, by keeping it warm inside. Therefore, don’t forget to inspect your roof attic to see if there’s any sign of roof leak, as this is often the first place where the problem occurs.
5. Trim Tree Branches
You might not even aware of this, but tree branches can post a serious threat to your roof and house during the winter season. Extra maintenance and care need to be taken here as well.
If you have too many trees that have branches over your roof, don’t hesitate to take time to trim them as overgrown branches can break under the heavyweight of snow and fall on your roof. Smaller branches can scrape and create significant holes in your roofing system.
If not because of the snow, the excess tree branches can also break and fall on your roof if there’s any heavy storm as well. So overall, it could lead to severe roof damages.
6. Double Check Your Shingles
Shingles are the part that gets the most exposure to the outside weather and environment, so it’s pretty obvious as to why you should double-check them for any possible issues.
Even such as strong wind, hail storm, ice dams, mold growth, etc. can all pose risks at your shingles. Do a thorough check for any missing shingles, which is one of the most common roofing problems for homeowners.
7. Prevent Is Better Than Cure
Last but not least in maintaining your roof during the winter season is to prevent the causes of the problems, rather than to cure it.
Make sure you have a thorough inspection right before the winter hits to make sure there’s nothing wrong prior to the season. Check the shingles, are they all in place. Look at the attic, if it’s still in a good shape, clear all the gutter. Basically, make sure you go through the above list in this article to prevent the catastrophe.
