Winter is just around the corner. Is your home ready for it? More importantly, is your roof ready for it? There are several things you can do to prepare your roof for the onslaught of winter, and each of these tasks is vital to saving your home and preventing thousands of dollars of damage.
For example, you may clean your gutters out every fall, but do you know why you do it? A lot of homeowners clean gutters without really knowing why they should. The purpose for this winter preparedness task is that gutters already clogged with leaves will cause a backup of snow and ice, creating ice dams that can cause a lot of damage to your roof. This is just one task and its reason for doing winter preparedness tasks before the first snowfall.
Other Tasks You Should Be Doing to Prepare Your Roof for Winter
While you may be on top of clearing and cleaning leaves out of gutters, you shouldn’t ignore the following and equally important tasks.
- Check the condition of all the shingles on your roof. Loose shingles can blow off in winter storms and expose your roof to rain, snow and ice. The precipitation causes water damage to your roof and the ceilings just below it.
- Pipe boot cleanout is also important. A pipe boot is any exhaust pipe that vents through the roof. They are small, but they can get clogged up quite quickly. Rotting materials inside a pipe boot causes damage to roofs and ceilings over time.
- Flashing condition should also be checked. The flashing is any type of roof cover that is around a chimney or vent, and cannot or is not usually covered by shingle material. Broken or damaged flashing exposes that area of the roof to moisture. Flashing should be repaired and replaced before ice can damage it further.
- Gutters should not only be cleaned out, but they should be checked for secure attachment. Too many gutters are torn off in high winds during snowstorms. Check under the eaves to make sure the eaves are clean too, especially if your roof has really large/wide soffits.
If you don’t have a lot of time to attend to your roof’s maintenance and pre-winter needs, hire a roofing contractor.
Schedule an Appointment to Have Your Roof Maintenance Done Now
Profile Roofing does a lot of roof maintenance tasks in addition to total roof tear-offs and replacements. Regardless of your roof’s current condition, Profile Roofing can take care of things for you. Call for an appointment today and be ready for those first snowflakes in a month or two.
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