Homeowners have long celebrated the arrival of spring with a time-honored ritual: the drawing up of the spring maintenance checklist.
Spending some time inspecting your home and property to asses winter damage and figure out what work needs to be done before summer arrives is one of a homeowner’s most important responsibilities, and particular attention needs to be paid to essential features like the roof.
To this end, we’ve prepared a simple, five-point checklist to help you inspect this vital part of your home and fix any problems you might find.
Contents
1. Clean Gutters and Downspouts
One of the first things on any homeowner’s spring maintenance checklist needs to be cleaning gutters and downspouts. Over the course of the fall and winter, falling leaves and other debris clog up eavestroughs and trap water on your roof, leading to overflow that can be harmful to your foundation.
If you are comfortable doing so, you can clean the gutters yourself using a ladder and pail, or you can call a roofing company for help.
2. Clear Debris
In addition to cleaning out the gutters, you also need to make sure the deck itself has been cleared of any garbage that may have collected. Dirt, leaves, and tree branches can obscure damage to the shingles and trap water on the roof, increasing the risk of leaks and moisture damage.
3. Inspect Shingles
Once the roof is clean, you can inspect for torn, loose, or punctured shingles, or have it inspected for you buy a company like Professional Roofers that specializes in residential repair.
Even relatively new roofs are at risk from shingle damage caused by high winds, freezing rain, hail, and falling branches, and small rips or tears in shingles can lead to serious problems such as water damage in the attic or main living space of your home.
4. Make Sure Flashing is Intact
Particularly vulnerable areas, like the joints between slopes and dormer windows, or around the base of plumbing stacks and chimneys, are typically reinforced with strips of metal flashing, which provide an extra layer or protection.
Over time, flashing can be weakened or damaged by ice and water, or the caulking used to close up nail holes can wear away. After you’ve checked that your shingles are in good condition, ensure the flashing is free of gaps as well.
5. Check Attic for Moisture Damage
Once you have ascertained that the external parts of your roof are clean and in good condition, you can ensure you haven’t missed anything by inspecting your attic for moisture damage.
The attic is an essential part of your roof system, and if there are signs that the insulation has become damaged, or that condensation is forming on your rafters or roof deck, you’ll need to have them looked at by a professional to see whether more ventilation is needed.
The last thing anyone wants to deal with come summer is a leaking roof. As soon as it starts to warm up in March or April, use this checklist to make sure that your house hasn’t suffered any damage during winter storms, and that your gutters, shingles, flashing, and attic are in the best possible condition.
Should you notice any problems, be sure to book repairs as soon as possible from a local roofing company.
