Six Effective Ways of Preparing Your Roof for Winter
In a few days, winter will be here, and one of the most important aspects you shouldn’t ignore is checking your roof’s quality. The winter season can be harsh; the falling snows, strong winds, and freezing temperatures can make your life miserable when living in a house with poor roofing.
A good roof protects your family from all the aforementioned elements and other harsh factors. If you haven’t checked your roof yet, now will be the best time to have a roof inspection to ensure you’re set for the winter.
Before you start your roof repair, it’s recommended to first clean gutters to pinpoint problems easily. It’s best to employ someone proficient in working at higher heights with ladder safety knowledge. This blog post will help you understand various roof inspection methods and expectations from autumn renovations.
Six ways to finesse your roof for the winter season
Now, how can you ensure your roof is fixed when winter arrives? You can utilize various strategies to repair and enhance your roof’s longevity. Here are six effective ways of preparing your roof before this cold season comes;
1. Clean fall’s debris from your roof and gutter
In some countries, tree leaves start to fall when autumn starts ending. After some time, these leaves combine with twigs accumulate in your gutters, downspouts, and roof. It’s critical that you remove the debris to prevent moisture development, which can hurt your roof and house’s interior wall.
If you don’t know how to handle the cleaning process, you can employ a professional, our guide, or a preferable roofing company to help you with it.
During your cleaning session, you should be on the lookout for animal infestations, for example, rats, bees, wasps, birds, squirrels, hornets, or raccoons. If you encounter any, it’s best to conduct a specialist in pest control to help you to remove them.
During the roof inspection, remember to check under your roof’s attic too, some animals usually hide there. One great way to avoid cleaning gutters every upcoming winter is by setting up gutter guards; they’ll help to trap leaves from entering inside the gutters.
2. Inspect your roof before winter arrives
Roof leaks are common to most homes, but few of them understand that it can be prevented by conducting regular roof checkups. During a roof checkup, you need to consider both exterior and interior factors that can damage your roof.
Examples of exterior factors you should check include; sagging ridges, missing or wobbly shingles and nails, chimney cracks, gutters, corroded metals flashing, and more. Some of the interior factors include; proper calculation of attic’s ventilation, mold, condensation, wet insulation signs, exhaust fans, and more.
Fall is the best season to check up your roof because most roofing experts aren’t very busy and offer the best deals to promote their business. Nonetheless, it’s best to have your roof checked earlier enough before winter to have enough time to mend all available issues.
You might find a roofing company or contractor offering rudimentary roof inspection by examining basic features. However, a comprehensive roof inspection is critical to pinpoint more concerning areas and features that may later cause extensive damage.
3. Double-check the ventilation and insulation of your house’s attic
One of the great ways to maintain warmth in your home during winter is through appropriate attic ventilation and insulation. Good and well-maintained attic insulation keeps your house warm, saving you extra cost for furnace expenses.
With proper insulation, shingles’ surfaces remain colder, thus preventing ice dams and their related effects. Individuals who experienced ice dam formation last year should strongly consider hiring a roof repair professional to check if they’ll need any replacements.
Your roofing company or professional can advise you to fix additional ice protectors to prevent ice dams from damaging your roof. He/she can check further for animal infestations, attic ventilation, and leaks.
Poor attic ventilation and damage your house’s inner framework by developing moisture and condensing on your wall.
4. Consider roof repairs and replacements necessary after fall
While checking your roofing quality during fall, you might notice various areas that require replacements or maintenances. For example, shingles sealant can be affected by colder conditions. Therefore you should ensure to instruct your roofer to give the replaced shingles more sun exposure time to seal firmly.
Your decision to replace or repair roof will depend on the current roof’s state. It’s best to renovate your roof using robust shingles that can survive the harsh winter season.
When preparing to replace and repair the roof in your house, remember to empty the attic, secure windows, and fragile items, take pets and children to a safer place, and remove any essential things from the yard.
The loud noise involved when replacing shingles and other roofing necessities can be annoying and uncomfortable for your family members.
5. Trim trees around your house and have a snow removal plan
It’s highly advisable to remove dead branches and trim trees around your house. Ice storms and falling snow can break feeble and dead branches, which can later harm the house’s structure.
Besides tree trimming, you should develop a plan on how you can remove snow from your roof when it accumulates. The extra weight and cold temperatures the snow inserts on your roof can damage the roof and other structures.
6. Be cautious about how you hang winter and fall decorations
Autumn is a convenient time to hang decorations around your house, but it would be best if you don’t nail them on the roof. It’s best to avoid drilling extra nails to your house’s roof or use them to hand heavy materials.
Hanging decorations amid winter weather can be a bit tricky because the ladder will be too slimy, and the probability of slipping will be high.
Conclusion
Roof repair and inspection is pivotal for any home, especially when winter approaches. Renovating and maintaining your roof guarantees you and your family a comfortable shelter during the winter season. If you haven’t inspected your roof, it’s not too late to contact Semper Solaris to finesse your roof.
