Rain, ice and snow associated with winter season can cause considerable damage to various parts of your home, including roof. Regretfully, most homeowners overlook the roof maintenance when getting their homes ready for nasty winter weather. Here are a few easy roof maintenance tips that you can apply to make sure that your roof survives the harsh winter season.
Regularly Examine Your Roof
Many roofing professionals recommend that you should get your roof inspected at least once every year. Dead leaves or fallen tree branches can add to the wear and tear on your roof, so if there are lots of trees around your home, you may consider getting it examined twice in a year. If you are going to check your roof yourself, then make certain that you know the things you need to look for. Holes, worn-out sections, broken shingles and decay are some of the things you should check while inspecting your roof. Examine your roof gutters as well. A gutter system that is blocked can cause significant damage to even the strongest roof.
Remove tree debris such as broken limbs, twigs, nuts, pinecones and leaves from your roof regularly. Replace the damaged shingles, repair the worn-out areas and patch the holes. Take necessary steps to keep your roof gutters clean, so that the rain water can flow freely.
Adequate Ventilation
One of the leading causes of roof decay and collapse is improper ventilation. The best way to detect this problem is to observe the temperature inside your home. If you note that your house feels improbably warm in the summer and awfully cold in winter, then the odds are your roof is not adequately ventilated. You should immediately contact a competent roofing company to fix this problem.
Treat Your Roof
Roofing experts suggest that a roof must be treated every three to five years. If you have a roof maintenance contract with a reputable roofing company, then they will treat it at appropriate times. If not, then you can do it on your own by using a superior-quality roof cleanser.
Preventing Roof Leaks from Ice Dams
The warm temperature in the interiors your home melts the snow accumulated on top of your roof, as it is the warmest area of your roof. This melted snow flows down toward the edge of your roof. The edges of your roof are at sub-zero temperatures, which results in refreezing of the melted snow creating ice dams. The load of these ice dams can damage the roof itself, but the real problem arises when additional snowmelts gather in pools against these ice dams. This collected water ultimately gets trough your roof and leaks into your home. In order to prevent roof leaks from ice dams you must install proper insulation, have adequate ventilation and create an effective air barrier.