Your Ultimate Roof Maintenance Guide

Your roof takes a beating during every storm and keeps you warm and dry. How much wear and tear does your roof get in a single rainstorm?

The average roof is about 30 roof squares or 3,000 square feet. Each square foot gets 0.6 gallons of water for every 1 inch of rainfall.

Your Ultimate Roof Maintenance Guide

Three-quarters of it run into gutters or off the eaves. If you were going to collect the runoff, you would have about 1,350 gallons. Roof repair and roof maintenance are some of the best ways to show your roof how much you appreciate the work it does.

Keep reading to see what roof tips you can use to maintain your roof at critical times!


Context

  • Your Ultimate Roof Maintenance Guide
      • Local Needs For Your Roof
      • Common Symptoms of Wear and Tear
      • Simple Seasonal Roof Maintenance
  • Top Roof Maintenance Tips


Your Ultimate Roof Maintenance Guide

Local Needs For Your Roof

Every location has a different climate or even a micro-climate to consider. You can learn more from local roofing companies about things they see every day in your city.

Of course, you also have an ally with your local weather person on the news. If you have a forecast of hail, a thunderstorm, or high winds, you can prepare yourself and your home for the worst.

RelatedTop 10 Best Portable AC For Bedroom

Common Symptoms of Wear and Tear

You don't need to go on your roof for the most basic inspections. From the ground, take a walk around your home, inspecting the eaves, gables, and shingles where you can see them.

Dark patches, debris, and missing shingles are easy to spot. Some other issues like loose shingles lying flat, popped-up nails, and sagging or soft decking aren't quite so easy.

If you're brave enough, take a look into your gutters to see what's inside.

As asphalt roofs age, they also lose materials embedded in them. If it looks like there's sand in the gutter, you could be losing that aggregate. It keeps your home cool and helps to shed water correctly.

Gutters with this material put extra strain on your eaves, fascia, and roof in general.

Another common issue is when tar gets too dry. It becomes hard and cracks when it gets too old. This allows water into the flashing or decking around skylights, chimneys, vent stacks, edge flashing, and any other hole in your roof decking.

Lastly, a look into your attic during a heavy storm can tell you a lot — such as whether your roof has a pinhole leak or if there are loose nails popping through your shingles. Stains and rotted decking are also visual signs of a long-term issue.

RelatedTop 4 Ways to Increase Home Value

Simple Seasonal Roof Maintenance

Some simple maintenance ideas are to keep your gutters clear. Make sure to use proper safety measures at all times if you're using a ladder.

If you see clear damage, discoloration, or blemishes point it out to your roofing contractor and they can let you know if things are worse than they look.

Most asphalt roofs can last at least 20 years if you stay current with repairs.

Your best defense is a thorough visual inspection, followed by an awareness of the weather conditions your roof has gone through. Last, keep in mind how old your roof actually is as well as a record of how long ago any repairs or modifications got done.

If repairs got done 10 or more years ago, it could be time to get a replacement instead of simple repairs or maintenance.

Top Roof Maintenance Tips

Roof maintenance and roof upkeep can prevent major roof repair or roof replacement. This maintenance is a vital part of the responsibility of owning a home. Knowledge and practice of these tips in a maintenance routine help you and your contractor work together to keep you dry.

Need to know more about other homeowner tips? Keep browsing our articles for the latest home improvement news and tips!

Previous Post Next Post

Comments