Tips to Maintain Your Roof
The average shingle roof lasts around 20 years, more or less depending on storm damage and wear and tear. Other types of roofing materials will last longer, but are more expensive to install.
The amount and quality of care you give your roof along the way can reduce or lengthen the time between new roof replacements. If you are lucky, you could end up only having to replace your roof once in your lifetime, just so long as you give it the maintenance it needs.
Roof replacement is expensive regardless of the type of roof you have. You’re a lot better off doing routine maintenance and small repairs as needed in order to help extend the lifetime of your home’s roof.
If you aren’t confident in your roofing skills – or just don’t like the thought of climbing a tall ladder – you can always hire a licensed, certified roofer in Marietta to give you a hand with all your maintenance and roof repair projects.
PREVENTATIVE ROOF CARE
Doing tasks to prevent most roof damage before it occurs is by far the cheapest route to increase the lifetime of your home’s roof. Here are a couple of preventative care measures for your home’s roof:
Cut branches that hang over your roof. Powerful winds and rain storms can break branches and even knock over trees. Decaying, dying trees can also drop their branches onto your roof if they’re not pruned. Falling limbs damage all types of roofs, including asphalt shingles and even metal roofs.
Install gutter guards. Gutter guards are metal or mesh covers installed on top of your gutters to reduce clogging. They can reduce the amount of gutter cleaning that you need to do and help prevent overflow into your landscaping. You can install gutter guards yourself or leave the job to a roofer or gutter cleaning company in Marietta.
Schedule routine inspections. Shingles start to lose asphalt granules after only a couple of years, and metal roofs can get dented or start to show signs of aging such as rust or tarnish. Having inspections done by a company can let you know if there’s an issue that has to be repaired.
Apply a roof coating. Roof coatings replenish the oils from roof shingles so they don’t dry out, helping your roof last 5 years or more beyond its expected lifetime. There are regular and plant-based products so you can feel safe about spraying these products on your home, where they will inevitably run off and come in contact with your children, pets and lawn.
Ensure your insulation and ventilation systems are in good condition. Too much or not enough insulation can create a condensation issue. Limited ventilation can result in trapped moisture. This can quickly result in mold and mildew growth, as well as odors in your house. Besides being annoying, mold and mildew will eat away at wood and other home materials, damaging your home’s structure.
ROUTINE ROOF MAINTENANCE
From time to time, you’ll have to do some general maintenance on your home’s roof. If this is done in a timely manner, you’ll help prevent leaks and increase the lifetime of your roof, regardless of the type.
Do these things at least once a year to prevent damages and keep your home’s roof looking nice:
Roof cleaning. Cleaning a roof will remove debris, mold and dirt. This will reduce the risk of pests building nests on your home’s roof, and it will immediately freshen up the curb appeal. PRO Marietta Pressure Wash offers roof cleaning in Marietta as one of our services.
Gutter cleaning. Cleaning out gutters is a necessary part of home ownership. Inspect your gutters often, especially while it’s raining, to observe if there are clogs that have to be cleared. Most pros recommend gutter cleaning once in the spring and again in the fall.
Remove moss. If moss begins to grow, it likely means that your roof is shaded and stays very moist. Moss’s roots attach to roof shingles and other types of materials and ruin them if it isn’t removed quickly. Most homeowners opt to have a professional service do this so no unnecessary damage is done in the process.
MINOR ROOF REPAIRS
Damages will happen, but so long as you tend to them right away, no major issues should occur. If you are a handyman, you may feel confident doing small roof repairs yourself. But if not, professional roofing companies in Marietta are trained to tackle these fast fixes for you to keep your roof in good shape.
Replace damaged or worn shingles. Shingles have asphalt bits attached to them. The texture can be removed from the shingles by debris, hail or strong rain storms. These asphalt chunks help to protect your home’s roof. If they start coming off, the roof will begin to look worn, but, more importantly, it won’t protect what’s underneath. Only a small section needs to be re-shingled if the damage is only superficial.
Replace fascia. Sometimes, the part of your home’s roof that sits between the roof material and the top of the exterior wall (called the fascia) will need to be replaced. The fascia can sometimes leak, letting mold and mildew into your home, plus pests.
Re-caulk around the flashings. Flashings fill in gaps on the roof where it is hard to place roofing material. It’s the perfect location for leaks, and it is easily damaged. If more extensive work is required, replacing the flashing is a simple project for professionals and proficient homeowners as well.
YOUR ROOF NEEDS LOVE TOO!
The roof is typically the most expensive home maintenance costs. With the typical lifetime of a roof being between 20 and 30 years, you will probably only need to install a new one one or two times. Of course, if you move often, you could end up buying quite a few roofs in your lifetime.
When purchasing a new house, a roof inspection is definitely worth your time. You can include the cost of a new roof – if one is needed – in the closing costs or ask that the home seller have the roof replaced before the sale. When trying to sell a house, give PRO Marietta Pressure Wash a call for professional roof cleaning in Marietta to improve curb appeal for potential buyers.