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With winter fast approaching, now is the time to think about doing some roof maintenance checks on your property to ensure your tenants keep warm and cosy over the colder months.
It’s recommended that you carry out two inspections each year – in Spring and Autumn (before the snow sets in). This is so you can have time to check and see how the roof is doing and pre-empt any larger scale problems before they occur. Often damage can occur before it’s noticeable and before any mold or leaks occur. So doing some roof maintenance can ensure you’ve got this covered before waiting for something drastic to happen.
If your roof isn’t properly maintained, water can infiltrate into your attic, damage insulation, wood framing and structural steel. This can cause the design and look of the property to drastically change – so long curb appeal!
Maintaining your roof and doing checks upfront acts as a way to prevent any larger scale roof emergencies, making the house safe for those living there. Ensuring your roof is in good condition will ultimately give you peace of mind and help to prevent the need for a full scale roof rebuild, saving costs in the long run.
How to do roof maintenance checks
Here are some of the ways you can carry out roof checks to make sure your roof stays in good condition. You can do these checks from the ground up or you can get up on a ladder and get in there and take a look. Just be careful not to lean your ladder on the guttering as you could break it. If you do get on the roof, do so only if you feel safe or you have the proper safety equipment such as an extension ladder, safety harness, 700kg breaking strain rope and soft shoes with grip.
- Clean out gutters, as clogged gutters can cause rain and snow to not be able to drain properly. Clearing out a gutter is fairly easy and it’s just a case of removing leaves and moss.
- Roof algae can cause your roof to age and cause black streaks which doesn’t exactly give your property curb appeal. If you see green, get it cleaned.
- Trim your trees to prevent them overgrowing, resting or falling on the roof. Keep branches trimmed and remove from the gutter.
- Pay attention to shingles. Look for any curling in a shingle, as that indicates moisture has made its way to its interior. A shingle with any damage should be replaced immediately to avoid leaks or further structural damage.
- Check for any damaged roof tiles or ones that have slipped and are out of position. If they have slipped, you can pick them up and just re-adjust them, making sure all the tiles around are firmly placed down.
- Check inside your home, if you see any damp on the ceilings or up the side of an internal wall, then it’s likely you have a problem with the roof. If you see daylight through the roof boards then you need a repair.
- Look for sagging. Your roof should follow a straight line along a ridge. If it doesn’t and it looks like there’s a dip this could be the result of too much weight on the roof from snow and this could result in the roof collapsing.
- Flashing – check your roof for flashing damage. This is the material, usually made from aluminium around the chimney, skylights and roof vents which directs water away from critical areas of the roof. Look for any rust that may have appeared as this indicates there’s damage to the material.
- Think about your energy bills. Are they higher than normal? This could be due to air leaking from the roof and the heat escaping.
- Check for any cracked mortar or caulking around the joints and chimneys must be sealed.
Hopefully these checks will help to keep your roof in good condition and give you ultimate peace of mind you’ll have a secure and warm home over the colder months.