How To Maintain Your Roof This Winter

When winter arrives, you can expect your roof to suffer some additional wear and tear. To ensure that your roof doesn't suffer from unnecessary and expensive damage, you need to know how to take care of your roof throughout the winter season. Keep reading to learn about some roof maintenance tasks that you should perform.

Remove Snow as Quickly as Possible

While snow on the roof may look beautiful, it can cause serious damage if it is left for an extended period of time. Snow, along with ice, will weigh your roof down. So, if your roof is already compromised, even just a little bit, it will be at risk of significant damage. If the snow and ice stay on the roof, ice dams may develop when it melts and refreezes. This can result in your shingles becoming loose and leaks developing. To avoid these issues, make sure that snow is removed from the roof as quickly as possible. To get a high-quality result, hire a professional to do this for you.

Repair Damaged Flashing

As you begin performing winter maintenance on your roof, examine your flashing. While you may have not had any issues thus far, over the past several months, the flashing may have become loose or warped. If you have faulty flashing leading into the winter season, it may allow moisture to seep into the roof. If too much moisture accumulated, a leak may occur, causing interior damage.

Inspect the Gutter System

Precipitation will begin to accumulate in the gutters before most other places, so make sure that you are regularly checking them for any signs of ice dams forming. The most obvious sign that moisture is building up in your gutter system is the formation of icicles. When this happens, your gutters will become weak and are likely to come loose from the home because they simply cannot hold all the weight from the ice. Unfortunately, this can cause serious damage to the structure of your home, leading to an expensive repair bill.  As soon as you see ice dams forming, eliminate the problem so that your gutters remain working properly.

There are many other winter roof maintenance tasks that need to be done, such as removing debris, looking for wind damage, and checking the attic ventilation, before winter arrives. If you need to feel comfortable doing these, contact a professional residential roofing service to carry them out, along with an inspection.