Essential Things You Should Do So That Your Roof Remains In Good Shape During Winter

Your roof features various components designed to help keep you and your family safe. Yet, for it to perform this role, you need to ensure that you implement strategies to safeguard it against the elements. This is crucial, particularly in the cold season, characterized by hailstorms, strong winds, and ice dams. If you aren't sure how to go about winterizing your roof, here are important aspects worth considering:

Scheduling Professional Roof Inspection

Before the start of the winter season, you ought to schedule a professional roof inspection. This assessment is vital to identifying signs of damage, such as rot spots or missing and damaged shingles. Accordingly, it is critical to ensure that you don't incur costly repairs down the road, e.g., due to hail or ice dam damage.

Checking on the Condition of the Gutters

Many homeowners erroneously think that gutter cleaning is only necessary during the fall because it is during this time that trees shed a lot of leaves. Unfortunately, debris in the gutters can cause numerous issues during the winter months. For example, it will prevent the melting snow and rainwater from draining correctly. This results in water backup that causes damage to the roofing material and water damage in your home. Additionally, excessive snow buildup in the gutters increases the weight that they have to bear, causing them to break off.

Removing Tree Limbs That Touch Your Roof

When snow falls, it increases the weight of branches, making them vulnerable to breaking. In a case where such branches overhang your roof, this can cause you to deal with extensive damage. To prevent this, ensure that you trim your tree prior to the winter season. Given that this a job you cannot expertly do by yourself, it's best to seek the services of a professional arborist. This will protect you from serious injuries, e.g., while cutting too high branches.

Ensuring That the Attic Is Effectively Ventilated

Before the start of the winter season, call an experienced professional to check that the attic has proper ventilation. Without this, your house is vulnerable to mold and mildew growth, which can affect your health and that of your household members. Besides inspecting the ventilation, they'll also check for damaged insulation and repair it. This can help prevent heat loss and the buildup of ice dams.

Ensure that you call a roofing contractor to undertake the preventative maintenance practices mentioned above before winter. This will ensure that you don't suffer extensive roof damage that may necessitate roof replacement.