Tips to Maintain Your Roof
The standard shingle roof lasts around 20 years, depending on damage and usual wear and tear. Other types of roofing materials can last longer, but they are more expensive to install.
The extent and quality of care you give your roof can reduce or lengthen the time between roof replacements. If you are lucky, you might end up only having to install a new roof once in your lifetime, so long as you give it the care it needs.
Roof replacement is very expensive no matter the type of roof you have. You’re a lot better off in the long run doing maintenance and minor repairs as needed to help lengthen the lifetime of your roof.
If you aren’t confident in your roofing skills – or just don’t like the idea of climbing up a tall ladder – you can hire a licensed, certified roofer to give you a hand with all your maintenance and repair projects.
PREVENTATIVE ROOF CARE
Doing things to prevent most roof damage before it occurs is by far the cheapest route to extend the lifetime of your roof. Here are a few preventative care ideas for your roof:
Cut tree branches hanging over your roof. Gusting winds and rain storms can break tree branches and even push over trees. Decaying, dying trees will also drop their heavy branches onto your roof if they are not routinely pruned. Falling limbs destroy all types of roofs, including asphalt shingles and metal roofs.
Install rain gutter guards. Gutter guards are metal or mesh covers that can be installed over your rain gutters to reduce clogging. They can limit the amount of gutter cleaning you need to do and help prevent overflow into your landscaping. You can install gutter guards yourself or leave the work to a roofer or gutter cleaning company.
Have regular inspections. Shingles begin to lose asphalt granules after a couple of years, and metal roofs can get dented or begin to show signs of aging like rust or tarnish. Having inspections done by a company will let you know if there’s a problem that has to be taken care of.
Apply a roof coating. Roof coatings renew the oils from shingles so they don’t dry out, making your roof last 5 years or more beyond its expected lifetime. There are regular and plant-based products so you can feel safe about putting 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 system are in excellent condition. Too much or too little insulation can create a condensation problem. Lack of ventilation will result in trapped moisture. This can quickly cause mold and mildew growth, as well as odors throughout your home. Besides being a nuisance, mold and mildew will ruin wood and other materials, weakening your home’s structure.
ROUTINE ROOF MAINTENANCE
Here and there, you’ll want to complete some general maintenance on your roof. If this is done often enough, you’ll help prevent leaks and extend the lifetime of your roof, regardless of the materials it’s made from.
Do these things at least once a year to prevent damages and keep your roof looking nice:
Roof cleaning. Cleaning a roof will remove debris, mold and dirt. This will limit the risk of pests building nests on your roof, and it will immediately freshen up the appearance of your home. Simi Valley Pressure Washing offers roof cleaning in Simi Valley as one of our services.
Gutter cleaning. Cleaning out rain gutters is a necessary part of home ownership. Check your rain gutters often, especially if it’s raining, to observe if there are any clogs that have to be cleared. Most companies recommend gutter cleaning once in the spring and again in the fall season.
Remove moss. If moss starts growing, it means that your roof is shaded and stays very moist. Moss’s roots can attach to shingles and other types of materials and damage them if it isn’t removed quickly. Most homeowners decide to have a professional do this so no damage is done in the process.
MINOR ROOF REPAIRS
Damages will happen, but so long as you take care of them right away, no major issues should result. If you are a capable handyman, you might feel confident doing minor repairs yourself. But if not, professional roofing companies are more than willing 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 protect your roof. If they start to come off, the roof will begin to look worn, but, most importantly, it won’t protect what’s below. Only a section needs to be re-shingled if the damage is superficial.
Replace fascia. Occasionally, the part of your roof that rests between the roof material and the top of the exterior wall (called the fascia) will need to be replaced. The fascia can sometimes leak, allowing mold and mildew into your home, and sometimes pests.
Re-caulk around the flashings. Flashings fill in gaps on the roof where it is impossible to place roofing material. It’s the perfect location for leaks on a roof, and it is very easily damaged. If more extensive work is needed, replacing the flashing is a simple task for roofers 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 around 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 might end up buying quite a few roofs in your lifetime.
When purchasing a new home, a roof inspection is definitely worth your money. You can also include the price of a new roof – if one is needed – in the closing costs or ask that the seller has the roof replaced prior to the sale. When trying to sell a home, give Simi Valley Pressure Washing a call for professional roof cleaning in Simi Valley to improve curb appeal for potential buyers.