Winter is usually characterized by harsh conditions that destroy your home’s roof and reduce its longevity. Because of this, it’s best to make sure that your roofing system is in perfect condition before winter. The earlier you do this, the better.
But what tips should you observe to make sure you’re ready for the unpredictable winter season? If this is your concern, worry no more. This article is a detailed guide on the four tips a qualified roofer in Albuquerque, NM will give you in preparation for winter.
- Trim Trees Close To Your House
If your house is surrounded by tall trees, cleaning your gutters to remove the branches and leaves might be a futile exercise. This is because there’ll still be a continued pile up of leaves and branches falling from the surrounding trees. This accumulation might lead to the clogging of the gutters during the snowy season.
It’s thus advisable to take proactive steps to prevent this from happening. The best way of doing this is by trimming the trees around your house. After doing this, you can then clean the gutters knowing there will be little to no leaves and branches, which might cause a clogging issue once it starts snowing.
Moreover, dead trees and heavy and long tree limbs are also dangerous as they might fall on your home’s roofing during a massive storm. This causes significant damage to certain areas of your roof, which will be costly to repair. It’s best to avoid such issues by trimming the trees around your house before the winter season.
2. Clean Your Gutters
The accumulation of acorns, leaves, and other debris in the gutter is one of the causes of your roof getting destroyed. This happens because the pile-up of debris on your roofing system clogs your gutter. As a result, your home’s roofing system gets destroyed.
During winter, water that has accumulated in the gutters freezes and adds weight to the gutters. This additional weight increases the likelihood of the gutters collapsing. Furthermore, the water accumulated in the gutters might overflow and lead to the destruction of your home’s foundation.
Replacing the collapsed gutters and restoring the foundation of your home is quite expensive. Thus, it’s best to avoid this by cleaning your gutters to make sure the water from melting snow or rainstorms flows freely.
3. Inspect Your Roof Flashing
Flashing is constructed using waterproof material like galvanized metal or aluminum. It’s installed along the roof’s intersection, at the skylights’ edges, one in every joint, and in areas where the chimney interlocks with the roof and other similar parts. Its function is to provide added protection to the roof by directing water off the roof.
This prevents water from finding its way into your home’s foundation, causing it to weaken. It also ensures water doesn’t enter your home, as this can result in substantial damage to your home’s interior.
Strong winds, storms, heavy rains, and freezing temperatures experienced during winter might cause the tearing, uplifting, loosening, and corroding of the flashing. It’s best to inspect it carefully to avoid any possible issue with the flashing during winter.
Once you do this, you’ll be able to identify the areas that need repair and avoid water leakage into your home, which causes extensive damage. It’s advisable to assign this duty to a skilled professional.
Professionals have the expertise and experience to confirm all the parts are sealed tightly and correctly. They’re also able to identify whether any loose or missing parts need to be replaced.
4. Inspect Your Attic Insulation
The attic plays the vital role of lowering your utility bills, ensuring even temperature inside your home and increasing your home’s value. Its function is directly linked to how well your roof functions. This means if your attic isn’t well insulated or ventilated, it’s more likely to expose the roof to the harsh winter elements. As a result, several issues arise out of this, including the formation of ice dams.
As precaution, you should carefully inspect your attic to check for uneven insulation spots or visible floor joists. Doing this allows you to know whether it’s necessary to install additional parts.
You should also check the roof for hot spot areas where snow is melting faster, as this is a sign of uneven insulation. If there’s a need for more insulation, you should hire a qualified expert to do this job.
Furthermore, harsh weather conditions during winter can cause the roof shingles to get destroyed. One way to identify whether the shingles need replacing is to check for any noticeable signs and missing granules.
If you’re unsure of the damage extent of the shingles, you should hire a skilled roofer to inspect them. Roof mechanics will assess the condition of the shingles and determine whether replacement is necessary. Their expertise also allows them to do the replacement capably.
Conclusion
The roof is one of your home’s most important parts as it safeguards you and your family from harsh elements of the outside environment. It would be best to follow these doable roofing tips every year before winter season comes.
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