When you own a property, you need to take care of it. Unlike when you’re renting and the landlord will do all the repairs for you, if you are a homeowner, this comes under your remit. Ideally, you’ll want to keep up with regular maintenance of a variety of areas in your home. By doing this, you’ll often prevent big problems from occurring which will be costly and disruptive.
Your roof is a prime example of this. By implementing a few checks throughout the year, you can often pre-empt any issues and get small problems fixed quickly, before they turn into big ones, that can cause many other complications in and around your home.
With that in mind, here are some of the best things you can do, to keep your roof in good shape.
Carry Out Inspections
Most areas of your home are easy to check regularly for any issues. Just by walking around the interior or exterior, you’ll be able to spot problems and deal with them quickly. This is not necessarily the case with your roof because you can’t see it – at least not all of it. This is why you need to make a plan to inspect your roof, at least once a year, preferably twice. You never know what might have happened up there, and a loose tile or broken shingle could spell disaster, causing leaks, damp, and mold within your home.
Of course, inspecting your roof is not an easy thing to do, and in many cases it will require not only specialist equipment, but plenty of experience to know just what looks right and what doesn’t. It also poses a health and safety risk. This is why it’s best to hire a roofing company to do these inspections for you. If there are any problems, they should be able to provide a solution.
Clean The Gutters
Something you can do yourself (although you can hire professionals if you prefer) is to clean your gutters. The gutters run along the lower edge of your roof, and when it rains, they collect the rainwater and funnel it down into the drainage system. This prevents the ground from becoming too wet, which can be a problem for your foundations and walls, and also prevents damp and mold forming, because your outside wall will remain mostly dry.
If the gutters are clogged up with leaves, moss, twigs, and other debris – the water won’t drain away, and the problems mentioned above, will be more likely to occur. This is why you need to check your gutters twice a year and clear them out at the same time. It’s not a long job, and it could save you a lot of hassle in the long run.
Cut Off Branches
If you live somewhere surrounded by trees, you’ll know they can cause problems, no matter how much you might like the view. If there are trees very close to your property, for instance, leaves and twigs can fall into your gutters, causing a blockage. However, perhaps a bigger problem, is the fact that heavy, falling branches, can cause destruction to your roof. This can happen due to bad weather, or the weakness of aging trees.
If you have a lot of trees around your home, make sure you keep the branches cut back, away from your roof, to prevent this kind of damage.
