5 Steps to Increasing Your Roof’s Longevity

You’ve just gotten a brand new roof installed on your home. The craftsmanship is spectacular, and your house looks great. Now it’s up to you to maintain your roof. Here are five simple steps to maintaining your roof and increasing its longevity.

1. Inspect Your Roof Monthly and After Big Storms

Regular roof inspection is your first defense against long-term damage. You have two ways to perform an inspection: climb up on a ladder and look around, or get a good pair of binoculars and inspect the roof from your yard. Do this every month and after any kind of significant snowstorm or rainfall.

In particular, carefully inspect the condition of your shingles. If they’re broken, missing, bent, curling, blistering, or buckling, replace them immediately. Look for moss, lichen, and signs of algae. These signs indicate that your shingles have decay beneath them and need to be replaced.

Also, check for rust spots, cracked caulk, and popped nails. If you find any of these three common issues, you can often reapply the caulk, hammer in the popped nails, and sand away the rust yourself.

2. When You Located a Small Issue, Repair It Immediately

Think about your roof as your home’s most important protection against moisture. Even if there are only a few warped shingles, water can creep underneath your roof and damage your house’s underlying structure. Avoid letting small issues become big, expensive, harder-to-repair problems by being proactive and aggressive about repairing your roof.

How can you tell if you need to repair any small issues? Check your house for signs of a leak, which include dark spots on your ceiling and peeled paint on roof overhangs.

3. Remove Debris from Your Roof, Including Snow

Fallen branches, twigs, and leaves collect on your roof, giving algae an opportunity to grow on and under your shingles. Debris also provides a rooftop home to squirrels and raccoons. To prevent debris-related roof damage, use a broom to pull any branches, leaves and twigs off of your roof.

Come wintertime, get a roof rake with an extendable pole. Use the rake to remove any accumulated snow from your roof. The longer the snow sits, the greater the chances are that ice can build up and form an ice dam. To learn more about what do about ice dams, read this blog about ice dam causes and prevention.

4. Clean Your Gutters and Look for Any Fallen Shingles

The items you find in your gutters are a great indicator of what’s going on with your roof. If you clean your gutters regularly, you may discover broken shingles, moss, and other warning signs of roof damage before the problem worsens.

Cleaning your gutters every spring and fall also helps prevent water damage to your siding and your roof. Excess leaves and other organic debris can absorb huge amounts of water. If the leaves fill up your gutters, the overflow can break into your roof sheathing and create rot within the structure.

5. Trim Overhanging Branches Near the Roof

While you may love the big oak tree growing in your yard, if its branches extend over your roof, they pose a significant threat during a storm. Trim any overhanging branches to prevent them from either crashing into your roof or breaking off and collecting on top of it.

If your roof’s repair is more than you can handle, hire the expert roofers from Advantage Roofing in Cincinnati, Oh. We offer comprehensive roofing services, including installation and repair.

Unlike other companies, we provide you with a free, on-site estimate of your roofing repair. Our expert roofers also execute every repair with unmatched attention to detail and unparalleled customer service.  Contact us today to learn more.