Watch Your Head: Tips for Regular Roof Maintenance

As a homeowner, you don’t have to wait until your roof has some visible damages to repair it. You need to be proactive and solve roof issues before they can turn into costly problems.

Your roof bears the brunt of Florida’s harsh winds and extreme temperatures throughout the year. These natural elements significantly reduce the lifespan of your roof. However, with the following roof maintenance tips, you’ll be able to extend the lifespan of your roof.

1. Inspect Your Roof Regularly

For comprehensive roof maintenance, you need to inspect your roof twice a year. You can even inspect many times if you need. You should do this in spring to check winter damages. 

Pay attention to the inside and outside of your roof. Some of the things to check include pest damage, rotting wood, leaking, and missing roof tiles. 

Spring through summer is the best period to repair such damages. If you allow simple roof problems to go through another cold season, it will be challenging to handle the accumulated repair expenses.

2. Replace Damaged Shingles

Any missing or damaged roof shingle should be replaced immediately. Failure to replace damaged shingles can lead to excessive water buildup on the roof. Remember, water pooling can cause severe roof damages, sometimes bringing the entire roofing system down. 

Always replace damaged shingles with a similar shingle and use similar nails.

3. Keep Your Roof Clean

Cleaning your roof is the simplest roof maintenance practice you can undertake. Regular roof cleaning will enhance the vitality and appearance of your house.

Cleaning will help you get rid of moss, which tends to hold water.

Another roof issue you can resolve through cleaning is black algae. It is not a dangerous growth, but you don’t need it on your roof. Black algae can be washed away by a chlorine solution. 

Cleaning your roof also helps in removing dirt, dust, and debris. 

4. Maintain the Gutters

Debris buildup will obviously clog your gutter system. This will prevent water from flowing out through the downspouts. The water buildup is dangerous because it will end up rotting some parts of your roof. 

You need to make sure that gutters are always attached to your roof system. They should be strong enough to handle heavy water flow from the roof. Also, you should always make sure that your gutter system is clear of debris and leaves.

5. Wash Your Roof

Washing is a crucial maintenance practice for shingles. With time, your roof will appear dirty, with dark streaks flowing from all directions. This is a sign that alga is growing on your roof. 

As highlighted above, algae are not dangerous. However, if you give it time to accumulate, it can easily rot your shingles. Bleach mixed with water will get rid of these black streaks and give your shingles a new look. 

Using bleach is not a standard method of dealing with algae. It will grow after a few months. You need to have some copper strips beneath your roof that will deal with algae molecules and prevent them from coming back.

6. Patch Up Your Chimney

Your chimney is part of your roof system. Therefore, it should be included in your roof maintenance checklist. In this case, you need to check some missing mortars and cracks.

Cracks and missing mortars cause structural integrity issues on your chimney. This may lead to falling bricks, which can damage your roof. Structural damages can also collapse the entire duct.

Prepare some mortar and patch up your chimney to maintain its structural integrity. If you find this task engaging, hire a contractor to do it for you.

7. Inspect for Rust

If you have metal roofs, you need to check for rust. This is a dangerous chemical buildup that can have devastating impacts on your entire house.

In Orlando, high humidity and increased temperatures make the weather ideal for rust to form on metal parts. That is why you need to clean your roof regularly to remove the tiny rust buildup before it can affect your entire metal roof. 

Remove all the screws that have rusted and replace them with new ones. Make sure you scrub the rust using a wire brush and keep your roof clean. You can use elbow grease in the areas that have some rust to curtail it before it spreads.

8. Inspect Your Roof After Storm

Heavy rain, strong winds, and hail can all damage your roof. If your area has experienced a storm recently, you need to check your roof. Start with the gutters and see whether they’re bent on either side.

Bending gutters indicates some severe roof damages. Look for asphalt damages on individual shingles. Remember, even the slightest roof damage can be the primary source of the problem, and as such, you need to fix it.

9. Ensure Strong Insulation

Inspect your roof insulation regularly. You don’t want your house to be losing a significant percentage of the heat generated by the heater. Your attic needs to be fitted with good insulation material to keep your room comfortable.

Standard roof insulation can serve you for more than 40 years. This will help you save energy bills while at the same time reducing your carbon footprint.

When To Contact Professionals for Roof Maintenance?

DIY roof maintenance is a common practice. You don’t need a professional to remove debris and wash your roof.

However, any complex roof maintenance and repair project should be handled by a roof technician. You might inflict further roof damages through DIY practices. An Orlando roof repair expert can advise you when it’s time to replace your roof.

If you notice signs of roof damage, don’t hesitate to contact His and Hers Roofing to schedule an inspection.