If you are on a budget, then you will need to cut home expenses. Here are stunning maintenance roofing work that will make you save money this season!
The reason you have a home is to put a roof above your head. Therefore, doesn’t it stand to reason that your roof is one of the most important components of your house?
And yet, when people think of home maintenance, they’re usually thinking of interior cleaning, landscaping, painting, and the like. Roofing work rarely figures in those conversations.
However, at the end of the day, if you want your home to be safe and leak-free, then you need to be performing regular roof maintenance to keep the top of your home in shipshape condition. Calling in professionals for every little roof project, though, can get pretty expensive.
So if you’re trying to be a little budget-conscious and don’t mind getting your hands dirty, then you need to be DIY-ing some of the best basic roof maintenance projects. In this article, we’ll give you a few tips you need to know on how to maintain your roof.
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Safety First, Above All
The first thing to remember as you work on your roof is that safety is by far the most important thing. There have been far too many accidents from roofing work that would have been easily preventable should the right safety measures have been taken.
Use a strong ladder. Don’t run around on top of the roof. Check your footing to make sure that the shingles you step on aren’t slippery with mold.
If the conditions aren’t favorable (recent rain or snow), then wait it out a few hours or days until you get a precipitation-free day. And above all, take your time and don’t rush things.
Trim Away Encroaching Vegetation
The first actual roof maintenance project that you may need to think about is to trim away encroaching vegetation. This is a preventative maintenance project.
Think about it. If there are a couple of particularly heavy branches hanging just above your roof, that’s a disaster waiting to happen. If a particularly heavy snow or forceful thunderstorm comes by, you could easily find yourself trying to figure out how to patch up the massive hole in your roof from the tree branch that’s sticking through it.
Go ahead and trim away this vegetation now by doing tree trimming with tree expert Madera, so you won’t need to worry about that happening.
Find Leaks with Quick Sprays
If you know that your roof is leaking, but you’re not sure where, there’s one easy way to find out.
Get your garden hose and spray water along small sections in the roof. Have someone inside the attic able to tell where it’s leaking. As you go section by section, you’ll eventually eliminate the structurally sound parts of the roof until you find the leak.
Once you know where it is, you can start work on patching it up.
Clean Your Gutters on the Regular
One super-simple roof maintenance project is the simple act of cleaning your gutters. When gutters get clogged up with fallen leaves and other debris, the result is poor drainage of your roof. If there’s any standing water about, that can easily result in mold growing on your roof or sealings becoming compromised, leading to more leaks.
All of that can be avoided with regular gutter cleaning. Take a few minutes every couple of months to clear out the leaves (do this more often during the fall months when leaves are falling fast and frequently).
Ventilate, Ventilate, Ventilate
Ventilation of your attic is extremely important to the overall health of your roof. Poor ventilation will result in mold growing in your roof and compromising air quality inside the house.
So make sure that you’re airing out the attic on the regular.
Do a Mold Check
There’s nothing mold loves quite like moisture, and few things can ruin your house like a bad case of mold. Your roof is an area that’s extremely susceptible to mold growth due to its frequent exposure to moisture from precipitation. That’s why it’s crucial that you do regular mold checks to see if there’s any growing on your roof.
If there is some growth, then you want to get that stuff removed as soon as possible. If it continues growing, then it could easily become an unmanageable case.
Check for Faults in the Sealing
There are two places in your sealing that are particularly susceptible to cracks.
The first is a valley in your roof. This is where two roof sections intersect at an angle. This is because much of the water that gets on your roof during rain drains through the valley.
The additional moisture can work its way through the sealing eventually.
The other place where sealing often fails is where the roof intersects with the wall or the side of the house. A poor caulking job will typically separate or crack in a few years, so make sure that you’re doing regular checks to ensure that there are no faults in your sealing. If there are, you’ll pay the price with a higher utility bill and plenty of leakages during rain.
Call in the Professionals
At the end of the day, there does come a certain point where you may need to call in the professionals. If your roof is beyond hope, then it may be time to call in a contractor who really knows what they’re doing.
For instance, if you have uncontrolled mold growth, a majority of your shingles are cracked, or if you can’t find a significant leak, then it may be time to call in a contractor. Be sure to know what questions to ask a roofer before you hire any specific service — you should question them on price, what process they follow, and whether they have experience with your particular roof style and material.
Roofing Work Tips You Need to Know
There you have it — with this knowledge of basic roofing work under your belt, you’re well-equipped to handle a majority of the roof maintenance in your home.
For more home improvement advice, be sure to check out the rest of the articles on the website
