Maintaining Your Shingle Roof
Tips For Maintaining Your Asphalt Shingle Roof
For property owners, a roofing system is a major investment and is a large percentage of the total construction costs.
The roofing contractor is responsible for helping owners protect their investments by providing careful and professional roof maintenance on a regular basis. That will help to ensure that the roof is protected properly.
The following are some useful tips to help to ensure that your roofing contractor doesn’t miss any important essentials while conducting routine maintenance services for you. If you own a home, the tips will provide you with some guidance on what you can expect whenever you hire a professional roofing contractor do maintenance on the roof of your house.
Four Tips For Regular Maintenance On Shingle Roofs
There are 4 basic services that a roofer will need to perform a few times a year to ensure that a homeowner’s asphalt shingled roof is properly maintained. You will also want to have this done following a major storm.
The following is a roofing maintenance checklist that you can use:
Routine Maintenance
When it comes to roof maintenance, one of the critical aspects is the routine clearing and cleaning of the roof along with the systems that relate to it.
Pay close attention not just to the flashing and shingles but to other key elements as well such as the ventilation, installations (like solar panels, chimneys, vents, and skylights), downspouts, troughs, and eaves.
We recommend the following:
- Debris should be regularly cleared from the roof of your house, including branches, leaves and other items that may clutter the surface of the roof.
- A leaf blower might be used by your roofing contractor, but make sure that the air is blown down the roof so that he doesn’t blow debris up and under the shingles instead.
- To reduce the amount of debris that is accumulated, clear vegetation away as well as branches hanging over the roof. A professional tree service should be hired to cut away any hard to reach or difficult areas.
- Dig out the organic material and leaves from all of your gutters. That will help to ensure that water will drain through into the downspouts without any obstruction.
- Homeowners can also install some eave protectors, which are metal mesh grates that help to make cleanup easier and prevent debris from building up.
Make sure that your downspouts are unobstructed and clear so that water is able to properly drain from your roof and away from its foundations (and not drip or leak down the sides of your house). You can do this by noting any drips or leaks that happen during a rainstorm or right after and then telling your contractor about them during your next inspection.
Tucson Roof Repair Contractors You Can Depend On
Have Your Roof Inspected
After the roof has been clear of any debris, have your roofing contractor inspect it for any possible red flags or issues that might indicate potential future problems.
This inspection should be done two times per year – we recommend that you have it done in the spring and then again in the fall. That will allow your contractor to note anything that looks suspicious and make any minor repairs or small fixes before they turn into bigger problems. They also can check to ensure that the ventilation system is working properly or whether it needs any cleaning or maintenance.
Perform Any Necessary Repairs
Any repairs that are necessary for an asphalt shingle roof should be done immediately by an experienced roofer in order to maintain the integrity of the roofing materials and all of the related systems, including the ventilation and drainage. When small repairs are done properly it will help to prevent more expensive repairs and larger issues from occurring over the long term. They can do the following:
Repair or replace any broken, bucked, or missing shingles. Nails or roofing cement can be used by the roofing contractor to repair any loose or cracked shingles. Any shingles that have blown or broken off can also be replaced.
Install or replace valley flashing: The current valley flashing might also need to be replaced if it is not secured any longer or has become cracked or corroded. That can pose a threat to its weatherproofing capabilities.
Replace other flashing: Nails or roofing cement should also be used by the roofer to replace any of the flashings around roof vents, chimneys or other installations if any of the flashings is rotten or has become loose. If the flashing is being installed on a brick structure, it is recommended that galvanized steel or cooper be used since the lime contained in brick mortar may corrode materials made out of aluminum.
Repair downspouts or gutters: Your roofing contractor might need to use roofing cement, a gutter patching kit or gutter caulking to repair corroded or leaky sections of the downspouts or eave troughs. If any of them are sagging, a level should be used to determine the right pitch and then they should be rehung so they drain correctly.
A Secure Roof Provides a Secure Home
Whether you happen to be a homeowner who wants to maintain the lifespan of your roof, or you are a professional roofing contractor who wants to educate your customers on the benefits that are provided by regular repair, maintenance, and inspection, sticking with a regular and consistent schedule is definitely well worth the time and investment.
Tucson Roof Repair Pros (520) 447-2100 provides quality shingle roof repair, shingle roof installation, shingle roof replacement and other shingle roof repair services to Tucson, AZ and the surrounding Tucson area communities. We’ve been a reputable, quality roofing contractor for years. When you need advice or repair of your asphalt shingle roof, give us a call.
