Get Your Roof Summer Ready | 11 Useful Roofing Tips for Summer
Summer is the best time to repair your roof and get it ready for the upcoming rain and storm. Here are 11 tips to help you do it.
Although the roof of your house literally protects you from harm, it often gets overlooked until a serious problem occurs. However, a little bit of care and maintenance on a regular basis can get a long way in keeping your roofs in good condition, and you can avoid any unwanted problems.
After everything your roof has to go through during the winter and spring season, it requires some care right before summer. Moreover, it is the best time to clean or fix any issues with your roof.
To make the task even easier, we have accumulated the top 11 tips that you should keep in mind to have a solid, reliable, and sturdy roof over your head.
11 Incredible Tips to Get Your Roof Ready for Summer
As mentioned, we have shared tips that can help you regulate the condition of your roof and fix the problems. However, if you do not have the time to check your roof before summer, do not just leave it unchecked.
Search for “Businesses located near me” and find the right people or businesses who can help you maintain your roof in proper condition.
Otherwise, the results can be catastrophic.
1. Regularly Check Your Roof
The most effective way to become aware of any roof-related issues is by regularly inspecting them. If you do so, there is no way any potentially dangerous issues will be overlooked.
Although sometimes looking at the roof from a distance can give you some obvious signs of damage to the roof, inspecting it is more than that.
You need to climb on the roof and inspect it closely. Otherwise, many faults can get missed. You need to find any cracked or loose shingles, dirt, debris, and whatnot.
2. Don’t Delay on Fixing Damages
We cannot emphasize enough the importance of a roof for your house.
Delaying solving problems with the roof can become catastrophic in no time. Whenever you find an issue with your roof that can cause a bigger problem in the future, you should repair those problems as quickly as possible by getting professionals from companies such as APEX Roofing to help you.
Remember that the longer you wait, the worse the problem is going to get. Moreover, it can cost a lot more afterward compared to the repair cost when you initially find the problem.
3. Inspect the Attic
You might be wondering what the attic has to do with the roof?
Well, the attic is intertwined with the roof. So, any issues in the roof can affect the attic, and conversely, problems in the attic can damage the roof too.
Firstly, the attic can be the indicator of any leakage or hole in the roof. If you find any water, water marks, mold, and other similar signs in the attic, that means there is probably a leakage from the roof.
Secondly, in the summer season, the roof gets extremely heated. When the roof absorbs sun rays, some of it gets transferred to the attic as well.
Therefore, hot air circulates in the attic and keeps the temperature high. If there is the absence of proper ventilation in the attic, the temperature can stay high for a long time, eventually distributing heat to the rooftop. The excessive heat can cause the shingles on the roof to crack or deform.
The deformation or crack of the shingles can eventually end up causing or even worsening the water leakage problem that we discussed earlier.
4. Check the Shingles
A nice sunny day is the best time to check your shingles. Consider going up on the roof and carefully checking each and every shingle. Look for cracks, deformed shingles, or loose nails.
While ramping up your home décor during summer, it is equally important to renovate your roof too.
5. Replace Any Missing Shingles
Replacing shingles seems like an easy job. However, it is not. It would be best if you leave this difficult work to the professionals.
Replacing your existing shingles with the wrong kind or using the wrong nails can damage your roof even further. The wrong type of shingles can face, crack or grow algae. Moreover, it impacts the overall health and safety of the roof.
Therefore, even if it seems like a few shingles need replacement, try hiring a professional to do the job. They will do a better job fixing your roof without causing more damage.
6. Look Out for Trees on the Roof
Having trees over the roof can be quite risky, especially during summer.
Usually, there is a lot more rain and storms in the summer season, and trees can easily fall on the roof of your house during a disaster. No matter how strong and healthy a tree seems, you should avoid having a tree over your roof.
Furthermore, the branches that hang above your roof can damage the shingles. The twigs and the leaves can cause friction with the shingles and scrape the upper protective layer of the shingles. As a result, the shingles get damaged and lose longevity.
Moreover, the overlaying trees can trap moisture over the roof area and make it moldy. The twigs and leaves also fall on the roof and can cause molds. Also, the fallen parts of trees can clog the gutter.
7. Clear Any Unwanted Debris
Your roof collects a lot of dirt debris around the year, and summer is the best time to clean them.
Any twigs or leaves that fall on the roof, if left uncleared, can start damaging the roof. It damages the shingles by causing leakage and crack.
Moreover, shingles are meant to reflect the sun rays, which are disrupted by debris on the roof. Therefore, in summer, your home can heat up a lot.
You can simply use a leaf blower to remove leaves from the roof. However, you should prioritize your safety over anything. You must wear slip-resistant shoes when you climb up on the roof to clean debris.
Let us share another bonus tip - do not use a power washer on your roof. It can damage the shingles, and as a result, the shingles cannot protect your home the way they are supposed to.
8. Clean Up the gutters
Cleaning up the gutter might be tiring, but it is essential. There is a high possibility of damages or issues caused by not properly taking care of the gutter.
On top of that, the gutter is something that gets dirty frequently and requires regular cleaning. Unfortunately, there is no other way but to clean the gutter.
Many things can clog the gutter, such as leaves, branches, bird’s nests, mice, squirrels, insects, etc. To get rid of anything unwanted, it is necessary to clean the gutter.
If you notice insects crawling around your gutter, there is a high possibility that your gutter is clogged, and you won’t want them to expand.
When your gutter gets clogged, rainwater is not properly drained out through the gutter and drainage system. It gets collected on the roof, causing damage to the roof.
The water mainly gets stuck under the shingles. As a result, mold, and decay start occurring. This can lead to severe roof damage.
Further, check the gutters if they are in good condition. If the gutters are bent or deformed, they might not be in the most effective form and cause clogging. In such cases, you need to replace them with new ones.
9. Inspect Sun Damage
The roof of any house is the part that gets the most damage from direct sunlight.
Although the roof is made of material that can reflect or resist sunlight to some extent, they are not immune to damage. Over time, there can be damage to the shingles or other parts of the roof.
You need to check the shingles for sun damage, especially before summer, as there could be cracks. Water can get inside through the cracks and expand the damage even further.
The sun damage could be less evident at first. By the time they are visible, it might be too late. Therefore, you should hire professionals to inspect for sun damage.
However, if you are wondering how to detect sun damage for shingles, faded, cracked, chipped, or warped shingles are clear signs of sun damage.
10. Check Skylights
If your roof has skylights, then you need to check that too. To be more precise, you need to check the skylight and roof seal.
If the seal is damaged and has holes or cracks, water can get in through them. So, make sure the skylight is securely sealed in its place and ready for the wind and storms.
11. Hire Professionals for Roof Inspection
The roof is a crucial part of the house and needs adequate knowledge, equipment, and materials to fix it.
Unless you are well aware of the procedure of fixing roofs and have all the necessary equipment, it is best to let the professionals do this complex task.
Otherwise, the slightest mistake can cause much more damage to the roof and cost thousands of dollars to fix.
Moreover, one inspection from the professionals can detect all the existing damages and problems in your roof. These problems might not be quite evident to you as a homeowner. Therefore, roof inspection should not be neglected and be done by professionals.
Summing Up
No matter what, roof damages should not be taken lightly. It literally protects you from harm or injury, and you should not neglect its maintenance.
As summer is the most pleasant time to work outdoors and the season is often followed by heavy wind and rain, it is the best time to inspect and fix your roof.
Follow the tips you just learned in this article and get your roof ready for the summer! Best of luck!