Spring is right around the corner, and it’s time to start planning for how to prepare your roof. It may not be the first thing on your mind, but completing a few tasks now could save you significant expense and frustration later.

Clean

First, this is an excellent time of year for getting your roof cleaned. Leaves, twigs, and other debris have accumulated on your roof over the course of fall and winter, and mold and mildew growth have begun to set in with the onset of warmer temperatures. Tackling both will help ensure your roof is not only at it’s best possible appearance, you’ll also protect its long term service live, since these kinds of stains and filth can cause increased wear and tear on your shingles.

Check Out Your Gutters

You also want to make sure your gutters are cleaned and in good repair. Clogged gutters can lead to standing water on your roof and will cause long term damage. Ensuring the gutters are still in good mounting, and that they are able to flow properly, will help protect your roof in the coming months of spring and summer rains. Clogged gutters can lead to all sorts of other damages for your home as well, so this is a great step for protecting your home overall. When we do a roof inspection (more on that in a moment) we also offer an inspection and estimate on your gutters through our partners at Cincy Gutter Boys.

Check for Other Potential Risks

While checking out your roof, you may also want to try a little amateur fortune telling! Take a look around your home and you can see possible risks to your roof’s future. Trees around your home can be a hazard to your roof’s service life. Loose or dying branches need to be identified and dealt with before they cause harm. Also look for branches that get too close to your roof, since they can be open invitations for wildlife to explore your roof and set up homes in vents or gutters, creating headaches down the road. A trained arborist can remove these risks while keeping the trees themselves in good health.

Full Roof Inspection

This may also be an excellent time to have a full inspection done on your roof. While having it cleaned and doing an optical inspection from the ground is a good and worthwhile habit, having one of our professionals get up close and personal with your roof, inspecting not only the shingles but also the vents, decking, and seals can go a long way to keeping your roof in it’s best possible shape. Catching small issues when they’re easy to fix will save you a great deal more money than waiting until something goes wrong and you’re repairing wide spread damage.

Review Your Warranty and Make Sure You Have Your Documentation

In the worst case scenario, you never want to be in a position where when you’re faced with a catastrophic roof leak, or dealing with storm damage, or facing a tree branch collapsed onto your roof, trying to dig through loose papers to find your warranty or roofing records. Now is a good time to sort through and make sure you have on file everything regarding your roof. We offer two different warranties when we install a roof, and regardless of who installed your roof, you want to know where your records and contact information is if it’s needed. If you’re reaching the end of your roof warranty, you may want to consider a new roof, or at least beginning the process of saving up for one. While a new roof can be a significant investment, it goes a long way to keeping you and your home safe.

We hope this information helps get you started in preparing for a long and enjoyable spring and summer season here in the Cincinnati area, with your roof in good repair! If you have any questions or if you’d like to get started on a roof inspection, call us today!