Three Ways To Prepare Your Roof For Storm Season
The warm spring and summer months bring a number of environmental stressors with them, not the least of which are large and intense storms characterized by heavy rainfall, strong winds, and falling debris. The intensity of these warm weather storms can represent a great structural danger to your roof, as intense weather exposure can cause damage to your roofing materials and allow for leaks to develop. Fortunately, there are a couple of things that you can do before the storm season starts in order to ensure that your roof stays in good condition no matter what mother nature throws at it.
Gutter and Downspout Maintenance
The first and most important thing that you can do to ensure that your roof is able to withstand the heavy rain and debris associated with spring and summer storms is to make sure that your gutters and downspouts are in good condition. This means cleaning out all debris which may have collected in your gutters and downspouts over the fall and winter, and ensuring that no rust spots, broken support brackets, or other forms of physical damage have appeared on your gutters. Furthermore, you may want to consider installing gutter guards over your gutters to prevent further debris from collecting in the future, reducing the risk of a clog and also reducing the amount of cleaning and maintenance that you will have to perform.
Tree Trimming
Another fairly simple thing that you can do to protect your roof is to trim back any trees that are near your home or overhang your roof. Not only will this reduce the amount of organic debris, like leaves and twigs, which may collect on your roof and in your gutters, but doing so will also reduce the chance that high winds will cause branches to crack and fall onto your home, which can cause serious damage to your roof and the rest of your home.
Roofing Inspections
Finally, the last thing you should do at the end of every winter season, especially if it was a particularly intense winter, is to have a professional roofing contractor come in and inspect the integrity of your roof. This allows you to see where any winter damage or leaks are and have them fixed before the storm season starts and allows water to flow into your home. Furthermore, this is a good way to track the overall age of your roofing materials and spot signs that you may need to consider roofing replacement early.
For more information, talk to companies like Ray's Harford Home Improvement Contractors Inc.