6 Roof Maintenance Tips to Protect Your Home

Your home is by far your largest and most important investment. Your investment is in serious danger if your home’s roof isn’t protecting it. Follow these roof maintenance tips to protect your home and investment.

Roof leaks and improper insulation lead to much more than ugly spots on the ceiling: water can cause extensive damage to floors and walls, create a health hazard by encouraging mold growth, and even contribute to electrical fires.

Use these 6 roof maintenance steps to keep your roof in top shape and protect your home.

1. Keep Excess Water Off

One of your roof’s primary jobs is to keep water out of your house, but your roof needs your help to remove the water that falls on it. Make sure to keep your roof’s gutters and downspouts in tip-top shape so they can drain properly, and trim your trees, so they do not hang over the roof, dripping water and shedding leaves into the gutters.

2. Conquer Moss

Moss growth on your roof is more than just ugly: moss has root-like structures that can cause pitting of the shingles, and moss can grow underneath the shingles and cause them to lift and separate from the roof. Keeping your trees trimmed away from the roof will make the roof less friendly to moss by minimizing moss-welcoming shady areas, but moss may still grow.

Use Wet & Forget to safely and gently remove any moss on your roof, and re-treat at the first sign of new growth to prevent moss from coming back. Spray once, and let Wet & Forget do the work for you.

3. Check Your Insulation

Good attic insulation helps keep your house warm in the winter and cool in the summer, and it also helps protect your roof.

A good layer of insulation on the attic floor with no gap for air to get between the house and the insulation is a must. This prevents big temperature exchanges between the house and attic, which will cause damaging water condensation on the underside of the roof.

A layer of vapor retarder underneath the insulation adds protection to your roof.

4. Do a Yearly inspection

Everything suffers wear and tear with time, and your roof is no exception. Catching and fixing a problem early is the key to preventing water damage to your home and dealing with a small problem before it becomes big.

Check your roof at least once a year, preferably in the spring, for any signs of damaged or lifted shingles, moss growth, or other problems. If you don’t feel comfortable checking the roof yourself, you can hire a roofing professional to do the inspection.

5. Maintain Good Ventilation

Like insulation, good attic ventilation will also protect your roof from damage caused by water condensation. Without good ventilation, water vapor can cause the roof sheathing and rafters to rot and can even damage the shingles.

Make sure your attic has good, unobstructed vents with screens to keep birds out. Ventilation fans are available for larger attics.

6. Proper Roof Maintenance Repairs 

When there is a problem with your roof, make sure you hire the right professional to do the repairs or the replacement.

Check with the Better Business Bureau before you call a roofing contractor, and get at least 3 detailed price quotes before you hire a contractor for the job.

For a complete guide to caring for and maintaining your roof, read our Roof Cleaning 101 Guide.