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Do you know how to prepare your roof for winter?

Your roof is critically important to your home’s structural integrity. Problems on your roof can spread to become problems in other areas – such as structural damage, mold growth and water damage within your home. We strongly recommend you take care of your roof when and take steps to minimize roof damage during the winter months.

To keep your roof in the best condition and avoid roof repairs or an early roof replacement project, you should conduct maintenance before the winter weather. If you hire a local roofer to take on these tasks while the weather is still cooperating, you can save yourself a headache down the road.

Here are the top roof maintenance tips for helping your roof get through this winter:

Fix Existing Roof Leaks

Sounds simple enough, right? Do you have leaks in the roof or a brown spot that you noticed? Are any shingles damaged, cracked, or missing? Have you found shingles in your yard?

Find and fix any leaks. Investigate the roof from the ground or out your windows to see if there are damaged shingles or missing shingles that need to be repaired. You can also look in your attic to see any spots of wet or stained wood.

Clean Your Gutters

Cleaning your gutters will help prevent ice build up when it starts getting colder. Not only will this protect your gutters, but it will protect your entire roofing system from unnecessary ice and water exposure during the winter.

Check The Flashing

Damaged flashing can be the reason for leaks just like damaged shingles. Flashing is typically a thin metal that connects the roof to other components, such as walls, chimneys, windows, skylights and vents. Flashing is meant to direct/ divert water out of the problem areas.

A professional roofing contractor can Inspect the flashing and ensure it is in good condition. If you need to replace the flashing, typically a Roof Repair by a local Columbus roofer can do the trick and save you thousands of dollars.

Try To Prevent Ice Dams

An ice dam occurs when your gutters are clogged and through heat loss the snow melts and refreezes in that gutter which isn’t draining due to the clog. The ice dam will damage your roof over time as well as prevent the snow from melting and running through the gutter and off of your home’s roof.

We recommend you make sure the gutters are clean and water is flowing freely through them. This will reduce the number of ice dams forming and wreaking havoc on your home. Proper attic venting and insulation also helps reduce ice dams, as warm air coming through your ceiling can cause snow to melt, run down the roof, and freeze – resulting in ice dams.

Look For Sagging Roof Sections

Take a look at your roof from the ground and walk around. Do you notice areas that have bumps, dips or non straight lines? What about from the inside of your home? Can you see the roof sagging inward when you are in the attic? How about a low point on an interior ceiling?

If your roof is sagging, you will need to bring in a professional local roofing contractor to inspect the issue and recommend a remedy. Depending on the level of damage to the structure you also may need to have the roof’s framing assessed by a framing contractor or possibly a structural engineer.

These should be addressed before winter, the added weight of the snow and ice on your roof can make the problem worse since the snow acts like a sponge and holds moisture.

Trim Your Trees

Do you have tree branches hanging over your roof or resting in your roof shingles?

The severe weather during winter months can cause those branches to fall on your roof, which can lead to extensive damage in some cases. Trim away tree limbs and branches that are touching your house or hanging over your roof.

The Best Way to Prepare Your Roof for Winter

Are you concerned about your roof getting through this winter? If so, make sure to contact a professional roofing contractor to inspect your roof. From there, they can recommend any necessary repairs to get your roof through the winter.

If you are looking for a quality roofer in the greater Columbus area, make sure to contact our team at Best Exteriors! Not only will we provide you with a thorough inspection, but we will only recommend repairs that you need and not try to push you for anything beyond what is necessary.

To learn more about how you can best take care of your roof, feel free to reach out! We would love to hear from you.

Drew
Drew Paetow

We’ll have you love your home project so much that people will drive by and comment on how good it looks. That is our promise to you.

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