A home can be a costly thing to maintain. Electrical, plumbing, and other minor repairs can add up quickly. None of them, however, can add up to the potential cost of a failing roof. Repair or replacement of your roof can have a five-figure price tag, which means that extending your roof lifespan can save you a ton of money.
Let’s look at some simple things you can do to extend your roof life expectancy.
Things You Can Do To Extend Your Roof’s Lifespan
Keep Your Gutters Clean
Your gutters provide a valuable function, giving water somewhere to flow away from your roof easily, and if your gutters are clogged, they can’t do this. With your gutters unable to do their job, water can pool at the edge of your roof and lead to severe damage on your roof and facia.ac
Your gutters should be cleaned at least twice a year. You can do it yourself or hire a professional to do it for you to save time and mess.
Trim Overhanging Trees
Trees with branches that hang over your home have both a good and bad side. While the shade they provide can help reduce the cost to cool your home, they also offer some significant threats to your roof.
The threat that most think overhanging limbs create is limbs breaking and falling onto your roof, damaging it. This is something to consider, but there are other problems nearby trees can lead to.
Leaves falling from those branches onto your roof will most likely either trap moisture beneath them, increasing the chances of water damage to your shingles, or clog up your gutters, leading to other problems such as algae buildup on your roof.
Trim any branches that overhang your home, and you’ll prevent multiple problems from happening.
Replace Faulty or Missing Shingles
As shingles begin to age, wear and tear can reduce their effectiveness, or sometimes they can even loosen and fall from your roof.
In both cases, quickly replacing worn or missing shingles can prevent a much larger repair bill down the road. While your shingles are designed to take the prolonged daily exposure to the elements, the materials underneath them are not. Any gap in the coverage of your shingles can lead to severe problems with your roof structure, which can be prevented by keeping an eye out for problem areas. Speaking of which…
Regular Inspections are a Must
Obviously, catching minor roof problems before they become major repairs is the key to saving money. There are a lot of different factors to keep in mind while inspecting a roof. Missing shingles are obvious, but other problems may not be.
For example, a shingle may be damaged enough to allow water beneath it, leading to problems in a relatively short amount of time, but might not be apparent from the ground, or even to an untrained eye from above.
Checking your attic ceilings are a part of any roof inspection. A roof that looks fine from the outside could be hiding a secret that will only become apparent when looking at the underside. Leaks, structural problems, mold, and other problems can be hiding underneath a seemingly-fine roof.
While keeping an eye on your roof yourself is always a good idea, you should also consider regular professional inspections. Authentic Restoration could save you thousands of dollars, whether by catching a small problem before it becomes a large one, or by realizing that your metal roof lifespan, shingle roof expectancy, or tile roof life expectancy has come to an end.
