The first few days of winter are very scenic. Drizzled roofs, watered leaves, and everyone will be wearing thick colourful coats and boots. It is indeed a winter wonderland. It will not be long, though, before the freshness of winter wears off. In a few weeks, the cold and rain will be inconvenient and you will wish it is summer again. Your home will have the same hopes too, because winter creates damage to roofs. Here are a few tricks on how to ensure that your family stays warm and dry, and your roof is well taken cared off, when cold winter storms visit your home.
Regular roof inspection
The first step to ensure a sturdy roof is to have it inspected regularly. You can do this yourself or you can ask a roofing specialist to inspect your roof. If you will do this yourself, scan your roof visually. Look for any sagging or uneven areas. Sagging suggests that there is a problem with the underlying plywood of the roof.
Next, look for broken tiles, holes, rust, and decaying matters. Existence of these things will lead to problems in winter. Damaged or missing tiles on your roof may cause water to leak inside your house during winter storms.
If you have a tree in your backyard, prune it as early as possible to prevent branches and leaves from getting collected in your gutters. Climb onto the roof to check your drainage is not clogged. Downpipes and drainage full of litter will cause flooding in your home when winter comes. Here are some parts of a roof you must not forget to inspect.
Remember that you can always ask professional roofing specialist to take a look.
Keep your roof clean
In autumn, dried leaves and branches that fall onto your roof can clog gutters and downspouts that can lead to problems in winter. When your gutters are clogged, water will have nowhere else to flow and drain off. This will lead to gutter damage. It can even cause excessive amount of water to back up on your roof’s edge, and leak to your ceiling or home’s exterior wall. Thus, keeping your roof clean is necessary.
Remove dried autumn leaves and branches with a roof rake. However, if you are not adept on how to use a roof rake, do not attempt to clean it yourself. You might cause damage to the roof. Ask a professional to clean your roof for you.
As the Starks say, ‘Winter is coming’. Preparation is the key to maintain a safe and warm home when winter storms begin to fall. Do not wait for your roof to leak during winter. Inspect and clean your roof even before autumn ends. Call your trusted, local, and family owned Newcastle roofing specialist to check on your home.