Maintenance For Your New Home's Roof
If you have recently purchased your first home, then you may not yet be familiar with the different ways in which you should be making sure you care for your house. Along with the plumbing, HVAC system, and electrical, your roofing is another important element to learn about. This article will provide you with roofing maintenance tips to help you out:
Have leaks taken care of right away
As soon as you find out that there is a leak in the roof, you want to get a roofer to come out. Putting off the necessary repairs will only make things worse, and this means the repairs will only get more expensive. Sometimes a leak is obvious because you will see the water dripping from the ceiling. However, sometimes they can be a bit harder to detect and will appear as a slight discoloration on the ceiling or upper wall, so keep an eye out for these things.
Keep the rain gutters cleaned out
You will also want to make sure you keep the rain gutters cleaned out. They can get full of leaves, twigs, and other debris that prevent the rain water from flowing as it should, and this can cause damage near the roof, staining on the wall, and even an infestation of mosquitoes who breed in the stagnant water now trapped in the gutters.
Protect the roof from ice dams
If you live in an area where you have to worry about ice dams forming on the roof, then you want to take precautions so you can hopefully stop them from forming during those colder months. You can spread rock salt on the area of the roof you are concerned about developing an ice dam and prevent one from occurring. However, just to be on the safe side, you should also remove anything from under that part of the roof that you don't want damaged in case one still develops due to the salt blowing away.
Check the roof out occasionally
It's also a good idea to take a look at your roof every now and again to see if there is any damage you should have repaired. This can especially be a good idea after your area has had a storm that included some strong winds. If you aren't comfortable going up on the roof, then you should avoid doing so and leave it for others who feel up to the task, such as a roofing contractor.
