Common Mistakes Homeowners Make When It Comes to Roof Care
Your roof needs your attention. Letting it deteriorate is one of the worst things you can do. A deteriorating roof can compromise your entire home’s structure. It is not unheard of for collapsing roofs to take people’s houses down with them. Unfortunately, the average homeowner pays very little attention to their roof. If you have been guilty of failing to maintain your roof in the past, now’s the time to make a positive change.
This post explores some common mistakes that homeowners make when it comes to roof care, so you can avoid them.
1. Not Hiring Professional Support
One of the biggest mistakes you can make is not hiring a professional to come and take care of your roof for you. The average person has nowhere near enough experience in roofing to be able to make repairs to their roofs themselves. You can read more about finding a local roofer all over the internet, so you shouldn’t have trouble finding an experienced and qualified contractor to help you maintain your roof.
The main benefit of hiring a roofer is that you don’t have to worry about climbing up onto your roof and hurting yourself while attempting to make repairs. Delegating roof maintenance to a professional means you can sit back and think about other things, while an expert takes care of your roof for you.
2. Failing to Maintain Roofs
Failing to maintain your roof is another big mistake. Even if you do it yourself, your roof needs to be carefully maintained and taken care of. The easiest way to do this is to hire a professional, but if you can’t for whatever reason and need to do it yourself, make sure you invest in the highest-quality tools and materials that you can. You also need to read as many guides as you can so you become familiar with the basics of roof maintenance.
An alternative to reading guides is to watch videos. If you are going to maintain your roof yourself, you need to do it as safely as you can. The best way to stay safe is to wear safety equipment and have somebody with you to provide support. Try to avoid climbing onto your roof to perform maintenance on frosty days, because you are more likely to fall off then.
3. Letting Broken Tiles Remain
A big mistake is letting broken tiles remain on your roof. If you identify any, you need to act immediately. Allowing broken tiles to stay on your roof is a bad idea because it can lead to them falling off and damaging your property, or hurting people. If anybody is walking underneath your roof when a tile falls off and it hits them, they could sue you. Repairing broken tiles can be difficult if you have no experience, so it’s better to hire a professional to do it, so you know it is done right.
Also worth noting is that it can be difficult to even know you have broken tiles on your roof, so make sure that you book regular inspections. Inspections will give you an opportunity to learn about any problems your roof might have that you were not aware of or hadn’t noticed on your last inspection.
4. Not Trimming Overhanging Branches
Overhanging branches can pose a significant threat to your roof. The worst thing you can do is allow them to go uncut. While you can leave small branches to overhang without much issue, larger ones can fall off and knock tiles off of your roof, or even knock holes through to your attic. If there are any exposed holes in your roof, birds and other pests can get in and build nests.
Eliminating pests from your attic can be very difficult and often requires you to enlist the support of a professional pest removal company. Holes in your roof can also allow damp to get in, which can cause mold to grow. Mold can be very dangerous and is known to cause respiratory issues in vulnerable or sensitive individuals. A tree surgeon will be able to come and trim overhanging branches for you, so you don’t have to do it yourself.
5. Skipping Weatherproofing
Weatherproofing can be a good way for you to protect your roof. It’s sadly something people do not typically do until the very last minute, i.e., just before a storm hits. Weatherproofing as soon as you buy your house (or realize it can protect it from serious damage) is a great way to prevent your home’s roof from being lifted in a storm, or having a hole smashed in it if a hurricane or tornado throws debris at it.
There are many different types of weatherproofing, so you need to do your research and find out what environmental threats there are to your roof in your town, state, or region. People who live in California, for example, have different things to worry about than people in Minnesota or Florida. A professional roofer will help you to figure out what your roof needs.
6. Missing Annual Inspections
Finally, another mistake commonly made by homeowners is missing their annual inspections. Your roof should be inspected at least once a year. The chances are that you have no idea how to spot roof damage–most people don’t. If you do not hire a professional to come in and take a look at your roof for you once a year, the damage could go undetected. If it does go undetected, it could get much worse. Roof damage should be addressed immediately.
The sooner it is addressed, the more effectively homeowners can deal with it. Roof inspections are usually free if your roof is still under warranty, however, you could have to pay for them if it is not or if you do not have your roof insured. The amount you have to pay for a routine inspection is usually very little, however, which makes it a worthwhile investment if you want to keep your roof in good condition.
Conclusion
You need to take better care of your roof if you are guilty of neglecting it. Maintaining your roof is the most effective way to ensure that it does not deteriorate or degrade prematurely. You can hire a roofer and pay them to do the hard work for you if you don’t have the technical expertise or knowledge necessary to maintain it yourself.
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