If you have an asphalt roof on your home, you need to take steps to get it ready for winter. Fortunately, this is not difficult to do and there are some things you can do on your own. Below are three tips to help you get started so you won't have to worry about damage to your roof this winter.
1. Repair the Roof
One of the most important things you can do is to hire a roofing contractor to have the roof inspected and repaired, if needed. If you do not do this, any type of damage will become much worse once snow and ice start accumulating on your roof.
The roofing contractor will first inspect the shingles. If they see any that are loose, they can use roofing nails to secure the shingles. If they find a few missing shingles, the roofing contractor can replace these shingles with new ones.
If the roofing contractor finds a lot of damage on your roof, they will likely suggest that you get a roof replacement. This will ensure you do not have roofing problems this winter.
2. Clean the Gutters
Check the gutters to determine if there are blockages. This could be debris, such as leaves, small sticks, and more. If your gutters are blocked up this means water will also get blocked from going down the gutters and onto the ground. If this happens the water will freeze in the gutters once the temperatures get down below freezing.
Once the water freezes it can cause the gutters to fall or become damaged. The ice can also get onto your roof and create an ice dam, which is ice that builds up on the edge of your roof. Once this happens, as the snow melts the water cannot drain off your roof. This water can then leak into your home.
3. Trim Trees
If you have trees near your roof that have limbs that hang over the roof, you need to have these trees trimmed. If you do not, the limbs over the roof may build up with ice. When this happens, the limbs will fall onto your roof.
This can cause a great deal of damage, especially if there are a lot of trees and the limbs are heavy. If large enough, the limbs could even break through your roof and then you will have more problems to repair. Trimming trees is dangerous so you should hire a tree trimming service to do this job for you.
The roofing contractor that you hire can give you many more tips on getting your roof ready for winter.