Extend the Life of Your Roof

The roof is the most overlooked part of a house. It’s easy to forget about it, until you see water leaking through and find out that your ceiling has been ruined. If you want to make sure this doesn’t happen to you, then read on for some tips on how to extend the life of your roof.

How to Extend the Life of Your Roof

Use asphalt shingles with a granular surface. These are more durable than the three-tab kind, but you should still inspect them regularly for cracks and leaks. It’s recommended to replace them every 5-7 years, unless your roof is snowy in which case it needs to be replaced more often.
Regularly check your skylights, drains and gutters for clogs that can cause water damage due to leaking from above. Also keep on top of cleaning leaves out of your gutters as this will increase their lifespan too. Finally, it’s important not to cover your skylights with exterior insulation or solar film as this can trap moisture in and cause mold to grow.
If your roof has a valley, make sure that you cover it with a special waterproof membrane as soon as possible after it’s built. Keep an eye out for any cracks or holes that could let rainwater in through here. If you have copper gutters, which are prone to leaks, then replace them with something more modern and easier to maintain.
Make sure you’re getting regular inspections from an Arizona based roofing contractor who is trained in the field of checking roofs for problems. Look for signs of wear such as missing shingles or siding and replaced sections if there are any. Also, make sure that no fixtures or big trees are on your roof as this will cause it to wear quicker and endure more damage due to weight pushing down on the shingles.
Invest in a power washer if you have an older home with concrete tiles as these are hard to keep clean manually, especially when they’re made from real concrete as opposed to simulated ones. If you don’t use a power washer then try using vinegar weed killer instead of bleach or other powerful chemicals that can destroy your tiles by making them crack through erosion.
Check for loose brackets that hold gutters and drainpipes onto your roof as these can cause leaks.
In order to prevent water from getting into your attic, remove any leaves or debris on your roof and make sure that you have enough overhang so there’s no chance of rain hitting it directly. Also, if you suspect a problem with ice dams then install downspouts facing away from your house’s foundation so excess water has somewhere else to go instead of pooling behind it by building up in layers on the ground around it. Finally, use long screws to secure storm windows or shutters so they don’t get knocked loose during storms and hit your shingles causing them to crack or bend outwards. You should also avoid installing skylights in areas where they could get hit by falling trees.
To protect your shingles from damage, keep vehicles and other heavy objects off the roof as much as possible. Any time you have to do any kind of work up there, make sure that if it’s at all possible then you remove anything above your level first so the weight isn’t pressing down on top of them while you’re working. You should also avoid storing heavy stuff like bags of concrete on them either. To prevent water from getting into your attic, use shingles with granules instead of smooth ones since when the rain hits these little particles it spreads out over a greater area and has less chance of soaking through. Also, use a ridge vent to help minimize the chance of ice dams too by allowing rainwater to escape instead of pooling up in this area where it can freeze and cause a leak or bad ice build-up on your roof.
Use paint made for protecting roofs and they will clean much easier than normal ones when you have to do any patchwork or touchups down the line. Finally, check your attic from time to time after big storms as water tends to pool up in this area after them and if left alone can cause damage over time due to mold, mildew and other types of rot that thrive in humid environments such as these. Avoid installing skylights in areas where they could get hit by fallen trees.
If you can, make sure that any problems are fixed as soon as possible once you find out they exist or your roof will wear out twice as fast. Also, try to avoid doing anything up there in cold weather since ice and snow can damage shingles if it’s big enough or heavy enough so if your roof is not heated then avoid doing anything like this during winter months when temperatures drop too low for comfort.