Thursday, September 27th, 2012
Winters in Fairfax and other parts of Northern Virginia can be harsh, with temperatures often dipping into the teens. The wintertime can be especially rough on your roof, the single most important part of your Virginia home. Heavy snowfall can really give your roof a beating. This is why it’s incredibly important for Virginia homeowners to complete a thorough roof maintenance checkup during the fall season. The cold weather hasn’t arrived just yet, but it is on the horizon. As a leading Fairfax roofing contractor, R.M. Banning would like to share important roof care tips.
Fall Roof Maintenance Begins With an Inspection
Proper fall roof care should begin with Virginia homeowners conducting a thorough inspection of their roof. You can use a ladder to get on your roof to complete a close inspection. Of course, remember to keep in mind important ladder safety tips:
- Be sure the ladder is on solid, level ground.
- Secure the ladder at the top to prevent it from slipping.
- Inspect the ladder, rung and rails for damage.
- Always use both hands when climbing the ladder.
Once you’re on your roof, you should:
- Look for damaged or missing shingles. Buckling, curbing or blistering indicates a shingle has reached the end of its life. Shingles are your roof’s first line of defense against severe weather. Replacing shingles will prevent moisture from seeping into your Virginia home, and it is the most important part of roof maintenance.
- Look for algae growth that needs to be removed.
- Check the chimney and flashing for damage.
- Look for loose material or wear around chimneys, pipes and other penetrations.
- Check the gutters to make sure they are attached properly and free of clogs.
Fall Roof Maintenance Requires Cleaning and Trimming
As part of fall roof maintenance, you should clean off any debris that has accumulated on your roof since the last maintenance. Be sure to remove leaves and twigs from the shingles. An excellent way to minimize the amount of debris on your roof is to trim trees and branches that hang over your roof. This is a great roof maintenance to complete during the fall season in Virginia since the weather is nice and storms are not as frequent.
Another important part of fall roof care is cleaning your gutters. With leaves falling off trees and piling up on roofs, your gutters stand a good chance of becoming clogged. A clogged gutter raises the risk of ice dams during the winter months. An ice dam occurs when melting snow freezes and pushes itself under the shingles. Clogged gutters can cause your Virginia roof to rot, and it can even promote the growth of mold, which can aggravate asthma and allergy symptoms, or lead to things like skin rashes, itching, eye irritation, runny nose and coughing. If your gutters are in bad shape, please contact us so we can complete a gutter installation, replacement or repair for you.
Fall Roof Maintenance Means Making Repairs
If you find serious signs of damage to your Fairfax roof, please contact R.M Banning. We’re one of the leading Northern Virginia roofing contractors Occoquan, Franconia, Dale City and Manassas Park has to offer. We have completed thousands of roofing repairs, installations and replacements over the past 30 years.