Winterization Tips for Preventative Roof Maintenance

Winterizing a Bay Area home is a lot easier than winterizing a home anywhere with snow or ice. But since we get ample amounts of rain in the winter, you still need a roofing contractor to examine your roof, identify areas that need repair and deal with trouble spots, ASAP.

Even if you don’t live in an area where snow and ice can accumulate on the roof, a low quality or damaged roof can spell trouble.

• A poor quality roof can leak tremendous amounts of heat, which can spike your energy bill.
  

  Image via Flickr

• The accumulated debris from the fall and summer can weigh heavily on the roof and potentially cause a cave in, even without a snow or ice storm, rain is enough to weigh it down.
• The extreme temperatures and bad weather during the winter can make roof repair costly and fraught. It’s better to take action now than to wait until there’s a problem. Plus, roof repair services tend to get incredibly busy during the winter months, so it may be hard to find a company during that time to meet your needs.

To prep for winter, use your own observational and investigative skills, and then get help from an experienced Oakland roofing company:

• Examine gutters, drains, downspouts, skylights, and areas around the chimney. Look for obvious signs that your roof is damaged or weathered. For instance, missing shingle granules might suggest that your shingles aren’t going to last much longer.
• If areas of the roof look patchy, moldy, discolored, torn or cracked, note those “red flags” and talk to your roofing contractor about your concerns.
• As an amateur, you may not be able to detect all possible sources of leaks and damage. For instance, you might notice a discolored shingle and assume that the leak (or other problem) is located right underneath. But the problem could be coming from somewhere else. For instance, a burst pipe or cracked piece of material may have allowed water to leak or drain down from several yards away.
• Take a peek in your attic. Note any discolorations in the ceiling. Snoop around with a flashlight. Look for cracks, missing mortar chunks, broken tiles, sagging, bending, or wet-looking areas.
• If you’ve had any work done in the last few months, those areas may not have been battle tested by strong Bay Area winter winds. Ask your roofing contractor to examine them.

Don’t Wait Until You Need Emergency Roof Repair

To winterize your home and roof for the Bay Area winter, get in touch with the Ben’s Roofing team today by filling out our online contact form or calling 510-690-8570. We’d be happy to provide a free consultation and estimate and make sure that your place is well prepared for whatever Old Man Winter blows your way this year!