5 Items for Your Roof’s Spring Cleaning Checklist
When trees regain their leaves, and the weather improves, we know that spring is upon us. For many homeowners, that means cleaning up the house and returning outdoors. While giving your garage, closets, and landscaping a solid spring clean is easy, most homeowners forget about their roofs. Believe it or not, your roof needs some special attention as well. That’s why the team at Hibbard Roofing, the premier residential and commercial roofing company in the Lafayette area, put together a spring cleaning checklist for your roof.
1. Clean Your Gutters
The first step to an effective spring cleaning is to tackle your gutters. Winter months often leave your gutter system filled with withering leaves and other debris. Even if you hire a professional gutter cleaner in the fall, time takes its toll. Clogged gutters can’t do their job when those April showers rain down on your house.
Gutter cleaning is a critical part of maintaining your roof. If your gutters are clogged, they cannot protect your shingles, soffits, and other parts of your roof. Damages to these essential parts of your roof happen quickly, so you don’t want to neglect your gutters.
Hiring a professional or attempting a DIY gutter cleaning depends on many factors. Doing this kind of work yourself could be risky, especially if you have tall or steep roof areas, and cleaning the downspout can be extra complicated without the right tools. When in doubt, get a quote from a reliable Lafayette roofing company.
2. Clean Your Roof
The gutters on your home aren’t the only things that need to be washed. A good roof cleaning will help remove accumulated debris, dirt, twigs, branches, and more. Once the roof is clear of waste, you can use a garden hose and subtle cleaning projects. You do not want to use harsh chemicals or a pressure washer, as these things may cause incredible damage to your roof.
Not everyone has the equipment or courage to get onto a high roof. Most roofing companies that handle gutters also offer roof cleaning services that will keep you safe on the ground.
3. Inspect Your Roof
Most experts and professionals agree that homeowners should have their roofs inspected at least once per year. There’s no better time for this inspection than when you’re checking off marks on your spring cleaning checklist.
While homeowners can look for apparent roof damage, like missing/curling shingles or water damage in the attic, early signs of buckling or blistering shingles are not easy for a novice to spot.
For the best results, explore Lafayette roofing and general contractors who offer a combination of drone and physical inspection options. Finding issues with your roof during your spring cleaning work will save you the trouble and expense of dealing with significant problems down the road.
4. Prune and Trim Your Trees
Believe it or not, one of the most significant threats to your roof is nearby trees. Hanging branches and overgrown vegetation can do an actual number on your roof, and continued growth can get in and under your shingles and soffits. In extreme cases, dead branches can fall – denting or breaking parts of your roof.
While there is no wrong time to trim unwanted branches, doing so as part of your roof’s spring cleaning checklist will ensure that you can prune back branches and vegetation that didn’t survive the winter. You’ll also help reduce the number of sticks and leaves falling into your gutter down the road and help refresh your landscaping.
Trimming your trees is not easy if you don’t have the right equipment and know-how. You may need the help of a professional arborist or landscaping company to help those hard-to-reach places and ensure that everything is done correctly.
5. Investigate Your Attic
Not all roof damage is visible from the exterior of your home. Since your spring cleaning adventure most likely involves freshening up your attic, it’s worth spending some time inspecting your roof from the inside out.
Use a flashlight to look for any mold, mildew, or water damage signs. These signs can point to water or moisture getting into your home. Pay attention to how the attic smells even if you don’t see anything. A stale or moldy smell can indicate something happening behind the scenes.
Before you leave the attic, turn off the lights and see if there is any light coming through the roof. Even a tiny source of light coming from above indicates a hole or something else that needs to be repaired.
Let the Pros Help with Your Roof’s Spring Cleaning Checklist
While there are plenty of items on your general spring cleaning checklist that you can tackle, you should consider bringing in the pros to help with your roof. Some areas of wear and tear, missing shingles, or significant damage are easy to spot. If you notice any of these on your roof, you want to take action immediately. That’s the easy part.
The more complicated part is accepting that not all roof damage is easy to spot. More importantly, a comprehensive roof inspection may not even be safe to attempt on your own. Lafayette roofing professionals, like the team at Hibbard Roofing, have the experience, expertise, and equipment to provide the services you need to knock out your spring cleaning checklist.
If you are not trained to spot potential issues with your roof or handle a comprehensive gutter and roof cleaning, you might miss minor issues before they turn into significant issues. Not only can Hibbard Roofing handle your roof’s spring cleaning checklist, but we can also help make any necessary repairs.
Give us a call to schedule your roof to inspect and start marking things off your spring cleaning checklist today.