Are You Prepared to Handle These 5 Spring Roofing Issues?

Most Americans know that springtime typically marks the arrival of storm season. Homeowners across the country are also taking time this spring to clean up their homes, perform essential maintenance, and prepare themselves for the warm summer weather. As you ready your home maintenance checklist for this spring, how confident are you in your ability to handle some common springtime roofing issues?

The roof on your home protects you and your loved ones from the elements, and it can be easy to overlook some common problems that lead to bigger, more expensive issues down the road if left unaddressed. Commercial property owners must also take care to ensure their properties have safe and functional roofs. Make sure roof maintenance is a part of your spring-cleaning checklist this year and keep an eye out for the following common spring roofing problems

Damaged Gutters

The gutters that surround the edges of a roof on a home or business have a very important function. Gutter systems collect rainwater and divert it away from a building. Without gutters, rainwater would spill to the ground immediately around a building, saturate the ground, and eventually damage the foundation. As you make your checklist for spring maintenance on your residential or commercial property, make sure that checking the gutters is a priority.

Take time to inspect your gutters inside and out. If they are full of debris like leaves and twigs, remove it carefully and also check for excessive amounts of shingle granules; this could be an indication that your roof needs attention as well. After cleaning out your gutters thoroughly it’s a good idea to run water through them while it’s not raining to check for leaks and to ensure your downspouts are moving water away from your home properly.

You should also check the hardware keeping your gutters in place. If any sections of your gutter system are wobbly or detached from their mounting brackets, these are problems you should have corrected before spring storm season arrives. A weakened gutter may not handle strong winds very well and fixing this problem ahead of the spring storms helps keep your home or commercial building safer during stormy weather.

Identify and Fix Leaks

Spring storms mean heavy rainfall throughout most of the country. If you know of any leaks in your property at the moment or suspect you might have a leak, it’s best to have it fixed before severe weather makes it worse. A professional roofer can inspect your roof for leaks, diagnose any warning signs that demand immediate attention, and help you fix small leaking problems before they turn into much bigger issues.

Leaks can potentially damage not only your property itself but also everything inside of it. Water follows the path of least resistance, so it will enter a leak and start making its way to the lowest point it can reach. It’s not uncommon for roof leaks to lead to water collecting on the foundation slab at the very bottom of a property. As it travels from the roof to the basement, the leaking water will damage drywall, jeopardize wiring, and even damage support structures for the building. It will also create ideal conditions for mold growth and pest infestation.

Handle Pest Control Issues

Many types of animals like to seek shelter inside residential and commercial buildings during the winter months. If you have problems with insects, rodents, or other pests in your home or business, it’s a good idea to have professionals handle these problems before these animals proliferate during the spring. Some of the most commonly found animal problems inside homes and businesses include:

• Nesting birds may not sound like a major problem, but birds can carry fleas, ticks, and other insects into your property and cause health problems from their excrement.
• Roaches, mosquitoes, silverfish, flies, and many other insects can be major problems inside of a building. Additionally, insects like bees, hornets, and yellowjackets may require special attention from specially trained pest control professionals.
• Mice, rats, and squirrels can cause major problems for homeowners that don’t diagnose and deal with these issues as quickly as possible. Rodents can spread disease through their droppings, damage drywall, and chew into food kept inside a home or business. They can easily cause thousands of dollars in damage in relatively no time at all, and they also pose significant health risks to residents of a home or employees and customers in a commercial building.
• These creatures are notorious for digging into the weak spots of roof valleys, under eaves, and into crawlspaces to hide from the rain and nest out of reach.

Different parts of the country have different types of invasive pests, and all of them require prompt attention this spring.

Storm Damage

When the roof of your home or business sustains physical damage from a heavy spring storm, you need to have the damage fixed as quickly as possible. These issues require professional attention and can be expensive to repair, but as long as you choose a reliable, experienced, and licensed roofing contractor you can have the damage fixed quickly. It’s also important for property owners to work with their insurance companies to ensure they pay for covered repairs. Review your property ownership insurance policy this spring if you anticipate damaging storms in your area so you have some idea of what to expect should a storm damage your property.

Shingle Cracking and Blistering

A quick visual inspection of the shingles on your roof can tell you a lot about the overall shape of your roof and what you can expect this spring. The average asphalt shingle roof has a 20 to 25-year lifespan, and damage from storms can significantly shorten it. If you notice large amounts of shingle granules in your gutters, or if you have picked up fragments of shingles in your yard, these are warning signs that your roof may need replacement soon. It’s also common for a roof’s shingles to display cracking, blistering, and discoloration as they near the end of their functional lifespan.

If you notice these issues as you prepare for spring maintenance on your home or commercial property, a qualified roofing contractor can be a great ally in overcoming some of these common spring roof issues.