The chilly and snowy season is just around the corner, and you may be caught off guard if you don’t prepare for it. When prepping your home, don’t forget to include your roofing system in the plan. Here’s a roof winterizing checklist to protect your home, prevent fire hazard, and save on energy bills this winter.
Start with a roof inspection
Before winter shifts into full gear, you want to know the condition of your roof and make necessary repairs. That’s because any unfixed issue will worsen and cause damage to other areas of your home. When you contact us, we’ll conduct a full inspection, looking for weak spots, and then make repairs, including replacing missing shingles, fixing roof leaks, etc.
Clean gutters and downspout
Next, you want to ensure your gutters aren’t clogged with leaves, twigs, and all sorts of debris. If they are, water will be unable to drain away from your home, resulting in rotten wood, ice dams, landscaping damage, basement flooding, and other significant issues. Thus, clean out your gutters before rain and snow begin pouring down. To prevent further gutter clogging and problems down the road, it’s a good idea to install gutter guards.
Check your attic insulation
In the chilly conditions of winter, the right attic insulation can keep your home warm, make you comfortable, and help cut down on energy bills. So it’s important to go into the attic to see if the insulation is in great condition. If the insulation isn’t enough, add more. Also, remove any damp or moldy insulation to protect your roofing system.
Cut back tree branches
If tree branches are hanging over your roof, now is the time to cut them back. Tree branches, no matter how healthy, can fall and crash down on your roof under the weight of snow, leading to significant roof damage.
Inspect and clean the chimney
Chimney fires are a significant risk in winter and are caused by the creosote build-up in the chimney. As such, the number one way to prevent a chimney fire is to ensure your chimney is completely free of soot and unburned wood particles that can ignite and cause a fire.
If your fireplace will be seeing a lot of use this winter, inspecting and cleaning your chimney will prevent fire risk and give you peace of mind every time you use your fireplace. Give us a call to help prepare your roof for the winter season.