Your home is one of the most valuable assets in your life; you’ve spent tons of money, blood, sweat, and tears making it the best home it can be. It’s incredibly important that we take care of our home, and that means our whole home… even the things that are easy to forget, like roof maintenance.

A grave problem among Florida homeowners is that they don’t take the time to perform routine maintenance on their homes. We all remember to brush our teeth every day, we remember to get the oil changed in our cars, but if we can remember to take care of ourselves and our belongings, why wouldn’t we take care of the shelter we live in?

The fact of the matter is, ignoring your roof year after year and letting it go by unattended will cause you major headaches down the line. And as you probably know, roof repairs can be incredibly expensive. Roof care is simple to understand, almost as simple to perform, and it can save you thousands in repair costs.

Follow the simple roofing tips we’ve laid out below, and if you need a helping hand, you can get in touch with the expert St Augustine roofing contractors at Elite Remodeling Services.

Debris

Debris happens. Storms blow through town, and leaves and litter get picked up in the heavy winds, landing seemingly anywhere… even your roof! It might not seem like a few leaves are going to cause much harm, but over time, a buildup of debris can cause stress on the structure below. Plus, it looks downright ugly. This is simple roof maintenance; get up there (safely) and regularly clear any debris that’s collected on the roof of your home.

Tree Branches

We commonly associate tree branches with storm damage, but even tree limbs swaying gently in the breeze can cause you huge roofing woes… if they’re rubbing up against your shingles day in and day out. Over time, this can deteriorate and wear out your roofing materials, compromising the integrity of the roof as a whole. Plus, insects can be known to find their way across tree limbs and onto a roof… and then, into your home. Any limbs that blow anywhere near the house should be trimmed down so that they can’t touch.

Gutters

The gutters on the house serve multiple purposes; one such purposes is to direct water to a safe runoff location where it won’t mess up the lawn or any part of the roof. Especially if you live near trees or foliage, over time, the gutters can get plugged up and essentially reverse in function; when they’re stoppered, the gutters will actually hold water and debris up on the roof! Water buildup can cause damage fast, and water damage can affect not just the roof itself, but it can trickle down into the home and cause quite an expensive mess.

Effective roof maintenance also involves keeping the other parts of your house in good order; get up on your ladder and make sure you’re cleaning out your gutters on a regular basis.

Rot

Just the word makes us go, “yuck.” There are a few kinds of rot you might have to deal with.

If there’s been damage to your roofing, like missing shingles, it’s possible for moisture to settle into your roof and contribute to rot in the wood inside the roof deck. This, of course, would cause a serious structural concern to the roof that you’d want to have fixed right away.

The same goes for dry rot; this, instead, comes from poor ventilation in the attic and around the roof. The rotted out wood will need to be replaced, and a good roofing company will know that good roof care means installing proper ventilation.

Ice Dams

We live in Florida for a reason! In other parts of the county, during the winter, snow and ice will build up on the roof, and there’s nothing we can do about it. On a good steep roof, this doesn’t present much of a problem, as the precipitation will eventually slide right off of the edges. But on a roof with lots of valleys and corners, and one with gutters and lips around the edges, there is a risk of ice dams forming.

Ice dams are exactly what they sound like; they’re a backup of ice on the roof that dams up what’s falling behind it. They can happen even on sloped surfaces, when melting water from snow on higher parts of the roof trickles down, and refreezes at the edge of the roof before falling to the ground below. This happens enough over time, and an ice barrier or “dam” forms.

Ice dams present the same sort of hazard as backed up gutters. Water can quickly pool at the dam, and slowly seep into the roofing materials below. Water damage is incredibly expensive, so if you see ice damming up around the edges of the house, you’ll want to have it removed as soon as possible. Be careful when removing ice dams, though, as chipping away at them with a tool can run the risk of damaging the roof below the dam.

Shingle Damage

Shingles can take a little more roof maintenance than other types of roofs. Damaged shingles can create a number of headaches on your roof. Besides just looking ugly and tacky, damaged shingles are simply not serving their intended purpose; they’re not shielding the house below. When shingles become cracked or go missing entirely, sunlight can bleach the roof deck, moisture can escape down into it, and even rodents can find their way into the roof where it’s exposed. If you notice any broken or missing shingles, you should have them repaired right away.

These roofing tips will cover most of what you’ll need to know to ensure proper roof care and conduct regular roof maintenance. Not sure if you’re dealing with significant roof damage? Don’t worry, we’re here to help. Call your friendly neighborhood experts at Elite Remodeling Services to come out for a complimentary inspection. We’ll check out your roof and give you the peace of mind that your home will be safe for years to come.