Should You Consider Cleaning Your Roof This Spring or Wait for Autumn?

Spring cleaning is normally called that for a good reason: it means that you get to clean just about every part of your home. According to most experts that should include your roof as well. But is it really necessary to clean your roof every spring? Can you miss out on it just this once? In most cases, trusted roofing contractors in Highlands Ranch CO will advise against it. 

The reason why spring roof cleaning and maintenance is so important is because of everything that could have happened during the winter. Depending on where you live, winters might get pretty harsh, so it stands to reason to assume that a snow storm or some severe temperature drops could have easily affected your roof in a bad way. 

What’s really problematic is that, even if a snow storm damaged your roof, there isn’t much of a way to know about it, unless the weather gets warm all of a sudden. Then the melting snow on your roof will start leaking through if, for example, a snow storm blew some of the shingles or part of the flashing away. 

Cleaning the roof in spring will help you uncover any damage and prevent pests from being attracted to the rotting debris. Also, it can alert you if there are smaller issues that should influence you to hire a roofer who can take a closer look and spot any additional damage that you couldn’t notice.

Spring Rains are a Good Time to See if You have a Roof Leak

The best time to start checking on the state of your roof is at the beginning of spring. You can walk around the house to see if there are any obvious signs of damage caused by winter events. If there are stains on your eaves or on the upper part of your siding, this may indicate that there have been some ice dams or other similar elements which have deteriorated your roofing system.

When spring rains come, it may be the perfect moment to check if there are any leaks in your roof. There should be clear indicators of such problems, such as water accumulations on your roof. However, there can be leaks which are harder to detect. The first rainfall can help you discover such less evident issues, which can cause a lot of damage to your entire home.

In other words, you do not have to see water dripping from your ceiling to know that something needs to be done about your roof. Having Highlands Ranch roofing companies complete preventative maintenance is the perfect way to deal with such issues, because they help you identify roof leaks while they are still small and easy to remediate. Moreover, you can ask for help from roofing experts.

Do You Really Need to Replace Your Asphalt Roof After a Hail Storm?

Hail storms can do a lot of damage to your roof, no matter the exact type of material that it is built of. Traveling at high speed, hail storms can cause leaks and other problems to your roofing system. This can further lead to mold in the attic, floods in the basements, and ceilings that collapse.

In case you have an asphalt shingle roof, you need to either go up there yourself, or to ask a damage expert to do that. The ridge cap needs to be checked first. In the case of asphalt roofs, the hail damages are mostly always visible.

Thus, the roof may have lost granules, exposing the felt of the roof. At the same time, the asphalt may look shiny. It is easy to identify the hail hits on an asphalt roof, because they resemble apple bruises.

You may not always have to replace your roof after a hail storm. But you should call on a reputable roofing Centennial team with a lot of experience working with hail damaged roofs. You should never postpone having your roof inspected after a hail storm. A knowledgeable roofer can restore your asphalt roof, so that you can further enjoy the safety and comfort of your home.

How Should You Go About Keeping Your Roof from Leaking?

 It’s important to make sure that your roof isn’t leaking. Although a small leak might attract comments like, “it’s really not worth the effort” or “it’s too small to be any real problem,” the truth is that even smaller damage can become disastrous over time. A small leak resulting from a hail storm hitting an older roof can easily lead to more extensive damage over time, including the rotting of the decking and underlayment or the leak getting bigger and damaging your home over time. 

Keeping your roof from leaking is a little challenging, but you can possibly do it even without the help of a roofer: 

·       The initial process of detecting the leak is the most difficult. For that, you might want to check both outside and inside. By checking where the water ends up and doing some research on the structure of the roof, you can easily find out where the leak has originated.

·       Even if you find the leak relatively quickly, and it’s pretty small, it’s important to avoid underestimating its destructive power. If the leak is a little old and your area has a lot of precipitation, then it’s important to check for damage to the internal structure of your roof.

·       Once you find the leak, it’s time to fix it or at least cover it up. However, you will need to make sure that the repair is sturdy enough. If you’re unsure on how to do that, or you have no experience with roofing, choose the safer option and contact your local Centennial roofing companies to do it for you.

What Is Offered As Part of a Full Service Roof Repair?

When having your roof repaired, you will want to make sure that you get the best quality for the money you have to offer, and the sad truth is that it doesn’t always happen. While many roofers are available who can provide you with practically the best roofing job in the area, there are also many that fall short of sticking to their promises, and it can be difficult to know who they are in advance. 

One way to keep your guard up and make a discernment about the type of roofing Highlands Ranch contractor you should hire is to find out what roofers generally offer as part of a full service roof repair. 

Unlike roof installation, the repair of a roof is not typically standard. So the concept of a “standard” full service roof repair doesn’t make too much sense. However, there are common roof repair tasks that can be seen as more or less standard – such as fixing leaks, replacing damaged flashing and replacing old cracked or broken shingles – and those tasks will typically be covered by a full service roofing Highlands Ranch company. 

Generally speaking, each contractor will make a list of these activities and post them on their official website. So as long as you visit those sites, compare their services and call up each roofer to discuss the unique benefits of their repair plans, it should be overall easy to make your final choice.

How to Keep Snow Off Your Roof and Prevent Ice Dams

Winter roof maintenance is very important if you want to prevent dangerous and damaging issues such as the formation of ice dams and the steady build-up of large quantities of snow following heavy snow storms. The important thing is to make sure you are able to shovel snow off your roof and keep it off in the long run. 

The first thing you need to consider is that snow can latch itself easily to debris such as broken branches fallen from nearby trees. As a result, even before the winter arrives, it’s a good idea to remove any such debris from your roof.

Unfortunately, snow build-up can still happen even in the case of the best roofs out there. Service maintenance roofing Centennial contractors can help you by removing the snow and ice. If you are inclined you can do it yourself by carefully using an effective roof cleaning brush or  broom. This will prevent damage to your roof and allow you to carefully and accurately remove snow so that you won’t experience small avalanches threatening to damage your garden or hurt anyone walking close by. 

Of course, it’s still important to use proper safety measures, such as warning members of your household to stay away from the house while you’re brushing off the snow, and using a secure harness to prevent you from injuring yourself, if you’re on top of the roof and you end up slipping.

Does Homeowners Insurance Cover Ice Damming and Ice Dam Related Damage?

Ice dams can cause a lot of damage, from roofing and gutter damage, to putting a lot of pressure on your entire home and causing major structural damage over time. Now, since these issues can’t be fixed with a cheap repair job, it’s important to ask the question, can you cover the cost of repair through homeowner’s insurance? 

Now, to be clear, a typical homeowner’s insurance policy can help you deal with some of the damage caused by ice dams. Knowledgeable Highlands Ranch roofing contractors can assess, and estimate repair costs to be submitted to your insurance company. They can offer suggestions to help avoid the situation in the future. Whether or not your insurance will cover the damage repair costs is another issue.

Hail and ice related damage and losses can be covered through a dwelling coverage. This type of coverage does tackle some of the damage caused by ice dams, but only to a partial extent. Also, insurance can help you cover the costs of replacing a roof that has collapsed due to issues such as ice dams, and you can rely on coverage options such as additional living expense coverage to support you with hotel bills while your home is being repaired. However, the actual cost of dealing with ice dams specifically will not be covered. 

Depending on the insurance company you negotiate your coverage and premium with, additional coverage options might also be possible. It’s important, however, to compare the benefits offered by each insurer before choosing any particular one that you’d like to pay for.

Will Gutter Guards Cause Ice to Form on Your New Roof?

Reputable Centennial roofers confirm that having a gutter system is great for siphoning water away from your roof during heavy storms, and gutter guards can ensure that the process will happen without the risk of debris falling into your gutters and clogging them. However, there is a lot of concern that, because gutter guards prevent a high volume of water from being immediately channeled away, pooling could occur, which can lead to ice dams. 

Typically, gutter guards are designed to not allow such a scenario to unfold, but there are unique situations when it can happen. For instance, if you haven’t cleaned your gutter guards, and there is heavy rain on a cold November night, the freeze can set in eventually. Depending on where you live, the process can be fast enough to lead to the formation of ice at the top of your gutter guards. Moreover, if precipitation continues, snow can be added on top, and the cold weather can freeze it as well, leading to a larger build-up by morning. 

To prevent this from happening, it is essential that you have all the debris cleared away from your gutter guards and that you test the gutter system before the cold sets in, to check if it works properly. Using a garden hose for that should be a good idea, so you can easily check to see how different volumes of water will be allowed to flow through.

Light Up Your Roof This Holiday Season – Safely Install the Best Lights

 Installing lights and decorations before the holidays can be a great way to get into the spirit weeks in advance and making sure that your home is the attraction of the neighborhood. Of course, the process does require some thought, and you’ll have to plan it in advance, not only to ensure that you install everything successfully, but also that you manage it without any safety concerns. 

The first thing to consider is the type of installation and the types of lamps to get for your Christmas lights. LED installations are typically the best, even though they are somewhat more costly than traditional Christmas lights. They use less energy, and they’re much brighter, which means you not only have the chance to wow your guests and neighbors, but there will also less electric load on the installation, helping you save money and keep it safe at the same time. 

When you think of getting up on top of your roof to install the lights, safety minded Highlands Ranch roofers remind us that you also need to think about safely getting it done without the risk of falling and injuring yourself. A sturdy ladder that can be fastened into the ground in a stable way, along with a good harness to act as a secondary safety net should be enough to keep you safe.

What Can You Do to Protect Your Roof Against Snow Damage and Cold Weather?

A white Christmas can bring you and your family a lot of joy, but with snow building up on your roof and the weather getting colder, you might find that a poorly installed or badly prepared roofing system will end up crushed under the pressure – both figuratively and literally. 

From lack of proper insulation and thermal contraction, to a flimsy structure that can’t resist the added weight of snow throughout all winter, the problems can keep coming. However, if you prepare your roof properly and observe all the necessary maintenance tasks throughout winder, you’ll be just fine. 

Proper preparation is necessary before anything else. As such, it’s important to organize a detailed roof inspection about a month before you expect the freeze to set in. Recommended Highlands Ranch roofing companies near me will be able to check on the roof to make sure it doesn’t have any structural damage or weaknesses that could become worse during the winter. 

Also, It’s a good idea to reinforce and upgrade your roof before the winter, for instance by adding more insulation or a better coating. Finally, make sure you clear any debris from your roof before the first snow, and that you carefully clean any large amounts of snow during the winter, to prevent the buildup of heavy snow and additional issues such as ice dams.