The roof of your Calgary home endures a lot throughout the seasons, and with summer right around the corner, things will not be any different. With summer comes a rise in temperature, high winds, heavy rainfall, and a scorching hot sun. Therefore, it is essential to perform a roof maintenance check to confirm that it is ready for summer weather.

Late Spring provides a good time to step outside and take care of any roofing problems that might have developed over the winter and spring. If you know what to look for, you can probably do some of these tasks yourself. However, to ensure that you do not miss out on any important details that can worsen over time, we recommend hiring a professional residential roofing contractor in Calgary.

In this blog, we have compiled a roof maintenance checklist for you to perform before summer hits.

Inspect The Roof

Over the fall and winter, heavy rain, wind, and snowfall can cause a lot of damage to your home’s roof. So you should take advantage of the pleasant pre-summer weather and get your roof inspected by professionals from a Calgary roofing company. They will know what potential issues your roof might have, the extent to which it is damaged, and whether it needs to be repaired or completely replaced.

While some problems such as curled roofing fabrics or missing tiles are easy to spot, others can be looked over like damaged flashings and more. However, a roofing expert’s keen eye will be able to detect issues with your eaves, valleys, penetrations, and even your chimney to ensure your roof will survive through the oncoming seasons as well.

Roof Repair

Calgary’s weather is severe and can cause damage to shingles. Extreme temperature fluctuations can cause shingles to become brittle over time which leads to cracking and breaking, especially during severe weather. Hail storms are especially damaging to roofs and can cause sweeping loss of granule, bruising and punctures. Wind storms can cause shingles and caps to blow off, especially if the original installation was not correctly installed.

It is important to hire a qualified and experienced roofing contractor to inspect and assess your roof shingles. A Haag Certified Residential Roof Inspector is your best option for providing you with a professional and honest assessment of the state of your roof and can guide you through any insurance claim you may be eligible for.

Clean Your Gutters

Leaves and pine needles can clog your gutters and downspouts. Seeds can settle in your roofs’ clogged gutters, take root and start growing throughout the summer if left unchecked. This can make it difficult for you to clear out your gutters once summer passes and can cause ice dams and other problems in the winter. Therefore, you need to ensure that your gutters are clear of leaves and debris to keep rainwater from overflowing over the edge of the eavestrough. The gutter system should direct rainwater away from the home via the downspouts.

Repair Your Flashing and Penetrations

Flashing is installed on your roof to direct water away and prevent it from entering your home. Take some time to inspect the flashing around your vents and chimney to ensure these are properly sealed. If your roofs’ flashing is damaged, it is important to get in touch with a professional immediately. Skylights, vents, and chimneys may require updated caulking to avoid water penetration. A professional roofing technician inspect your roof penetrations and address potential leak points.

Check Your Eaves

Eaves are a part of your roof that extends past the exterior wall at the bottom of a slope and hangs over the rest of your home. This overhang is a common spot for bird nests and bug hives, so you need to look at its underside. Although most of these nests are harmless, you should still remove nests. You should be careful and call an exterminator to have them removed.

Cut Tree Limbs

Intense summer storms can bring down tree branches onto your roof. You must trim your trees’ branches that hang over your roof regularly to prevent them from breaking after a storm. Smaller twigs, leaves, and other debris can fall into your gutters and clog them up quickly.

Low-hanging branches can scrape your roofs’ shingles and strip layers of asphalt. Therefore, you must ensure you trim off nearby tree growth around your roof before the summer. AKRoN ROOFING is a full-service roofing company for homeowners in Calgary and the surrounding Southern Alberta region. For more information, get in touch with us by clicking here.