Silver Spring Roofing: Article About Simple Tips For Extending Roof Life
The roof ridge is the highest point on a roof. It's the point where two separate areas of a roof come together. Since leaks can occur along weak points of the roof ridge, it's important to keep the roof ridge watertight. A roof ridge often serves to enhance roof system ventilation, especially over attics.
FAQ from Silver Spring roofing contractors: When is it time to call a roofing professional?Handy homeowners can usually safely take care of small roofing chores like removing light debris or replacing a shingle or two. However, it's best to contact a roofing professional for annual inspections, emergency repairs and situations when the exterior shows signs of leaking, poor ventilation or damaged shingles. Generally, if a homeowner feels uneasy about any aspect of roof repair, it's best to call a professional, especially since "do it yourself" repairs may invalidate warranties.
Since a roof is a major investment, it's understandable for homeowners to want to get their money's worth. While no roofing system will last forever, there are steps homeowners can take to maximize the life expectancy of their roof. An important aspect of regular roof care, even for handy homeowners, should include annual inspections from a Silver Spring roofing professional to check for issues that aren't so easy to detect without special training and equipment.
Debris adds weight to a roof, so one of the easiest preventative care steps homeowners can take is to remove accumulated debris. While leaves typically land on roofs, heavy storms can break off nearby branches that can fall on a rooftop and possibly loosen shingles. When it comes to storm damage inspections, it's best to call on a professional since heavy rains, hail and strong winds can cause damage that is more significant.
Algae and fungus can grow on just about any rooftop, even one that's been specially treated. Homeowners can remove the growth with a mixture of bleach and water applied with a spray bottle or through a hose attachment. A zinc strip placed near the roof ridge after the algae and fungus is removed can prevent regrowth.
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The roof will become coated with zinc particles during subsequent rainfalls, inhibiting the growth of mold and mildew.
In the case of flat roofs, standing water can slowly work into underlying parts of a roof system. Normally, standing water evaporates during the day. If a flat surface or faulty roof fixtures prevent evaporation, however, the excess water needs to be removed. A roofing professional can help a homeowner determine why water isn't naturally evaporating or rolling off. Causes usually include a lack of sunshine on parts of a flat roof, which can be remedied by cutting back tree limbs to allow more sunlight exposure. Adjusting roof pitch can also help with the issue.
While many homeowners don't pay much attention to a roof until something happens, proactive maintenance is another step that can be taken to extend the life of a residential roof structure and its supporting components. Preventative maintenance includes scheduling annual inspections, checking for visible damage after storms and looking for hidden signs of leaks along outside walls.
Homeowners can also take an active role in selecting products like roof underlayment, a synthetic product that provides added moisture protection, to improve the efficiency of shingles and other vulnerable parts of a roof system to prevent damage from moisture. One surefire way for homeowners to get more life out of their roof system is to ensure that it's properly installed, repaired or replaced.
