Many homeowners do not spend a lot of time checking out their roofs. After all, there are other areas of the home that need immediate attention. And on those rare days when they do decide to pull out the ladder, most of the time, they don’t even know what they should be looking for. Does this sound familiar to you? Are you one of those homeowners?
Similar to oil changes for car maintenance, semi-annual roof inspections are only effective if you do them consistently and regularly. Doing semi-annual roof inspections is highly important to identify long-term problems are early as possible, but if you don’t know how to conduct a proper one, you’ll end up being truly unprepared for roof repairs and maintenance in your Orlando home.
These types of inspections allow homeowners to get a great view of their roof’s overall condition, figure out if they need to update their maintenance plan or make early budget plans for roof repairs, if necessary. So, here are the key areas of the roof that need to be properly evaluated when doing a visual inspection:
Roof Shingles
Start by checking the overall conditions of your roof shingles. If you see any damaged shingles, whether they’re curled, broken, loose, blistered or missing, make sure to repair them immediately. Lift the damaged shingle carefully and see if there’s any roofing underlayment that separates the shingles and the roof decking. If you don’t see any, it means there have been some issues with your roof installation.
As this underlayment is a critical part of your overall roofing, it needs to be replaced quickly. Without an underlayment, it will be easier for water to seep through your roof and cause continuous damage to your roof shingles and home in general.
Roof Flashing
When checking the roof valleys, see if there are any cracks, holes, or metal failure in the valley flashing. It’s important to spot these problems early because valleys can be easily vulnerable to leaks during the rainy season. If you have a chimney, see if there are roof flashings around it as well. Your walls need to be inspected as well, as there should not be any gap between them and the flashing.
Vent pipes may have damage as well, so see to it that these are tight and properly sealed with a flashing boot and some high-quality roofing cement. Check if there are any missing rubber flashing boots as well.
Roof Gutters
If you’ve had your roof for years, chances are you’ll see your asphalt roofing shingles start having some granular erosion. A common sign is the many small roof granules found in the gutters. These are immediate signs that your roof has started to deteriorate due to age. Inspect the gutter and downspout system to determine if it needs some cleaning. When left unattended, they may no longer be functioning properly anymore. If you leave the guttering clogged and malfunctioning, water may start building up and cause rotting on the fascia boards.
Regular roof inspections are important to keep your roofing system in good condition. This will help ensure that your family and your belongings will remain safe.