Roof and gutter maintenance are necessary to ensure your home is always protected. Your roof and gutter system are tasked with protecting your home from the elements. Both systems are highly dependent on proper maintenance to stay functional. The question begs to be asked. How often should you maintain your roof and gutter system?
What Is Roof and Gutter Maintenance?
Before you figure out a maintenance schedule for your roof and gutter, you need to know exactly what this type of maintenance entails. Let’s look at both maintenance activities as separate entities to better understand what you will need to do.
Gutters
Hands-down, gutters on your home will need more maintenance than your roof will. About 99% of gutters will eventually fail even when they are properly installed on your home. Caring for your gutters can help to extend the useful life of your gutters. Gutters are well known for building up debris. Leaves and tree litter can easily clog your gutters. One of the key maintenance activities is to clear the debris from your gutters regularly.
A gutter screen can help to keep your gutters clear of debris. When you are doing maintenance on your gutters you should also check for any loose hangers and tighten them back up. Gutters often pull away from the roof because they become weighed down with the debris. Check the hangers and tighten them as necessary. During maintenance of your gutters, you should also look for any bent or damaged sections and replace those sections as soon as possible.
Roof
Roof maintenance activities include visual inspections and repairing any loose shingles. You should also replace any worn flashing during your maintenance. Roofs are also prone to tree litter and debris. Organic debris can damage the roof of your home. You should clear any debris off your roof regularly.
Roofing sales are up across the board, about 78% of roofers believe that the sales for commercial roofing will continue to climb, and home roofing sales are also likely to continue to increase. The reason that roofing sales are on the rise is that people do not take care of their roofs. A little regular maintenance can go a long way in preserving your roof and gutters.
How Often is Maintenance on A Roof and Gutters Necessary?
Your roof maintenance is going to be less frequent than your gutter maintenance, but remember both are important factors in protecting your home. Do not neglect either. Gutter maintenance at a minimum should occur four times a year. At the start of every season, you should check your gutters and clean them out.
Roof maintenance can be done twice a year. Once in the spring, and again in the fall, but there are caveats to this schedule. There are times that you should do maintenance regardless of the season.
After a Storm
Any time you have a serious storm with high winds, you want to pull the ladder out and check your roof and your gutters. Storms can wreak havoc on these systems. Quickly managing any problems will ensure that your roof and your gutters are ready for the next storm.
Before a Storm
If you live in an area where hurricanes are a threat or other large storms. You should check the gutters and roofs on your home to see if maintenance is required. Faulty gutters and roofs are not only a problem inside your home, but they can be a huge problem for the foundation of your home. Getting out there and checking the gutters and roof before the storm rolls in should be a part of your storm prep work.
Of course, if you follow a stringent schedule of roof and gutter maintenance, you can rest easy knowing that your roof and gutters are likely prepared for anything mother nature can throw at it. Home maintenance, including gutter and roof maintenance, is an easy way to save money and keep your home in top condition.
