Everything You Need to Know About Roofing Maintenance
The roof is one of the most important aspects of any home. Everything starts with the roof, and a problem near the top of your home can quickly work its way down into other areas if left unchecked. A roof is the first line of defense for any home and as such, needs to be properly maintained. Maintaining a roof consists of more than just getting your shingles replaced now and then, it includes a variety of different tasks that need to be accomplished on a regular basis in order to keep it in tip-top shape.
Depending on what type of roof you have, you’ll need to tailor your maintenance checklist specifically to the type of material used in your roofing. In case you want to learn a little more about how to keep your roof as healthy and secure as possible, let’s break it down into some easily digestible steps.
The Basics of Roofing Maintenance
There are some basic roof maintenance steps you’ll want to take, regardless of what kind of roofing you have. This includes things like checking the gutters for debris buildup, inspecting the shingles for signs of wear, removing debris from the roof itself (branches, leaves), and spraying down the roof with a hose.
You’ll also want to go around and inspect for unwanted moss buildup, because it can grow into the layers of your roof and help facilitate moisture buildup. If you have areas that have been caulked, check to make sure the seal hasn’t broken at all and if there are any gaps in the caulk, fill them in with a fresh application.
Trimming branches that are hanging over your roof can prevent them from falling on it. It can also help limit the amount of access that wild animals have to your roof. This goes a long way towards long-term durability depending on what kind of animals you might have around, and is one of the easiest forms of preventative roof maintenance.
Metal Roofing Maintenance
Maintaining a metal roof can be broken down into a basic checklist. They require only basic roofing maintenance.
Check for Corrosion
Metal roofing should be stainless steel and impervious to rust, but depending on how long you’ve had it or if it has taken any damage, rust can build up in some cases. This is often a sign of damaged roofing and will need to be replaced before it starts to leak.
Remove Ice and Snow
Keeping your roof free from ice and snow will help prevent corrosion and rust. You can do this with basic tools like shovels and scrapers, or you might opt for a chemically safe form of ice prevention. De-icers that are safe for use with metal will work just fine for metal roofing maintenance.
Fix Damaged Flashing
If your flashing is damaged, it can allow for water intrusion much easier. Check for damaged flashing and replace it immediately to prevent any issues.
Cedar Shake Roofing Maintenance
Maintaining a cedar shake roof is typically pretty easy. A cedar shake roof is durable if you opt for the synthetic version because it doesn’t require a ton of upkeep. Natural cedar shakes are much more fragile and will require constant inspection and repair, but synthetic cedar shakes like the kind offered by CeDUR Shake are a more durable alternative that is quickly growing in popularity.
Synthetic cedar shakes come in colors like Golden Cedar, Shiloh, Live Oak, and Walden. They are also Class A fire rated and Class 4 UL 2218 impact rated, which is as durable as it gets.
Natural cedar shakes, however, require a bit more upkeep. You’ll need to perform tasks such as these when going through your cedar shake roofing maintenance:
Apply protective treatments every 1 to 3 years. Without these protective applications, natural cedar shakes will start to warp, buckle, rot, mold, and even burn. They will also lose their color with time due to UV exposure.
Oil the shakes. Oiling the shakes will provide additional protection that protective treatments might not. Oil helps more with mold prevention and fire prevention than regular protective treatments do, and it works great as a supplement to normal protective applications.
In addition to these special steps, you’ll also want to perform regular inspections and other basic maintenance like the tasks we covered above. You may want to do this more often than you would with a regular roof, though, because of how fragile natural cedar shakes are.
Roofing maintenance should be performed regularly on any roof, and is vital to maintaining its health and longevity. A little maintenance now can prevent big problems down the line. Of course, it helps to choose a roofing material like synthetic CeDUR shakes if you’re looking to maintain the same level of durability with only a fraction of the upkeep.
Want to Start Maintaining Your Roof?
CeDUR takes pride in helping create strong, durable, and aesthetically pleasing roofs that require less roofing maintenance than many other roofing solutions.
If you’re ready to learn more about CeDUR’s synthetic roofing materials—or learn how you can start maintaining your roof more easily—contact CeDUR today.
We cannot wait to hear from you!