When you think about your home’s structure, its roof is one of its most crucial components. A roof is responsible for diverting water and snowmelt from your home to a safe location away from its foundation. One of the most important tasks to ensure your roof stays in tip-top condition is an annual roof inspection by a professional roofer.
What Is a Professional Roof Inspection Service?
A professional roof inspection service involves physically examining every feature of your roof. The roofer will inspect the overall state of your roof’s components and identify any potential problems, like cracking shingles or a loose gutter. A roof inspection will include examining all aspects of your entire roofing system, including the roofing material, flashing, gutter system, and so much more. It’s vital to have a professional perform this service as they have an expert eye for detail alongside hands-on industry experience.
1. Early Detection of Problems
One of the most obvious reasons to get an annual roof inspection is to catch problems that may currently exist. Your roof is one of those areas that can be challenging to see. In fact, you may not notice if there’s an issue until it turns into a major problem, like your ceiling showing yellow water stains.
When a professional assesses your roof, they’ll look for any broken components or signs of malfunction. For example, they’ll inspect your attic for any signs of water leakage. They’ll examine every piece of flashing to ensure it isn’t bent or missing. To detect hidden problems, roofers will use specialized tools the average homeowner doesn’t have, including advanced moisture meters, high-resolution cameras, and thermal imaging technology. When these problems are caught early on, they tend to be much cheaper to fix, and your home experiences much less damage.
2. Estimating Remaining Life Span
A roof is a large financial investment for pretty much all homeowners. Having adequate time to plan for a replacement can make a big difference in your budget. Plus, you’ll have adequate time to do your research so you get the ideal roofing material to meet your needs. When you invest in an annual inspection by an experienced roofer, they can let you know how much longer your roof is likely to last you. This way, you have ample planning time instead of being backed into a corner with a bad roof in need of immediate replacement.
3. Maintaining Warranty Coverage
One lesser-known reason to invest in yearly roof inspections is that it’s likely a necessity to maintain the warranty coverage on your roof. All shingle manufacturers know roofs that receive regular inspections are going to last much longer than roofs that don’t. This is why most of them require a licensed roofer to inspect a new roof every year before they will honor the warranty coverage that comes along with their products. If you skip just one year, you may find yourself paying out of your own pocket for repair work that would have been covered under warranty.
4. Gaining Peace of Mind
There’s nothing worse than staying up at night worrying about when your roof might leak or how much longer it’s likely to last and what you may need to pay for a replacement. All of these worries can be set at ease by simply getting valuable insight into the overall state of your roofing structure. A yearly inspection is a great way to learn about how effective your roof is and attain peace of mind that it’s going to last another year.
5. Extending Roof Longevity
As with anything in life, a roof that receives prompt and regular care is going to have a longer usable life span than a roof that doesn’t. A roof inspection should be one of the many things you do throughout the year to ensure your roof stays in great-working condition. Considering the high cost of a new roof, it isn’t a big surprise that most homeowners want to extend the overall longevity of their roof for as long as possible.
6. Reducing the Risk of Problems
It can seem as though there’s nothing worse than experiencing a problem with your roof. A simple water leak can end up causing a lot of damage in just a short amount of time. Since a roof inspection identifies potential problems, it goes a long way toward greatly reducing your risk of experiencing an issue over the coming year. With fewer problems, you’ll spend less on repair bills and keep more of your hard-earned money in your pocket.
7. Improving Resale Value
One benefit that is commonly overlooked when it comes to getting a yearly roof inspection is the increase in your home’s resale value. Those in the market to buy a home are more likely to pay a higher price for one that has been regularly kept up. It isn’t a big surprise that buyers will be more likely to pay a higher price for a house that shows a great roof inspection report from the previous year.
Fall Homeowner Roof Maintenance
Apart from getting an annual roof inspection, there are various things you’ll want to do as a homeowner to properly prepare your roof for the upcoming winter season. A great place to start is by cleaning out your gutters. You want to remove any debris inside your gutters and downspouts. Ensure your downspouts transport water to at least six feet from the foundation of your home before releasing it into your yard. It’s highly advisable to run a hose on your roof and ensure that water flows freely down all your downspouts to verify there aren’t any clogs.
Another necessary task is to check on your attic ventilation. One of the biggest misconceptions about attic ventilation is that vents should be shut in the wintertime. The complete opposite is actually true. Vents should be open in the wintertime. It ensures adequate airflow in your attic and prevents heat from your home penetrating the underside of your roofing material. This helps to protect your roofing from premature deterioration and prevents ice damming from occurring.
Be sure to take a few moments to assess the area around your roof for any obstructions. Any vining shrubbery or branches hanging over your roof should be trimmed. Even healthy branches can break under the right conditions. Additionally, it’s advisable to check the state of your attic insulation. If you have loose insulation, it should be at or above the top of the floor joists. If it isn’t, you may want to consider investing in more insulation to beef up its R-value. The higher your insulation’s R-value, the more heat it will be able to keep from escaping your home.
Trustworthy Roof Inspection Service
The Roof Detective offers thorough and dependable roof inspections throughout the Columbus, OH area. We can also help with all your commercial roofing, emergency repair, siding, gutter, and roof installation needs. Call our friendly staff today to book your next roofing consultation.
