During the cold, wet winter months, your roof should protect your home. But if you don’t prepare your roof for winter weather, things may quickly spiral out of control, and you may end up dealing with unexpected water damage and chilly air throughout the house. 

Maintaining your roof throughout the year may end up saving you more money in the long run, and is essential for every homeowner. Our team at Lifetime Roofing has compiled a list of ways to prepare your roof for winter weather so you don’t have to deal with the headache of unplanned roof repairs during these colder months. 

1. Clean Your Gutters

Through fall, fallen leaves make their way into your home’s gutters. If rainwater or a professional cleaner does not clear out the dead leaves, they can become a substantial problem for homeowners by creating clogs. When your gutters are clogged, these blockages may divert water toward your roof. This diverted water can get beneath your roof coating, leading to leaks. 

In addition to diverting precipitation toward your home, heavy, overfilled gutters may sag and pull away from your roof. This sagging may result in water pooling on your roof, leading to unexpected leaks. 

To avoid this water damage and prepare your roof for winter weather, you should clean your gutters twice a year. By scheduling regular cleanings, you ensure that diverted rainwater or snow runoff won’t ruin your roof shingles or find its way into your home through cracks. 

2. Check For Signs Of Water Or Storm Damage

It is imperative that you check for any signs of water or storm damage following larger storms to prepare your roof for winter weather. Strong winds can crack, break, or rip shingles off your roof, exposing the coating to the elements. While these materials are resilient, they certainly aren’t meant to handle prolonged exposure to wind and water.

If this goes unaddressed, it may lead to leaks in your home, which are often much more costly to repair than replacing a few shingles. While checking for signs of roof damage, you may also find soft spots on the roof, which can indicate faults.

The best way to prepare your roof for winter weather is by regularly checking it for any of these signs of damage. While checking your roof after every major storm might seem time-consuming, it may save you the headache of costly and unexpected repairs. 

3. Remove Debris

As the wind blows throughout the year, debris may end up on your roof. While it may be blown off, there is a chance that the debris will stay on your roof until you remove it. If, however, you don’t address the debris on your roof and it continues accumulating, it can cause serious problems for your roof.

Through the wet winter months, this debris can collect moisture. While this isn’t always an immediate problem, this excessive moisture on your home’s roof can lead to mold and algae development, leading to much more costly repairs.

Mold and algae can cause structural problems for your roof by breaking down the building materials. If you want to prepare your roof for winter weather, it is important that you remove any debris, including sticks, leaves, seeds, and leaves. 

4. Get Trees Trimmed

Overhanging and untrimmed trees can become a substantial problem for your roof. During windstorms, untrimmed branches can scratch and break off onto your roof, potentially breaking the shingles. 

While getting your trees trimmed, your landscaping professional may also be able to catch signs that your tree is starting to die. It is crucial that you catch these as soon as possible because dead trees can fall over and crash into your home, breaking sections of your roof and exposing your home to winter weather. 

If you want to prepare your roof for winter weather and avoid having to patch it in the midst of the colder months, you should have your trees trimmed. This trimming will prevent any unforeseen damage and protect your roof from fallen branches and debris. 

5. Check For Animals

A clear sign of damage to your roof is the presence of animals in your attic or home. To prepare for winter weather, you should check your roof’s sealing. If there are any gaps in the sealing, small animals, including birds, mice, and rats, can make their way into your home.

This problem can become much more serious as the animals begin to reproduce. They may even begin to cause larger gaps and holes in the sealing. As the gapping begins to spread, you might even notice more animal life in your home.

It is essential that you check for wildlife in your home to prepare your roof for winter weather. If you see any signs of animal activity, you can call a professional who can come out and make any necessary repairs and remove any unwelcome guests. 

6. Call A Professional

One of the easiest ways to prepare your roof for winter weather is by calling a professional roofing company. Your local roofing company may even offer a maintenance package that will help you prevent any major damage from occurring and allow you to catch it more quickly than you would have without.

By calling a professional, you ensure that any problems you might miss when checking your roof are addressed. You may also be able to schedule these appointments ahead of time, meaning that you don’t have to worry about forgetting to check your roof before winter. 

If you are looking to prepare your roof for winter weather, you should consider calling a team of professionals to assess your roof and, if available, sign up for any maintenance packages they offer. Calling a professional will give you peace of mind and protect you from the cold seeping into your home.

Prepare Your Roof For Winter Weather With Lifetime Roofing

If your roof needs to be replaced to prepare for winter weather, you should work with a company you can trust. With years of experience and happy customers, our team at Lifetime Roofing is confident that we can create a beautiful roof for your home. 

We provide homeowners across Northern Utah with shingle, metal, wood, and flat roofs. If you are interested in getting a new roof before the winter or would like to speak with a member of our team about our roof maintenance packages, contact us today.