Shingle Roofing Maintenance - Do Your Own Roof Maintenance Check

This is the most common type of roofing found in homes across the nation. If you want to make sure your shingles are happy, healthy and doing their job protecting your house, you don't need to call in a contractor. Just go up there and have a look at them yourself.

How To Check Your Own Shingles

Take a sturdy ladder and climb up onto your roof. You should walk around every area of the roofing looking for damaged, loose or missing shingles. They are not hard to spot. Look for bits that are torn off and missing, or lost granules. When shingles are damaged, you will see a difference in the color. The damaged area has a "fresh" look because it shows the substrate below it. Get these shingles repaired or replaced as soon as possible to prevent further damage.

When you're surveying everything up there, pay close attention to high wear areas. These include places where there is lots of foot traffic, as well as places where there is an upper roof whose downspout drains. These are areas that get all of the elements worse, so you should pay especially close attention.

Inspect Flashing

Flashing is the thin waterproof material that is used on connecting places. It does the same thing that window calking does on your windows, but is a much stronger material intended to withstand the harsher elements that attack it at the top of the house. Look carefully at areas where there are obstructions - your chimney, areas where piping sticks up through it, valleys and corners. These are the areas where it is most likely to come off. You can replace your own flashing by cutting it to the right sizes and installing.

Make A Quick Safety Check

While you're up there, have a look at all of the electrical cables, especially those around the TV antenna or satellite dish. These should be well protected to keep them out of the elements. You should also take a close look at the cables themselves to see if there are any cuts in the plastic covering. These small cuts are sometimes the cause of house fires, so make sure everything is safe and secure. While you're looking at the cables, make sure that all of your satellite dishes and antennas are secure.

If things are properly maintained, roofing problems will be much more unlikely to arise. There is nothing worse than finding out one day that your roof is leaking in. When there is water coming through, this means the problem has already become severe. Keep tabs on things up there and stay ahead of problems before they occur. If you're not keen on climbing up there yourself or you're unsure about your abilities to fix things, call a roofing contractor and have them to a thorough check.