Preparing Your Roof For Spring Storm Damage

Devastating spring storms can wreak havoc on your roof and can prove particularly harmful when you fail to prepare for chaotic weather. From brisk spring winds to intense rainstorms, it’s tough to avoid the onslaught of bad weather, but there are some simple steps you can take to prepare your roof for spring storm damage.
Here are a few tasks you may want to complete before the first spring storm rolls through.

Inspect the Gutters Around Your Roof

One of the first pieces of roofing advice given to the average homeowner is to keep the gutters clear of debris and old leaves. It’s a task that’s commonly done in the fall, but inspecting the gutters in the spring is important, too.
With the increases and decreases in temperatures in the fall, winter, and spring, it’s possible that the gutters around your home have loosened or become a little unsteady. It’s a good idea to check the sturdiness of your gutters to make sure their attachment points will remain secure in a storm.

Take a Look at the Flashing on Your Roof

Around your home’s chimney and its vents are metal pieces called flashing that help seal your roof. Flashing is designed to keep water from entering your home, and a storm can damage the flashing on your roof, as well as result in flooding if the flashing isn’t secure.
The National Roofing Contractors Association describes flashing as:
“Components used to weatherproof or seal roof system edges at perimeters, penetrations, walls, expansion joints, valleys, drains and other places where the roof covering is interrupted or terminated.”
You may want to have a roofing contractor inspect your flashing since examining it closely may require a trip onto the top of your roof. Not only will keeping your flashing in good condition prevent water from getting into your house, but securing it will also keep it from damaging your home in the event of a storm with high winds.

Cut Back Unruly Trees and Brush

You’ve probably seen crazy pictures of spring storm damage with substantial tree limbs falling onto houses and cars. A strong storm can prove deadly if you have trees or other brush around your home that isn’t secure or that might bend and crack in high winds.
A visual inspection helps figure out whether you need to take off any significant branches, or whether your hedges and smaller plants just need a quick trim.
Hint: Keeping ahead of your gardening duties can help you avoid problems with unexpected breakage and damage due to high winds and spring storms.

Tie Down Exterior Decor & Furniture

You may leave your patio furniture and other movable items out all winter, or you might store them in a shed or the garage. It’s usually a good idea to put those items under a roof during the winter to keep them in good shape while you’re not using them.
However, you may also want to consider securing your outdoor decor and pieces of furniture, so wild winds can’t blow away and damage your home, its windows, or the roof. Just weighing down your furniture can help; securing it to the deck with nails isn’t always necessary.

Protect Your Home this Spring with Anderson Industrial Roofing

Now that you know how to keep your home’s roof safe in the spring, maybe it’s time to work with a roofing company with more than two decades of roofing industry experience. Contact us for a spring inspection and for information on how we can improve your home’s roof.