With no assistance, your roof has to face a variety of weather conditions throughout every season. While all climates present unique challenges to roofs, roofs on homes that are located in windy cities face especially big challenges. The good news is that there are steps you can take to protect your roof to ensure it can provide many years of service. To ensure this process is done correctly, here are a few tips to help care for your roof if you live in a windy city.
Keep Your Gutters Clear
Maintaining clean gutters is important to the integrity of any roof, but it is especially important for a roof in a windy city. If you allow your gutters to become clogged, they will overflow, potentially damaging the sheathing underneath the shingles. This will weaken the sheathing to the point that the shingles are more likely to rip away during a wind event.
Keep Branches Clear
If there’s one thing that roofers don’t like to see, it’s branches from trees and bushes overhanging roofs. In a windy city, these branches are more likely to snap off and fall on the roof, which could cause significant damage to the roof, especially depending on the size of the branches. Every year, then, it’s a good idea to take a step back and inspect trees that are close to your home to ensure they haven’t started to grow over your roof.
Perform Regular Inspections
Given the unique conditions in a windy city, your roof is likely to be subjected to more wear and tear than the average roof. Therefore, it’s important to have your roof inspected on a regular basis to catch any small problems before they cause expensive failures. Roofers looking at your roof will check for things like missing shingles, deteriorating joints, and a variety of other issues that could cause problems.
Keep Your Attic Vented
As mentioned, a roof in a windy city needs all the strength it can get. When it comes to a roof, the main strength comes from the sheathing or decking material that lays below the shingles and roofing paper. Therefore, it’s important to keep this sheathing in good condition by properly venting your attic of excess moisture. This will help maintain the integrity of the sheathing to ensure your roof stays intact.
Of course, the best way to maintain a sound roof is to start with a roof that’s correctly installed, given the conditions in your area. Accounting for the extra wind, professional roofing contractors can take extra care to ensure that your roof can withstand the abuse. This will help you start strong and help make your routine maintenance that much easier.
