Tips for Getting Your Roof Ready for Winter Weather
Grab a sweatshirt, ladder and work gloves — it’s time to get your roof ready for the cold winter weather ahead.
Before frigid winter weather arrives, spend time cleaning out gutters, checking downspouts and evaluating the condition of your roof. Make sure they are empty. This is especially important after the leaves have fallen as they tend to take up a good portion of gutter’s space. If you don’t handle this clean-up project now, water and melting snow can sit in the gutters. That will create all sorts of water problems if not addressed — especially if the water freezes.
If you experienced hail damage over the spring or summer months to your roof, have a roofing professional evaluate the condition of your roof before the snow starts to fall. You especially need assistance from a professional if you have steep slope roof that makes it dangerous to work on the roof yourself.
Roofs are exposed, usually, to direct sunlight and they are the first level of defense your home has from the sky and what it delivers. So checking your roof for wear and tear is also very important. Slates can crack, shakes can split, asphalt shingles can lose their durability from heavy hail storms, fungus and mold can grow, etc.
Check on the Snow Guards
As you’re checking out your roof before the onslaught of winter weather, the experts at DaVinci Roofscapes recommend you make sure your snow guards are firmly in place and clear of debris. If you don’t have snow guards and have experienced strong snowfall in the past, now is the time to have them retrofitted to your roof — especially if you have a composite roof.
Snow guards are strategically placed on your composite roof by a professional roofer so that when the snow melts, it does so more evenly. That way, it doesn’t have the opportunity to bind together and create an avalanche that falls all at one time on your landscaping or around entry doors of the home.
Sloped roofs are particularly susceptible to these types of avalanches. They require special consideration in states that are known to have heavy snowstorms, strong winter weather conditions and ice dams. When snow guards are in place on a composite roof, it’s less likely you’ll have problems with ice or snow falling on people or property.
What’s in Your Attic
Another way to get your roof ready for the winter ahead is to make sure your attic is well insulated and vented. This helps reduce the chance of an ice dam forming on your roof. By keeping the attic temperature closer to the outside temperature, this reduces the chance of ice dams.
While DaVinci Roofscapes tiles are not waterproof, use of the proper peel and stick membrane on the bottom of the roof will also help make areas where ice damming occurs more water-tight.
While you’re in the attic, look for visible signs of leaks from summer storms. And, check out the status of your insulation. Homes with superior attic insulation help reduce energy bills — especially during frigid winter weather.
It’s Not Too Late to Replace
If it’s time to replace your roof before the snow falls, it’s not too late.
While many roofing products must be seasonally installed, the unique composition of DaVinci composite roofing materials resists temperature extremes. This makes it possible to install our composite slate and shake roofing tiles in all types of weather.
Man-made polymer roof tiles from DaVinci have no freeze/thaw issues. They’ve actually passed the freeze-thaw ICC-ES Test (Acceptance Criteria AC07, section 4.9) with exposure to temperatures from -40 F to 180 F in 22 hour cycles for approximately a month.
Watch for the Signs
How will you know if it’s time to replace your roof? While gaping holes and messy leaks are two obvious signs that a roof needs to be replaced, sometimes the signs are less obvious.
If your roof is approaching the end of its life cycle — which is usually 20 – 25 years for asphalt shingles — it’s time to think about a new roof. However, a calendar shouldn’t be the only way you determine if it’s time to replace your roof.
You will want to seriously start thinking about replacing your roof with a composite slate or shake roof when …
- Your neighbors have new roofs and you want to maintain the value of your home.
- Your neighbors have not added a new roof and you want to increase the resale value of your home.
- Your geographic area has seen an increase in severe weather conditions, (including hail or tornados) that require a stronger roofing material to handle the dramatic weather changes.
- Your existing roof is functional, but has staining that detracts from the look of your home.
- You want to switch to a low-maintenance composite roof that has a lifetime limited warranty.
- You don’t want to worry about wood rot caused by wood shakes and termites.
- Excessive snow in your area has caused substantial damage to your roof.
Too often homeowners wait until their roofs are old and worn out before considering an upgrade.
Certainly curling, splitting and missing shingles are all warning signs that a roof needs to be replaced. However, with the changing weather patterns in our country combined with the need for homeowners to add value to their properties, you should be vigilant about looking for signs of wear.
Before the winter weather sets in this year, make sure to invest time and attention to the roof over your head … so that it helps protect your home through the cold and snow ahead.