Preparing your roof for the rain that comes with the monsoon is an important task of yours – if you are new to the Valley, you may even be wondering how bad it can get.
In order to get your roof ready, you have to understand the monsoon consists of heavy winds, sudden and heavy rain, and dust storms in the form of haboobs, all of which your roof will need to be ready to face because eventually, it will come through.
Before you order the inspection you can look for debris that's lying up on your roof. Things like branches, bunches of leaves, or objects that might have gotten tossed up there can get stuck in causing blocked gutters and downspouts.
This will cause a problem when it rains by trapping water and making it pool up on your roof. if you have a BUR (built-up) roof, you want to make sure there are no open seams where moisture can enter.
With elastomeric coatings, you want to also ensure they are still in solid, undamaged shape.
On a pitched roof, you’ll have valleys that run down it. These canals channel water down off the roof and need to be completely clear of debris like the material coming off of aging asphalt roof shingles, leaves, and branches.
Just like flat roofing systems, you have to make sure that the seams are inspected and that everything is in good condition and watertight.
Obviously, if tiles or shingles are missing, you’ll need to order some repairs or if it's still under warranty, get your roofing contractor out to replace them.
These need to be inspected also. They need to be in good shape, attached securely to your property and free of debris so they can be effective in channeling the heavy rainfall off your roof and down to the ground.
If they are hanging oddly or not how they’re supposed to they can accumulate water and it can be pushed back onto the roof, instead of flowing down away from your roof and foundation.
Speaking of the foundation, It’s also a good time to check the protection for the foundation of your home, making sure proper drainage is occurring and water isn’t pooling up against it, which will undermine it over time.
They provide shade that can cut down on energy bills, but if they’re too close to your property they can cause problems for a roof.
If it’s a bigger, older tree and it collapses during a high wind event, a large branch can scrape across the roof, knocking off shingles or tiles, or even knock a hole in your roof.
Even if it’s not a big branch that comes through your roof, just having all the falling leaves, twigs, and branches on your roof will interfere with proper roof drainage.
Previous owners might have taken shortcuts that weren’t caught during the home buying inspection. Patching or other roof repairs may have gone unnoticed.
Have a professional roof repair contractor come out and inspect your roof to make sure there aren’t any do-it-yourself problems.
Catching simple problems ahead of time will keep them from turning into major problems later on. Contractors should look for overlapping layers of roofing material, gaps, or just poor craftsmanship.
Any of these could lead to a leaky roof, premature wear, and mold or algae.
A few preventative steps will go a long way to avoid serious issues and damage to the interior of your property.
