Roof Maintenance Tips for the Holiday Season (Roofing Miami & Ft Lauderdale)

The holiday season is a great time to perform the necessary roof maintenance you’ve been avoid all year and here’s why: First, during the rain season (May-Sept in Miami & Fort Lauderdale), daily rains wash out debris from your roof and the roof remains mostly clean. Second, dry leaves from the change in season fall and collect on roofs more than any other time of the year. And finally, you actually have the time to do it (if you’re not working, of course).

Here are some do-it-yourself tips for some small things you can do for your roof that go a long way.

1. Remove all debris off of your roof. Since it hardly rains this time of year, the debris you remove will stay off for a while. Debris and fallen leaves will collect and rot creating heat pockets as the vegetation actually begins a fermenting process.

2. Unclog your gutters. Leaves in gutters hold moisture and create an ecosystem of insects and larva, which become a feeding and breeding ground for other insects. This is in the least, untimely.

3. Inspect the ceiling in all areas of the house for signs of active leaks that have not yet been addressed.

4. Inspect your roof (flat roofs from the top, sloped roofs from the ground) and look for the following:

Tile Roofs: Broken or missing tiles, cracked or missing cement areas, rusted or missing edge metal, damaged overhang boards or screens.

Shingle Roofs: Broken or missing shingles, objects penetrating the shingles (esp. nails), rusted or missing edge metal, damaged overhang boards or screens.

Metal Roofs: Objects penetrating the metal panels, missing or detached caulking from penetrations, oxidation of metal roof surface, damaged overhang boards or screens.

Flat Roofs: Granules missing from roof surface, open or loose laps, rusted or missing edge metal, damaged overhang boards or screens.

Performing these small yet effective tasks will ensure that your roof will not be victim to premature deterioration, which can make a necessary large investment (a re-roof) come due too soon. And lastly, active leaks should be repaired immediately to avoid the problem growing to a bigger problem when the rains begin in the Spring.

Happy Holidays!