When a rainstorm hits and water begins dripping on your head, you realize the importance of flat roof maintenance. Properly maintaining your roof will prevent a wealth of headaches.
Keep reading to learn about basic roof maintenance tips for your flat roof.
- Safety First
Keep safety in mind first.
You want to maintain your roof so the occupants in the roof are safe from falling debris. But you also want to keep it maintained so maintenance crews can safely work on it. Regular maintenance will keep the roof safe enough so crews can keep it sealed without worrying about their own safety.
- Know Your Hot Spots
Create a roof maintenance checklist of the areas you should examine even before an expert comes on the scene.
- Seams: This is where the two areas meet. Seams can leak, so look for broken seams where water can get in
- Penetrations: A penetration is anything that penetrates your flat roof like a skylight, air conditioning vent, or chimney. Check around those areas for gaps that could cause leaks.
- Flashings: These are metal pieces contractors install in an area of a flat roof where two parts join together. Check around your flashings for gaps.
- Prevent Problems
You can prevent your own problems by following some basic protocol. Inspect your roof regularly. Every time you experience a storm, take a trip to the roof, remove debris, and look for where water is puddling.
If you inspect your flat roof regularly, when you call a maintenance contractor, you’ll be able to direct them to the problem.
- Know Your Roof Warranty
Many flat roofs come with warranties that will cover repairs should you have damage. However, many warranties require you to maintain your roof. Check your warranty to see how often you must have your roof maintained so when you do have damage, the warranty will cover it.
- Hire a Flat Roof Maintenance Professional
Do not attempt a repair on your own. Not hiring a professional is one of the major mistakes to avoid for home sellers. You can best do flat roof care by hiring flat roof maintenance professionals.
- Schedule At the Right Time
Schedule your maintenance in late summer and fall before winter wreaks havoc on your roof.
- Sign a Contract
Look into a maintenance contract. This type of contract guarantees that a professional will come to your building and maintain your flat roof regularly. So all you have to do is pay the maintenance fee and forget about having to maintain your roof.
- Do Your Part
If you want to save some time and money for your roof maintenance contractor, you can complete a few basic tasks on your own:
- Clear Clogging: Regularly check your pipes and other protrusions from the roof to make sure they’re not clogged.
- Remove debris: If you have a storm, remove debris from your roof the next day and look for visible punctures.
- Trim trees: Keep trees trimmed away from the edge of the roof. You will not have to worry about a random branch puncturing your roof during the next windstorm.
Maintain to Stay Dry
You can take control of your flat roof by conducting flat roof maintenance. Keep visiting our blog for more interesting articles about home and building repair.