Residential Roofing Cedar Rapids

Great Hacks to Keep Your Residential Roofing Tough

Homeowners must work hard to keep their roofs secure and protected from damage. That’s because persistent rain, ice, and much more can trigger a variety of damage that can severely devastate a home. Thankfully, the following hacks can keep residential roofing in Cedar Rapids, Iowa safe. Just about any homeowner should be able to handle these straightforward but effective techniques.

Wear Rubber Shoes When On a Roof

If you plan on doing any DIY work on your residential roofing, make sure that you wear a pair of rubber-soled shoes. No, you aren’t joining a Beatles cover band – instead, you’re protecting yourself from falling off of a roof. This danger often occurs when homeowners aren’t careful with their climbing and end up slipping and sliding to a very problematic crash on their lawn.

As a result, you should always have a pair of rubber shoes on when you’re on a roof. Beyond that, you should always wear a harness to protect your back and connect this to a part of your roof – such as a chimney – so if you do slip, you don’t fall off. And, as always, make sure to work with a second or third person on the roof with you. This step will help to keep you from getting injured. That protection is worth the time and effort it may require.

Clean Out Your Gutters

If you don’t pay attention to the state of your gutters, you’re going to find out you made a big mistake quickly. Your gutters are one of the most common contributing factors to dangerous roof leaks. For example, trash in a channel can cause overflows and floods that end up on your roof. All of this water will then pool in weak areas and cause significant damage that can be a real issue. For example, they can persistently wear away at the structure of your roof and cause leaks to pop up all throughout your home.

Therefore, you need to get up on the roof and clean out your gutters. A broom should be more than enough to get the debris removed. If you don’t feel comfortable on the roof, you can wear a pair of gloves, climb a ladder, and pull out leaves and other debris with your hands. But be careful! Animals may make nests in your gutters and could attack you if you grab their nests by mistake. These include squirrels, birds, and even raccoons. Call animal control to ensure that you don’t get into any serious danger.

Use a Hose to Find Weak Spots

Your roof is likely to have a few weak spots that can be hard to spot without professional experience. However, there is a trick that homeowners can use to locate these problem areas without much difficulty. Carefully take a hose up to your roof and spray a light stream of water on its surface. Pay particular attention to spots with dips or anywhere near chimneys or other problematic areas. As you spray, make sure to stand back so that the water doesn’t collect near you and weaken spots near your feet.

Let the water sit on these spots as a second person stands beneath where you spray inside of the house. If there is a leak problem, you should see water flowing into the home in a matter of minutes. Go all over the roof in this way, and you can spot most residential roofing leak issues. You may still want a professional to inspect your roof, though, if you don’t find a concern but notice leaks anyway.

Replace Shingles to Manage Leaks

When you spot leaks developing in your home, you can take several steps to make sure that they are eliminated. While the underlayment may be damaged to contribute to these leaks, you should start out by replacing shingles around your roof. This step is a slow process that requires you to spot areas with shingle damage carefully. Replace these damaged roofing spots and move on to find more.

Now, the next time a rainstorm hits, pay attention to where the water starts to leak through your roof. Don’t be discouraged if you spot water from an area that you believe you fixed. That’s because leaks are often unpredictable and can occur in different spots than they originate. So pay attention in order to get the best results.

Stop Ice From Causing Damage

During the winter, your residential roofing is going to experience a high level of ice concentration that can be very damaging to its structure. For example, it often has an easy time working up under your shingles and gutters and even into the roof membrane. Once it gets here, the ice will freeze, expand, and cause a variety of damage problems that may be hard to manage otherwise.

Thankfully, you can avoid this issue by getting proper ventilation and installing ice and rain shields along the edges. These shields will fit quite easily and require minimal upgrades to keep them as secure as possible. Make sure that you pay attention to these areas throughout the year to keep them from getting damaged. Most of the time, it should be reasonably easy to do without professional help.

Dry Rot Prevention

Dry rot is a problem that can occur on many roofs for many reasons. You may think that it is caused by water damage, but the word “dry” has a real meaning here. Typically, dry rot occurs when you don’t properly ventilate your roof and allow it to get damaged over the years. Often, this problem occurs on the plywood and may trigger an avalanche of issues that may rapidly spread over the years.

If you understand the nature of a soffit, you should be able to provide ventilation for your roof. This process includes drilling through the soffit vents so that cold air can enter in and take the hot air out of the roof. Hot air is the most common triggering factor for dry rot. If you properly manage this type of damage, you should find it easy to keep your roof protected from this dangerous rot problem.

Let Us Help You Protect Your Roof

So if you’re looking for the best residential roofing Cedar Rapids, Iowa has to offer, please contact us at Lynch Bros. Roofing today to learn more. Our experts will work hard to identify any concerns that may affect your roof. We will then strive to provide repairs and make sure that they are as secure as possible. Doing so can help homeowners like you get the high-quality roof that your home deserves to last for years to come.