Asphalt roofing is an amazing choice for a variety of homes. It’s aesthetically versatile, sturdy, and affordable. It’s the whole package! Just like other roofing types, though, it’s not maintenance free—low maintenance, sure, but not maintenance free. To get the most out of your new or existing roof, proper care is thus essential.
Didn’t think you’d need to do anything to your asphalt shingles? We don’t blame you—it’s not like homeowners go around talking about it! Tony’s Lifetime Exteriors, your Sauk Rapids roofing contractors, is here to help. Below, let’s share a brief chat about how to keep your roof looking and working great.
Let’s go!
Wrangle Vegetation
An unavoidable maintenance task when it comes to roofs of any sort is dealing with plants. Whether you have trees near your home or not, leaves somehow seem to make their way onto your roof, via the breeze or otherwise. Whatever kind of flora decides to land on your roof, you’ll need to take removing it into your own hands; it’s immensely damaging to it otherwise, as we’ll discuss below.
Regularly Remove Detritus
Dead leaves crop up quickly, especially towards the fall months. While there might not seem like anything excessively dangerous about them—at first, they make make your home cottage-esque—there exist quite a few issues with leaving them on your asphalt roof.
- They can create the conditions for puddles of water to accumulate
- Decaying leaves are a perfect spot for mold to set up shop (see our blog “Mold on Your Roof: Causes and Solutions” for more info on the subject)
- They make great spots for pests to make nests
The solution? A few times a year, get up there and use a leaf blower to rid your roof of debris. It might take a while before those gorgeous fall leaves start to cause any problems, sure, but there’s no sense in waiting around. If you’re not surefooted or a fan of heights, you can also hire a roof cleaning company to take care of things for you.
Trim Back Your Trees
Aside from leaves, tree branches are another maintenance task you’ll need to keep up with when it comes to your asphalt roof. There’s the obvious threat of scraping, of course, but then there’s the issue of storm damage should those branches break off, and the uneven shade they make which, like leftover leaves, promotes uneven fading. On top of all that, they function as critter highways—so if you don’t want the neighboring family of raccoons to move in, it’s best to keep them under control.
So how often should you prune? That depends on the tree! Some need it every five years, some every two. Every year, check to make sure the branches of your favorite arboreal friends are far back from your asphalt roof.
Make Personal and Professional Inspection a Priority
Aside from tree trimming, a professional roofing company should be able to take care of your asphalt roofing’s needs for you; it’s a remarkably stable substance that has few needs aside from the ones listed here. But your asphalt roof can only get the repairs it needs if you prioritize seasonal and post-storm inspection and learn how to spot damage before it snowballs.
Take Care of Damaged Shingles
The nice thing about an asphalt roof: minor asphalt shingles installation procedures usually can clean up any shingle-related storm damage or deterioration. Materials are readily available, and since asphalt is cheap, replacement is easy! Look for pockmarks, curling edges, or splits and get a roofer out there ASAP for a professional inspection if you find them, to account for the off chance that there could be something deeper going on.
Maintain Regular Checkups
It might seem silly to cann an asphalt roofing contractor if nothing is, per se, wrong with your asphalt roof—but it’s exactly how you keep things that way. A trained and professional eye can spot things that they layperson can’t, especially if that layperson isn’t climbing onto the ridge to survey the scene. They’ll also be able to spot things that haven’t become a problem yet, per se, but are heading in that direction, thus saving you money on future repair costs.
We recommend twice-a-year inspections at minimum. More won’t hurt, of course! You should, for example, call up your preferred storm damage repair company after nasty weather hits your area.
Tony’s Lifetime Exteriors: Your Partners in Maintaining a Healthy Roof
Asphalt roof, metal roofing—you name it and it needs care to function at its best. At Tony’s Lifetime Exteriors, we pride ourselves in providing just that. We go above and beyond to provide only the best in maintenance and replacement for our customers. From siding to roofing to gutters, we’ve always got you covered, so give our Sauk Rapids office a call today at 320-252-9086.