When we think of all the things we have inspected, the last thing that comes to mind is our roof. We have everything from routine dental checkups to routine car maintenance, so why wouldn’t we have a routine roof checkup? Ensuring your roof is in good condition ensures your whole home is protected and may help to prevent costly repairs.
How often should your roof be inspected?
Yates Roofing & Construction and The National Roofing Contractors Association recommend routine roof inspections in the fall and spring and after any major weather event such as hail, high winds, or storms with airborne debris. Even if your roof is new, weather events can cause significant storm damage though older roofs are typically more susceptible to damage.
Along with the NRCA, we would like to stress that you should never crawl up on your roof to inspect it, but instead call a roofing contractor to complete a full roof inspection. We understand, however, that some people would prefer to do a pre-inspection visual assessment of their roof. If you do decide to visually inspect your roof before a professional completes a full roof inspection, please remember to use your ladder safely as recommended by the National Safety Council.
The National Safety Council offers these points in ladder safety. Make sure to:
- choose the right ladder with proper height necessity
- start with a firm foundation
- climb with care, and consider the conditions
For the full article on ladder safety, visit Ladder Safety One Rung at a Time by the National Safety Council.
Warning signs that you need a professional inspection now.
You, the homeowner, can look for several warning signs that you should call right away for a roof inspection without being a professional roofer. You may want to grab a pair of binoculars and a ladder to spot some of these items. Be on the lookout for:
- Missing and/or broken shingles
- Damaged shingles - such as buckling, curling, or blistering
- Cracked and worn rubber boots around venting pipes
- Cracked caulk or rust spots on flashing.
These are all signs that you should call a professional roofing contractor to inspect your roof.
Yates Roofing & Construction offers an array of maintenance and inspection programs during which we will inspect the condition of your roof materials, metals, flashings, penetrations, and vents. Should we find any areas that need to be addressed, we will discuss those with you right away. These inspections allow us to find small problems before they turn into larger, more costly ones. In turn, this can considerably extend the life of your roof and prevent damages below the roof and to your contents.
The cost of our maintenance and inspection programs depends on several factors including, but not limited to, the size of your roof, the complexity, and pitch of your roof, number of penetrations, flashings, and vents, and additional services requested such as cleaning out your gutters. Small repairs are typically included in our program. Some examples would be replacing pipe jackboots that have deteriorated in the Oklahoma sun or cleaning out your valleys.
Yates Roofing & Construction services Oklahoma City, Lawton, Tulsa, and the surrounding areas. Contact us today to schedule your free inspection. To contact us in Oklahoma City call (405) 607-0966, for Lawton area call (580) 351-6555, for Tulsa area call (918) 340-5240, or to call toll-free dial (888) 91-YATES (92837).