Rooftop Maintenance for the Winter

Rooftop Maintenance for the Winter

Whether you want it to or not, winter is coming to the Dallas area. We do not typically get heavy snows that pile up on our roofs, here. But this time of year does bring some changes to the environment that can cause costly problems for your home. These problems often start from your roof and work their way down. While you cannot stop Old Man Winter, you can perform some rooftop maintenance to protect your home from his tricks. Everything from rooftop dryer vent cleaning and inspection to gutter cleaning, we’ll outline several easy tasks you can do to prepare for winter!

Winter Weather Necessitates Rooftop Maintenance

In the Dallas metro area, temperatures can drop below freezing anytime from October through February. With these cold bursts come potential for snow, sleet and freezing rain. Ice storms have caused major damage in the past, just as they will in the future. The only thing you can do is to prepare your home and family through rooftop maintenance and other readiness for what winter can bring.

Early preparation is extremely important, especially when it comes to working on your roof. As temperatures drop, roof shingles become more slippery as these materials harden in the cold. Add even a little dew or rain, and performing rooftop maintenance can become deadly.

Start your rooftop maintenance early. Schedule important services, such as rooftop dryer vent cleaning and inspection, in late summer or early fall. In light of how the weather works in the Dallas area and for safety, you should try to get this work done each year by Thanksgiving.

Important Rooftop Maintenance Needs

For your Dallas area home, you need rooftop maintenance and inspection at least twice yearly. Ideally, you should schedule services for spring and fall. But who does this work and what do you need them to do?

Tree Maintenance

Tree Maintenance

Professional tree maintenance is very important for preventing a range of problems, some of which are catastrophic. A single tree branch can drop onto your roof from light winds or a heavy storm, breaking through your roof. Or, an unstable tree can fall over from wet grounds, heavy ice or blustery winds. A branch or a tree can also bring down power lines onto your home, causing a fire or risk of electrocution. Many people do not realize that rodents and racoons can use branches as a highway to your rooftop and into your home, such as through a rooftop dryer vent.

Gutter Cleaning Service

Your rain gutters quickly fill with leaves, twigs, acorns and other debris during autumn and winter. This debris clogs the gutters and prevents proper water flow. As a result, ice builds up at the edge of the roof and causes leaks and other damage. Having professionals clean your gutters is certainly safer than doing it yourself. Removing this debris can also add years to the life of your roof and interior walls beneath it.

Flashing Inspection

Roof flashing is an aluminum or galvanized metal covering placed where structures attach to your roof. These structures include joints, the base of the chimney, around skylights or at your rooftop dryer vent. This flashing plays a very important role, directing water away from these joined areas and off the roof slope.

Have this flashing inspected at least twice per year, such as when your dryer vent cleaning service performs their work and your chimney sweep cleans the chimney. Each of these professionals know how to ensure the flashing properly performs its function. If they find problems during inspection, they can fix the flashing for you.

Shingle Inspection

Loose, worn or missing shingles can cause major problems during winter weather, even in the fairly temperate Dallas area. The main function of these shingles is to keep your home dry. When compromised, one shingle can cause tens of thousands of dollars in water damage. One bad shingle can also cause others around it to lift, loosen or blow away.

Rooftop Dryer Vent Cleaning and Inspection

Rooftop Dryer Vent Cleaning and Inspection

Rooftop dryer vent cleaning and inspection is rarely considered as important as it is to the safety of your home. In fact, many home fires in the Dallas area start because of a poorly maintained dryer vent. These fires cost Americans over $238 million each year and injure 440 people. Dryer lint is the biggest culprit in starting these blazes.

If you think about the type of clothing you wear in winter and your family’s use of heavier materials like blankets, you can imagine how much more lint your household generates in colder weather. Although dryer fires can spark anytime of year, fall and winter certainly make your dryer and its dryer vent work harder. With excess lint, you are simply waiting for a fire to start.

Dallas Area Rooftop Dryer Vent Cleaning and Inspection

Have the experts at Superior Dryer Vent Cleaning to clean your Dallas rooftop dryer vents now as part of rooftop maintenance, before the weather grows colder. We can also inspect your dryer vent, internal dryer connections, roof vent flashing and vent screen. You need to schedule this service out to keep your rooftop dryer vent or other dryer venting clean and fire risk-free. Schedule Superior Dryer Vent Cleaning by calling (214) 494-9740 now.

Learn More:

Dryer Vent Cleaning for a Dryer Vent on the Roof

Where Birds and Rodents Bed Down for the Winter

Dryer Vent Repair & Maintenance Tips for Homeowners