Fall means crisp, cool days, brilliant changing leaves, and the approach of the winter holidays.  For most people, it is a pleasant time of year to take a nice walk and enjoy the weather. For your roof, though, it’s time to recover from the summer damage and prepare for winter.  Following these helpful tips will ensure your roof is tough enough to withstand the harsh winter months.

  1. Clear the Gutters

Those brilliantly colored leaves that look so pretty in the park are a hazard to your roof and home.  Make sure you schedule a thorough gutter cleaning, and leave the ladder climbing to the professionals!  It might seem like an easy DIY job, but anything involving getting on top of the roof is best left to those who are experts  Piles of leaves will gather in the gutter rendering it ineffective. If the spouts are clogged, water will run off, potentially damaging the foundation of the home.  For additional gutter protection, you can invest in guards that reduce the amount of blockage that can gather in the gutters.

  1. Clean the Roof

Just not with a pressure washer.  The amount of force a pressure washer uses is too much for the shingles on your roof to handle.  You might accidentally end up blasting shingles right off or severely loosening their grip to the roof.  Additionally, pressure washers can weaken the constitution of the shingles meaning you’ll have to replace them sooner. This will open up your home to water, snow, and ice damage later on, not to mention the cost of replacing the shingles.

  1. Check the Insulation

From the inside, make sure you don’t have critters burrowing in to make your home theirs.  Look for slivers of light or drafts and get them inspected as soon as possible. Checking your insulation and integrity now means greater savings in the winter months.

  1. Trim the Limbs

Although those tree limbs might not be a problem now (except for the amount of leaves they’re dropping), they will be come winter.  Tree limbs that are over the roof should be trimmed to avoid potential destruction of the roof. Wet limbs, or worse, icy limbs, can snap easily from the tree because of their weight.  If they hit your roof, you could be in for a costly and untimely repair.

As always, New Jersey’s premier roofing experts at George J Keller & Sons are always here to answer your questions and keep your home in tip-top shape.  Reach out to them today by phone at 973-927-0963 and check them out on the web at gjkeller.com.