The Impact of Regular Preventative Roof Maintenance
By Curtis Cost, Past President of Warren Roofing®
Generally speaking, a well installed roof has 20 years of roof life if properly maintained. Many owners fail to regularly maintain their roof and instead only react to leaks. The many benefits of regular preventative roof maintenance to a roof are extremely well documented. There is no debate that prevention extends the life of the roof in all instances. Some major roofing manufacturers will even extend the duration of their warranties when owners perform this maintenance and document.
It is best practice to have your roof visually surveyed at least once a year by a roofing professional and to affect the necessary minor repairs to correct any issues found. In areas like Greater Cleveland the “roofing period” typically revolves around winter, a time that puts the most stresses on your roof. Something as simple as leaves collecting around a roof drain can create monumental problems and have caused flooding inside buildings due to water accumulating. In worst case instances roofs have even collapsed due to blocked roof drainage.
What does a professional inspection of your roof provide beyond identifying “clogged” roof drains? The typical checklist of things to look out for include:
- Damaged flashings
- Empty pitch pockets
- Seam delamination
- Broken blisters
- Roof splitting
- Loose membrane
- Poorly installed equipment added to the original installation
- Sharp objects left on the roof
Any and all of these things can contribute to water entering your roof system (and maybe never even leaking into the inside).
When water enters a roof system it causes significantly more damage to the roof itself than it tends to damage the operations or contents of the building. Water introduced into the roof system creates wet insulation (diminishing insulating effectiveness), blistering membrane (added fragility to roof membrane), damage to the structural deck, (rusting or rotting), and very commonly, mold development.
When building owners have their well-installed roof inspected and “tuned-up” annually, they will enjoy the benefits of fewer nuisance leaks, and most assuredly extend their roof’s life well beyond the expected 20 years. Delays will cost every operation profit, so contact Warren Roofing® and initiate a regular roof inspection to begin protecting one of your biggest assets.