PROTECT YOUR HOME FROM HAIL
REMOVE ROOF DEBRIS
Organic debris on roofs and collected in gutters can lead to damage, and can even be combustible if you live in a wildfire-prone area. A quick roof cleaning can extend its life, improve its energy efficiency, and help avoid costly repairs.
- From the ground, visually inspect your roof to determine potential problem/target areas.
- Have a leafblower and gloves handy.
- Always wear safety glasses and be sure you feel comfortable standing on a ladder.
- Set up a ladder to reach your roof, using safety measures – spotter on ground, never standing on top step, make sure it’s on solid ground, etc. – to avoid incident.
- Once on the roof, carefully start the blower, utilizing its ability to reach farther to limit your amount of travel. Avoid blowing debris toward your chimney, skylight, or shingles, as this can cause damage. If able, blow what you can out of your gutters.
CLEAN UP GUTTERS
Gutters protect your home’s siding, doors, windows, and foundation from water damage by directing water away from your home. When gutters are clogged, the water has nowhere to run, which can attract pests like mosquitoes, squirrels, mice, and even bees.
- Manually clean leaves and fallen pinestraw to thoroughly clear them out, and flush out the rest with a garden hose to ensure your gutters are as good as new.
- Inspect your gutters for gaps in the joints, which you may need to repair with gutter sealant.
- Clean up leftover debris from below your roof.
SECURE SOFFITS
The soffit, if your house was built with it covers the underside of your roof’s overhang. Soffits ventilate your attic when heat builds up inside, and they play an important role in helping protect your home from a variety of weather events.
Unsecure soffits can allow wind-driven rain to enter your home and lead to water damage. Without the ventilation provided by soffits, the roof can become superheated, causing the shingles to break down more quickly, and cause ice dams in the winter.
- Setting up your ladder again, use a pry bar to pull off the shingle molding, trying not to damage it so that you can reinstall.
- Pry off the fascia board – the horizontal board attached to the lower edge of a roof, supporting gutters and shielding the roof structure from moisture. Pry fascia from the rafter ends, and look for wood rot.
REPAIRING YOUR ROOF FROM DAMAGE
If you find damage, and want to repair it yourself, we recommend you follow these steps:
- Have all the necessary supplies. Make sure you have new soffit to replace the damaged one, primer or wood sealer, electric tools, 6D nails, caulk, and paint to match your old soffits and fascia.
- Remove soffit. Slide the soffit out of the molding, holding it against the house.
- Remove nails. Using the pry bar, remove any nails.
- Cut a new piece of soffit. Use the old piece as a pattern guide.
- Coat with sealer. Coat the soffit with primer or wood sealer and let dry.
- Replace the soffit. Place soffit back on the molding and fasten to the molding/rafters with 6D nails.
- Reattach fascia. Secure the fascia to the house with 6D nails.
- Replace shingle molding. Put the shingle mold back in place.
- Caulk seams. Caulk any seams to prevent leakage with exterior sealant.
- Fresh paint. Cover the soffits and fascia with paint. Add a second coat if needed.
We want your home to be a place you feel safe and protected in, and Strategic Claim Consultants are here if you need our expertise. Residential damage can be a headache, as well as the insurance that comes with it – don’t go through it alone.
If you are looking for a public adjuster or wonder if they can help you with a claim, look no further than Strategic Claim Consultants led by Brandon Lewis. With over 3 billion dollars in settled claims, Strategic Claim Consultants is one of the leading public adjusters in the United States. Contact us today.