Metal roofing provides a number of benefits to homeowners and commercial owners. If you’re one of those budget-and environment-conscious individuals, metal roofs will surely appeal to your taste. They greatly help in lowering insurance premiums and energy bills. Although they usually require professional installation, metal roofs can last up to 50 years if regularly maintained.
Metal roofing is actually incredibly durable, however, it doesn’t mean that it isn’t indestructible. Roofs, being exposed to the elements, can weather and age. It is important that you keep up with the wear and tear, storm damage, and simple shifting on your metal roof. So, to help you keep your metal roof, and eventually the rest of the building, in tip-top shape, here are some metal roof maintenance tips.
Inspect Your Roof
After every severe weather event and at least twice a year, you will have to inspect your metal roof for distress conditions. Before you begin your inspection begins, make sure that you or your inspector has easy access to the roof. That’s why it is important to have roof doors and hatches to areas where the person who will do the inspection can walk directly over joists and purlins to avoid further damage to the roof panels.
During an inspection, it is recommended that the following must be checked:
- Check for movement distress in panels and fasteners: You can do this by checking all screws and fasteners to make sure that they are still tight. Any movement can make the screws loose and back out of the hole. It is possible that you will see the screw and possibly some threads sticking up above the level of the gasket or roof panel.
- Look for surface coating failures to avoid any corrosion or rust: Also, look for scratches and peeling surface coatings. Having protective coating failures will help prevent corrosion and rust to form on bare metal.
- Sealant failures: Failures in sealants can be seen in peeling or flaking sealant, discolored sealant, and around loose fasteners. Although many sealants really last for 20 years or so, they can still be damaged from roof panel and fastener movement
- Clogs and debris in the drains and gutters: Debris can be washed off the roof and into any gutter system that you may have installed, over time. If you drain or gutter becomes clogged, water may accumulate and result in the corrosion of your roof. While removing branches or other debris, be careful not to scratch any coating or sealant.
- Any damage from snow, ice, or hail: Damage from ice and snow often become manifest as ice dams and leakage under the roof. The accumulation of snow or ice can cause panels to buckle if the roof slope is low. Hail can leave dents or even holes, in the event of very large hailstones/
- Aging of the roof or missing fastener gaskets: Of course, fastener gaskets have limited lifetimes. You should check for discoloration, tightness, or corrosion, and breakage.
Roof Repair
After the roof inspection and damage has been found, roof repair follows. Replace any missing gaskets and fasteners using components of the same metal as your roof panels. If you allow the use of different types of metals to touch, there will be a chance of corrosion or discoloration. Also, when sealing each replacement fastener and panel seam, use the recommended sealant. If you have small holes, you can use small amounts of roof cement to cover them up while large holes can be covered with a patch of the same metal soldered into place.
Making Your Roof Last
Is a metal roof indestructible? No, absolutely not. As we said earlier, it is durable but it isn’t indestructible. Avoid a small problem from turning into a big problem by doing twice-yearly inspections, and giving tender loving care to your roof after big storms or harsh seasons. You also have to keep in mind that the roof isn’t entirely made of steel. Other roof components such as sealants and gaskets age over time and require periodic replacement. By making these repairs and replacements, together with a new coat of protective paint, you can help your metal roof in keeping the weather off you and your belongings for decades.
Planning on having roof maintenance? Install a roof hatch now to provide easy and quick access to your roof. Visit https://www.accessdoorsandpanels.com/roof-hatches/ to find out more.
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