Protect Your Commercial Roofing from Severe Weather

Protecting you and your property from bad weather is the main job of your commercial roofing system. During all the severe weather in Marietta, commercial roofs can take quite a beating and commercial roofing systems can fail to keep the weather out. No one wants to have their commercial property damaged, and preventive maintenance to your commercial building’s roof is your best option to keep your roof lasting throughout the varying weather conditions we see in Marietta. Having routine inspections of your commercial building’s roof can help spot something that could become a problem before strong winds, rain, or hail come.

Commercial Roof Maintenance

One of the best ways to keep your commercial roof safe from the Marietta weather all year round, is to ensure that your roof is always well-maintained. Regular roof maintenance will keep your roof in peak condition, so it can endure anything from harsh sun to rain and potential snow. Even though weather changes throughout the year, your roof maintenance to prevent sun damage will be largely the same as maintenance to keep your roof safe from leaks.

When it comes to the basics of maintaining your commercial roof, there are a few easy steps you can take to protect your building:

• Do regular checkups: Calling a roofing professional to take a look at the condition of your roof is important. But don’t stop there. By keeping an eye out for potential damage to your roof, you can spot small problems before they cause too much harm.
• Check the weather: You probably already follow weather forecasts, but do you ever think of your roof when you do it? By staying up to date of potential harsh weather conditions, like strong winds, hail and snow, you can check your roof beforehand to see if it will be ready to handle the coming weather.
• Check the drains: Regularly having your roof’s draining system cleaned is a great way to extend its expected lifetime. When the draining system is blocked with debris, water builds up on the roof, increasing the load of weight your roof is under. And when puddles stay on a flat roof too long, water damage starts to become a problem. Although keeping the drains clean is especially important with a flat roof, where water won’t be able to run off without a clear drainage system to run through, it’s important to keep gutters and downspouts clean even if your commercial building has a sloped roof.

By implementing these basic guidelines and simply being more mindful about taking care of your commercial roof, you can spot small problems more easily and prevent the need for regular major roof repairs, even during harsh weather conditions.

Commercial Roof Care Tips

Saving on your annual roof maintenance costs is all about working smarter rather than harder. Proactive maintenance will save you money on roof repairs compared to reactive maintenance. What this means is that keeping an eye on the condition of your roof to spot and fix little things will cost less than waiting for something to go wrong. On average, proactive maintenance on your roof will also extend its lifetime by approximately eight years!

With this in mind, it’s important that you know how to find potential problems before they get out of hand. Some things to look out for when checking for potential problems yourself include:

• Exterior walls: Look for water damage stains and cracks. Missing mortar is another sign of potential roof damage.
• Interior walls: Check to see if you can spot any suspicious stains, as these could be a sign of a leak somewhere.
• Shingles: If you have a sloped commercial roof, be sure to check the shingles. If they’ve lost a large amount of their protective granulation, it might be time to replace them.
• Drains: Checkup on your drains every now and then. Potential problems include rusty gutters and downspouts. For flat commercial roofs, water rings left by small puddles that dried are a sign that the drainage system isn’t working properly.

Looking out for these problems whenever you walk around in your building is a good way to keep an eye on the condition of your commercial roof throughout the year. However, to catch problems even before any of the following issues pop up, it’s best to regularly have your roof inspected by a roofing professional.

Professional roof inspections are essential if you want to effectively implement a proactive roof maintenance plan. A team of professionals can see problems you can’t spot in your everyday checkups. This helps you fix any issues before they even stain your wall paint, or wear away the mortar on your walls, meaning that your proactive roof maintenance can also help you save on maintaining the building walls.

To maintain a cost effective roof maintenance plan, it’s recommended to make an ongoing agreement with a reliable roofing contractor instead of hiring on a case by case basis. But you don’t have to go with the company that gives you the cheapest quote in order to take advantage of the potential savings. In fact, when it comes to choosing your roofing contractor, quality is everything, and it’s better to pay more for small repairs that last, than bigger repairs more regularly.

To protect your roof from water damage before it forms, you can also ask your Marietta roofing contractor about what water sealant treatments they can offer for your commercial roof.

If you need a reliable roofing contractor to maintain your roof, and you don’t know where to start looking, why not call us at 1OAK? Roofing is what we know best, and we’ll help you with roof maintenance advice you can trust to help you get the most from your commercial roof.