Guide
The maintenance that actually matters
A roof that gets looked at twice a year lasts appreciably longer than one that gets looked at when it leaks. The work involved is small.
Get it looked at
Three questions, and up to three Laguna Hills contractors. Free either way.
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- Nobody gets your details yet. Your request stays with us and is not passed to any company.
- One email when someone can help. When a provider covering your area can take it on, we email you once and ask whether you want that company, by name, to contact you.
- Deleted after 90 days. If nobody can take it on, or you do not say yes, your contact details are deleted 90 days after your request.
- You decide, or you do not. There is nothing to cancel and nothing to pay us.
Nobody will call you about this request unless you say yes to a company by name.
Look in the attic after heavy weather
Check after the first real weather of the season rather than at the end of it. A small stain found in autumn is a cheap repair; the same stain found in spring is not.
Clear the gutters before the wet season
Blocked gutters back water up under the bottom course of shingles and rot the fascia behind them. This is the highest-value hour of maintenance there is, and here it wants doing before November through March.
Cut back anything touching the roof
Overhanging limbs cause three problems at once: abrasion, permanent shade that keeps a slope damp, and a highway for rodents into the attic.
Keep the penetrations honest
Rubber pipe boots are the single most common source of leaks on an otherwise sound roof, and they are cheap to replace before they fail.
Deal with growth properly
Moss and algae hold water against the surface. Treat and brush gently, or fit zinc or copper strip near the ridge. Never pressure wash an asphalt roof — it strips the granules and takes years off it in an afternoon.
Twice a year, from the ground
You do not need to be on the roof to find most problems. A slow lap of the house at a low angle finds nearly all of them.
In short
None of this is difficult and none of it is expensive. It is simply the difference between a roof that reaches its rated life and one that does not.
Related questions
I have solar panels. What happens to them?
They come off and go back on, and that is a separate cost, often handled by the solar installer rather than the roofer. If the roof is near the end of its life, do the roof first — removing and refitting panels twice is money wasted.
How long does a re-roof take?
A straightforward asphalt roof on an average house is one to three days. Tile, slate and complex rooflines take longer, and weather stops work more often than anything else.
Does being near the ocean change what goes on the roof?
Considerably. Salt air corrodes anything ferrous, so fasteners, valley metal, vent collars, flashing and gutter hangers should be specified for coastal exposure — stainless or heavy-gauge coated, not plain galvanised. The covering usually outlives the metal holding it down.
Get the roof looked at
Free, no obligation, and your details go to no company until you say yes.