If you’re buying your first home, you’re probably transitioning from a renting situation. When renting, you don’t have to worry about doing the maintenance yourself. You don’t have a lawn to take care of, much less a roof to keep up with. As a home owner, there are maintenance concerns you may not have considered, especially when it comes to your roof.

Before you own the home

Before you actually own the home, your roof needs to pass inspection for insurance purposes. If your insurance carrier detects roof damage, your house may not be covered. You may have to shop around for different insurance carriers in order to get the house you want covered.

Some roof damage could be so extensive that no insurance carrier will cover the house. If that’s the case, the buyer will need to buy a new roof as an out of pocket expense.

If you want to have your roof specifically inspected by someone who specializes more than a home inspector, a roofing company can come out to just look at the roof. At Land Roofing, we have relationships with multiple realtors, and are happy to come look at the roof of new listings.

If you choose to have a roof inspector come out, be careful about who you choose. While we may or may not be a good fit for you, some inspectors actually try to cause issues on purpose, to try to get insurance to pay. When that happens, there’s no longer any chance the insurance company will cover any damage. It is very important to trust your roof inspector to safeguard yourself against issues like this.

After you own the home

Once you successfully purchase the home and get settled, there are a few things you need to keep in mind regarding maintenance.

• Keep your trees trimmed away from the roof. This will help in decreasing the amount of junk in your gutters.
• Gutters need to be cleaned at least once a year, but possibly twice a year depending on how many trees you have.
• Check your roof on a regular basis. This can be done by just looking at it from the ground.
• Make sure to have your roof checked by a professional after a hail storm. Be sure you only have one to two people on your roof at a time. Too much foot traffic can cause damage to your roof.

If you are considering a new roof, you may want to look into purchasing an impact resistant roof. These roofs will get a good insurance discount. And if you’d rather hire someone to do the ongoing roof maintenance for you, read about our roof maintenance program.