Before frigid winter temperatures arrive in your neighborhood, take the time to prepare your home for the unexpected. Even if you live in a moderate climate zone, where low temperatures are rare, winterizing your home can improve its durability, energy efficiency, and help prevent common and costly winter emergencies such as burst pipes and flooding inside your home or basement.
Home Weatherization in a Nutshell:
Winterizing your house is all about sealing and eliminating unwanted air drafts, ensuring adequate insulation and ventilation to prevent energy losses and ice dams related issues, checking roof and gutters, insulating exposed pipes, sealing air-ducts, checking water heaters and furnaces, and boosting your home’s energy efficiency.
Below are the main items to address to make sure your home is properly protected, cozy, and warm, even when the weather outside is frigid and frightful:
1. Roof Inspection and Maintenance
An inspection of your roof (and gutters) should be an annual job. While this is a doable DIY job, knowing what to look for is vital:
- Moss and Algae Growth
- Loose, Missing or Damaged Shingles or Tiles
- Major Cracks in Roof Shingles or Tiles
- A Large Portion of Curled-up Shingles
- Flat Roof Seams Coming Apart or Becoming Unglued
- Damaged or Improper Chimney Flashing, Skylight, Roof Vent and Pipe Flashing
- Dips and Swales in Roof Surface
- Roof Ventilation Issues
- Evidence of Roof Leaks – Water Stains Around Walls and Ceilings – Wet Insulation in the Attic
Roof Inspection Cost: A professional roofing contractor may charge between $150 to $250 for an inspection, depending on several factors. Most of the time, the cost of a roof inspection can be counted towards the price of a roof repair or getting a new roof.
Note: you should be getting a written report outlining roof performance issues for a stand-alone inspection.
Caveat on Roof Inspections: If you end-up having to ask a professional roofer to climb on your roof after the cold, icy weather has set in, expect the cost of the inspection to go up.
Post-Inspection Maintenance and Repairs:
A roof inspection will determine the need for a roof cleaning, especially if moss build up is normal in your region. If the inspection report shows that some maintenance or repairs are necessary, the costs will vary depending on the extent of repairs:
Minor Repairs: $250 to $450 for minor repairs, which is where a roof cleaning job fits in.
Moderate repairs can cost in the range of $1,000 and typically include fixing or replacing any loose or missing shingles and tiles and sealing and re-flashing chimneys and skylights on the roof.
Major repairs are generally large sections of the roof needing extra attention and may cost as much as $3,000 or higher. Beyond this, and it’s time to consider re-roofing or replacement.
More info on roof repairs: https://www.roofingcalc.com/roof-repair-cost/
Complete re-roof or replacement may be required if a large portion of the roof has old or damaged shingles. A new roof provides opportunity to increase the lasting value of your home. A new roof can also be an insurance against unwanted roof leaks, house water damage, and a very costly roof failure, especially in the middle of winter.
Cost Recouped: A typical roof replacement has an average cost-to-value return (cost recouped at the time of sale) of about 70%. A metal roof has an average cost-to-value return of about 85.9% in the mid-range pricing range.
