around your home! I’m keeping the focus outside this week and turning to what winter has done to your roof, boots (not your favorite pointy-toed ones) or yard. So let's walk around your house and look up.
Start with your gutters. Are they sitting close to the facia board? Are they full of leaves and sticks? Are they sagging or bowing? This can happen because of ice and snow, or branches and leaves falling into the gutter and pulling it away from the facia board.
A few examples of gutter damage you may see:
On the lower right is a rotten facia board.
Remember those boots I mentioned? They’re the ones on your roof. It’s typically a black cap or ball that sits at the base of a pipe extending out of your roof. These boots protect your roof and ceiling from water getting in. If you see a strange water ring in your ceiling, you probably have a boot that is starting to fail. If you notice the rubber is cracking or pulling away from the roof, you may have a boot getting ready to fail. Catch it now and you may save yourself a ceiling repair.
Here's what hail damage can look like.
An example of good shingles! Look at your shingles, you may want to grab a pair of binoculars so you can see the details. Look for bare spots or holes. This damage can happen because of hail, branches or ice. Don’t forget to look at the edges, they can get shredded.
Now let's look down, are there track lines on the ground at your roof line? These look like trenches on the ground. This means your gutters are overflowing and need to be cleaned. Check out your foundation, do you see cracks? And how did your air vents fare through the winter?
One last thing...your crawl space. I know no one wants to go down there, so if you don’t want to go under the house hire someone to do it for you. This is when you catch the leaks that go unnoticed and can cost you a lot if you wait until they’re serious.
So, grab a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and enjoy your journey!