1. Get the gunk out of the gutters!

Flotsam and jetsam have a gnarly way of accumulating in our Bay Area gutters. Everything from birds’ nests to leaves and pine needles to kids toys can muck up gutters and ultimately lead to problems like leaking, mold, and misalignment. If you live in a chillier part of town, ice and snow can actually form on the debris and warp the gutters, causing additional stresses on your home and roof. So, clean the gutters now!

2. Identify insulation inefficiencies.

Maybe you currently own a home with single pane windows, and you’re draining a tremendous amount of energy heating your home during the winter and cooling it during the hot months. Switching over to double pane glass could be a simple cost effective fix.

Or maybe your furnace’s duct work warped due to years of your “forgetting” to do the maintenance… or perhaps due to other quirky factors, such as an earthquake or an infestation of voles.

The point is: to understand how best to optimize your winterizing dollars (and time), you need to measure what’s working and what’s not working and develop a plan accordingly.

For instance, if your insulation is basically fine, don’t waste time or money improving it! Conversely, if your duct work is misaligned – and you don’t realize it – the misalignment can lead to the accumulation of moisture residue, molds, and other problems you’ll have to fix down the line. To parse what “stuff” is important, you may want to get in touch with the experienced team at Century Roof & Solar. We can provide a free consultation to help you figure out what to focus on (and what you might be able to ignore).

3. Fix that furnace!

The time to find out that your furnace is not working – or emanating some noxious or disgusting smell – is not the dead of January, when all your local HVAC technicians are busy and/or unavailable due to a local blizzard or other nasty winter weather event. Your furnace should be cleaned and tuned up every year, anyway, to ensure that the filters, wiring, and other components are all up to standard.

4. The “DIY” route can lead to surprising costs, time sinks, and frustration.

You may “not want to bother” consulting with a professional team about your winterizing because you don’t anticipate any problems. But your home is dynamic, and you may not have the experience or tools to test everything effectively. Get connected with the team at Century Roof & Solar today for a free consultation about your winterizing needs.

image credit: http://www.c21larrymiller.com/winterizing-your-home-tip-1/

Whether you live in the Northern California mountains, and you and your community are already “battening down the hatches” in preparation for massive snowfalls; or you live in a milder, more urban region of Northern California SF Bay Area (that nevertheless occasionally gets assaulted by Old Man Winter), you need proven, easy, cost effective ideas to protect your home.

Here are some evergreen tips:

Check your “roof plumbing”: downspouts, fascia, gutters, and other elements of your roof’s “plumbing” are easily assaulted by snow, ice and other weather. Clean that stuff out, check for leaks, and seal up the “plumbing” yourself or work with a professional to get the job done.

After storms, particularly wind storms, roof shingles can detach or come loose. If you fail to notice minor damage, leaks can develop, which can in turn metastasize into multi thousand dollar home repair projects. So, after a big storm or wind event, go outside and check on your roof.

If you own a flat roof, you might want to apply a weather protective coat. Or, you could hire a professional to do the job for you.

Winter weather “attacks” on your roof and structure can happen in the most surprising and inconvenient times. For instance, say you’re out of town on a vacation or conference. You hear about a storm ripping through your community from friends or through an online alert. What do you do then? Or what should do you if you’re in the middle of urgent responsibilities, like childcare or preparation for a business meeting?

The answer is: Get help, ASAP. If you let winter weather damage linger, the results could be costly, annoying cleanup.

Trust the Bay Area professionals at Century Roof and Solar to get your job under control.

For over 15 years, our team — the “most trusted name in roofing” — has been helping business owners and homeowners like you solve their roofing problems.

Find out more about us at www.centuryrooftile.com, or call us at 510-780-9489 for a free quote.