1. Don't block the attic ventilation, even if your friends tell you to;
2. Don't grow vegetation on your roof, even if it's pretty;
3. Have a third party check on repairs, even if your friend did the repairs;
4. Keep birds and large animals (raccoons, opossums) off your roof, even if they are pretty or cute;
5. Have a third party check on repairs (yep, again), even if your brother did the repairs;
6. Don't walk on the roof unless you know how and have insurance, and are an alpha male risk taker (LOL);
7. Put some gutters and downspouts on your roof to protect, of all things, your foundation and siding;
8. Vent and insulate your attic, and then vent here if you need to;
9. Don't store things on the roof since it wasn't designed for that. 

Let's discuss one more. But first, some musical interludes to set the mood:

"Up On The Roof," The Drifters, 1962

"Rain On The Roof," The Lovin' Spoonful, 1966

"The Roof Is Leaking," Phil Collins, 1981

It's imperative that you keep leaves and other organic material from accumulating on your roof.

Here's why: Almost all vegetation decomposes into a acidic mass of goop (that's not the technical term). Hopefully, you'll remember from high school chemistry what acid can do to things, and the gardeners amongst you know that in order to get those azaleas and hostas looking their best, you want lots of organic compost around them to make the soil more acidic.

Vegetation on your roof is simply compost, and storing compost on your roof is not good because it will absorb moisture and eat away at everything below it, as shown in this picture from an earlier post of mine:

You can see exactly where the leaves were laying on that roof, and when someone got up there to remove them, the roof virtually came off, too.

We all like to shade our homes in the summer and open them up in the winter to let the warmth of light from the winter sun in, and that's okay, but as soon as those leaves fall, have your roof cleared of all vegetative debris before the rains hit. Roofs are dangerous—they are not even, they are slippery, and there might be a loose shingle somewhere—hire a professional to do that work.

A great time to have roofs cleaned is either when you set your clocks back (coming up soon!) or at Thanksgiving, depending on when the rain (or snow--snow?) season starts in your area. Our rain season here starts in December and lasts a couple of weeks. LOL

Our professional roofers here charge anywhere from $200-$400 to inspect the roof and then provide an estimate to repair any problems. Once they do that, they usually provide a one-year warranty to get us through to the next rainy season. Two to four hundred dollars for annual roof maintenance is a small price to pay for your safety and the peace of mind from knowing that your roof probably won't leak and destroy the last known color picture, albeit faded, of great-great-great-great-great grandmother arriving at Ellis Island in 1888.

Just because your roof is out of sight
does not mean that it should be out of mind.

 Have a good book to share? Join my new Active Rain Book Club.

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Love classical music? Join my new Classical Music group.

Scroll down for titles and quick links to more of my blog entries. 

Some of Russel's blog entries

1. 12 reasons why I won't comment on your blogs
2. How a Seller can cancel the purchase contract during the home inspection
3. What do you do when the listing agent is, uh, blind maybe?
4. Help! I need somebody! Help! Not just anybody! Help! You know I need someone! Help!
5. What do you do when deceit is obvious? (chapter two)
6. The garage is not a playground.
7. Need to vent? Feel free to vent (your attic) here.
8. Down in the boondocks: A classic homeowner improvement.
9. I admit it. I'm a sucker. Yep. A sucker. 
10. That just ain't the way we do it out here, Sonny Boy
11. Not responsible for advice not taken
12. There's that police guy! Hide!
13. Sometimes it's just a question of semantics and definitions
14. Winterizing homes in San Diego in September
15. What the heck are they cooking?
16. You mean that little jar will hold all that water?
17. A true real estate nightmare affecting hundreds of people
18. You mean our fine, feathered friends do that?
19. If the shower head isn't working, just turn up the water pressure
20. I purposefully burned a bridge yesterday
21. What part of that don't you understand? (Reading 101, English 101, & Spanish 101)
22. If I trip just one more time, I'll have a baker's dozen
23. Out of sight, out of mind, skip the work, charge for it
24. "How much will it cost?" "$399 plus a $100 aggravation surcharge."
25. I'm so tall that some times I have problems seeing the ground
26. In a home inspection, if the thing works, the thing works
27. What do you do when deceit is obvious?
28. Sometimes it really is that simple (electric again)
29. Sometimes it really is that simple (attic)
30. Did you put that on the disclosure form? "Oh, we forgot."