Fall Roof Maintenance is Key to Protecting Your Toronto Property

Fall roof maintenance is essential for protecting your commercial or industrial property assets—and October is the perfect time. This month typically marks the beginning of colder weather, followed by a punishing winter season. Your roof can easily sustain damage in the upcoming months if it needs maintenance or repairs. Learn how you can protect your property this fall.

Schedule your annual fall inspection to avoid damage

Make scheduling a professional inspection a priority this fall. A professional inspection is important because experts can often detect problems hidden beneath the surface, such as moisture roof assembly. 

A thorough inspection will reveal problems that should be repaired before harsher weather hits. This step can lower the cost of urgent winter repairs and ongoing maintenance. An annual fall inspection also increases the safety of workers and customers and assures changes affecting the roof assembly are identified and brought forward to management.

Take note that professional inspections should take place twice annually, in the fall and spring.

Perform a visual inspection and basic fall maintenance

It’s best to do a visual tour of the property (interior and exterior) and basic rooftop maintenance before the roofing contractor arrives, but only if you can do so safely. Clear visible organic debris and take a walk-around to identify obvious damage, such as active leaks or blown off metal copings. You’ll want to do this early enough in the season. This is so that the roof isn’t icy or slippery and so new organic debris will not accumulate.

The next step is providing the contractor with background information. This includes the roof’s current condition, servicing history (if the roofing contractor doesn’t have prior experience with the property asset), and any concerns you have. The goal is to help the roofing inspector identify current and potential problems. This is so they can make repairs before the situation gets worse (and more expensive to repair).

Clarify the work the contractor will (and will not) perform

Inspections vary based on the roofing contractor, budget cost parameters, the type of property, and other factors. It’s important to set up expectations in advance. For example, you may need to make special arrangements for an interior walk-through or to provide access for a multi-tenant commercial building property. Other examples are a contractor needing additional visit(s) to complete an inspection of a large or complex site, or snow on the roof requiring a change in plans for safety reasons.

Important aspects of fall inspection and maintenance:

Here are several areas that should be checked thoroughly during your fall roof maintenance inspection. Review these with your roofer to see if any of these items are not included and if additional items will be checked:

• The roof drainage system, including drains, gutters, downspouts, and control flow weirs
• The roof membrane, including potential damaged seams, cracks, or punctures
• Metal copings around the parapet walls of the building and flashing upturns at knee walls and penetrations
• HVAC and other equipment that may need the attention of other contractors 
• Special roof top features such as skylights
• Leaks in the roof, building envelope, masonry knee walls, and windows (these might require special consideration) Learn more about how to spot and address these issues in our guide on detecting roof leaks and moisture in your self-storage facility.
• Signs of animals or insects affecting the roof
• Safety and functionality of ladder/roof hatches
• Compliance with regulations, where possible

Take precautions for cold weather

The roof—and materials and equipment on top of the roof—are susceptible to damage from ice, snow, hail, high winds, and the freeze-thaw cycle. There are steps you can take to avoid problems during the fall and winter. Be aware that the roof is more dangerous when the surface is slick, so only expect your roofer when it’s safe for them to work.

Here are other issues that may come into play. Cold weather may damage roof storage and installations of materials, so manufacturer recommendations must be followed carefully. In case of a storm, the building owner is responsible for due diligence regarding the roof’s condition. The best plan is to do a visual inspection and notify your roofer if there are obvious or suspected problems.

Don’t forget about roofing emergency services

Finally, and this is important, hire a roofer with 24/7 service. You never know where there will be an emergency leak or other situation that needs urgent attention. If the emergency roofing service can’t repair the entire issue then and there, they should at least be able to provide a temporary solution until they can return to finish the repair work.

Call Elite Roofing for your fall roof maintenance and inspection 

Don’t put off fall maintenance. Protect your valuable property assets and save overall repair costs by scheduling your professional fall roof inspection now. Be sure to follow up with all maintenance recommendations so your roof is in the condition needed to brave the elements.   

If you’re the landlord of a commercial building, property manager or industrial facility manager in the Greater Toronto Area, hire Elite Roofing to protect your property this fall and winter and be backed by a 24/7/365 emergency service. Since 1956, we have served our clients with the highest quality workmanship, personalized customer service, and integrity in all we do. You can trust Toronto’s Elite Roofing for thorough inspections, maintenance, and our 24/7 emergency service. Contact us today and get the Elite Advantage.