Get Your Calgary Roof Ready for Winter

Fall is the easiest time to deal with a roof problem in Calgary. Once the snow settles and stays, a small repair turns into a wait, and a leak that starts in January is a leak you live with until things thaw. A walk around the house in October catches most of it.

Look at the roof from the ground

You do not need to climb anything. Stand back at the property line with a pair of binoculars and work around the house slowly.

• Shingles that are lifted, curled at the corners, or missing outright
• Dark patches where the granules have worn off
• Anything sitting proud of the roof line, which usually means a lifted nail or a loose flashing
• The ridge line: it should be straight, and a visible dip is worth a call
• Rubber boots around plumbing stacks, which crack with age and are a common leak point

Clear the eavestroughs before the freeze

This is the single most useful thing you can do in the fall. A trough packed with leaves and needles cannot drain, so the first melt has nowhere to go. The water backs up, sits at the eave, and refreezes overnight. That cycle is how ice builds at the edge of a roof and how water ends up behind the fascia.

Wait until the trees are actually bare before you clean, or you will be doing it twice. Check that the downspouts run clear and that they carry water well away from the foundation, not onto a walkway where it will freeze.

Go up into the attic

The attic tells you more than the roof does, and it is the part most people never check. Pick a bright day, take a flashlight, and look for daylight coming through anywhere it should not. Dark staining on the underside of the sheathing means moisture has been sitting there. Frost on the nails in cold weather is a ventilation problem, not a roof problem, but it turns into a roof problem if it is left alone.

Check that the insulation is not stuffed into the eaves and blocking the vents. Air needs to move from the soffits up and out the ridge. When it cannot, the underside of the roof warms up, snow melts unevenly, and you get ice at the edge.

What is worth doing now and what can wait

Lifted or missing shingles, a cracked boot, loose flashing at a wall or chimney, and blocked eavestroughs are all worth handling before winter. They are small jobs now and much larger ones in March.

A roof that is simply old but sound can usually wait for spring, when there is more choice of dates and the weather cooperates. If you are not sure which category you are in, that is exactly what an inspection is for.

We offer free roofing inspections across Calgary and area. If something on this list turned up, get it looked at while it is still a small job.