The dog days of summer are here with high temperature days, short nights and school gearing up for the next term. While everyone prepares for back-to-school with shopping for supplies and appropriate clothing for the coming year it’s a good time to prepare other areas of life for the seasonal change and the year ahead.

As with yard prep and vehicle maintenance for winter driving, your commercial roof needs its own maintenance as well. This means scheduling a commercial fall inspection and cleaning. Regular cleanings and inspections ensure your roof is ready for the months ahead and that nothing was damaged by the weather in the previous six months.

While your roof is designed to deal with high temperatures, expansion joints need regular inspection. As caulking is heated for long periods over the summer months it might deteriorate and not be completely up to standards for the prolonged cold temperatures of the months ahead. Cracked caulking at expansion joints will allow moisture and water to enter, causing roof leaks and moisture retention in the roof substrate.

High temperatures inevitably bring wind at some point. Wind carries dust and debris, which is deposited in nooks along your roof. Unfortunately, those nooks are typically your roof drains. Drains need to be cleared of all dust and debris for proper water flow during the wet months. Clogged drains lead to ponding water. Ponding water is never good for roofs as it raises the roof plane, which means that water gets into and settles into places it shouldn’t be in, for instance around a unit. Standing water on roofs can also accelerate deterioration if it’s a constant phenomenon.

Roofs tend to get forgotten until there’s a problem. Be proactive this fall and get your roof maintenance completed by Upson Company and you’ll have a worry-free, hassle-free winter.