How Often Should You Inspect Flat Roofing?

When people talk about needing housing, you never hear them say, “Get some shelter for safety,” or something like “You need four walls for protection.” What is it that people say when speaking about housing? “A roof over your head.” That lets you know that practically everyone understands how important a roof is for housing. Without a roof, you don’t have a shelter. You have some barricades up to block the wind maybe, but it’s not a shelter. A roof has been the most important part of a shelter since primitive man walked out of the jungle and started building huts and living in caves. Over the years, we have developed many different types of roofing now that gives us a strong, sturdy, safe covering for our shelters.

For commercial buildings like businesses, schools, hospitals and much more, flat roofing is the most popular type you’re going to find. A flat roof is defined as a roof that doesn’t have a slope (pitch) and whose angle is 10 degrees or less. Though despite the technical explanation, you know a flat roof when you see one. If you have one, do you know how often it needs to be inspected? Let’s go through some information that might help you stay a step ahead of roofing repairs.

Average Inspection Time-Frame for a Flat Roof

According to most experts in the industry, a flat roof needs to be inspected at least once a year. Though it is recommended that you inspect the roof at least twice a year, if it’s a large structure. The larger the building, the larger the roof, which means the more potential for damage. If it’s a smaller garage, shed, or another structure whose roof doesn’t have a lot of open space, then once a year should be fine. Though no matter the size, inspecting it at the end of summer is important. The fall and winter are going to start loading that roof up with dirt, debris, leaves, twigs, snow, ice, and more. So it needs to be sturdy and without damage.

For larger commercial structures, you want to inspect before the fall/winter seasons, and then after they’re through and before the spring/summer seasons. The first inspection is to check for damage to ensure your roofing can hold up through the cold-weather months, while the next inspection is to see if your roof has held up without any damage.

It might seem like a pain to inspect your flat roofing, and so this is why many people call in the professionals to handle the job for them. The pros know exactly what to look for, and they can get in and out in a hurry. If there’s a problem, they will spot it and be able to promptly fix it.

Drain Inspection

The flat roof structure itself isn’t all that needs to be inspected. You should also inspect your drains and gutters. This should be done on average around four times a year, or once per season. You would even be smart to start checking the drainage every single month during the fall/winter seasons, as this is when those drains are going to collect a lot more debris and be more susceptible to clogs and damage.

Why Flat Roofs Need More Attention

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They Gather Materials

The first reason a flat roof needs to be inspected more often is that the materials that fall on the roof tend to stay on the roof longer. With a sloped roof, all the debris typically works its way down, and you’re left with really messy gutters but no actual damage on the roof, generally speaking. Though with a flat roof, the materials are on the structure of the roof much longer, and this can start leading to damage a lot sooner than with another type of roof. So it’s important to inspect.

They Bear More Weight

With those materials comes more weight. This is especially true in the winter, when snow and ice can sit on your roof and add thousands upon thousands of extra pounds of stress and tension to the structure.

Make sure that you inspect your flat roof regularly. If you want it done the right way, call in the experts to help.