Fall Roof Maintenance Checklist for South Jersey Homeowners

Fall is the right time to get a South Jersey roof looked at, because everything that goes wrong in winter starts with something that was already wrong in October. This checklist covers what a homeowner can sensibly check themselves, what is worth paying someone to do, and the one item people consistently get hurt attempting.

Inspecting shingles, flashing and vents — from the ground

Start on the lawn with binoculars. You are looking for curling or cupped shingle edges, missing tabs, and patchy areas where the granule surface has worn thin after a summer of heat. Check the flashing around chimneys and sidewalls for rust, separation or a gap where the metal has pulled away from the masonry — flashing failures cause more leaks than worn shingles do.

Then go into the attic with a flashlight, which is where the useful findings usually are. Look for daylight coming through the deck, damp or matted insulation, and dark staining along the rafters. Interior evidence almost always shows up before anything is visible outside.

Grit collecting in the gutters is the signal worth acting on. A handful of granules after a new roof is normal; a steady accumulation of sand-like material every time it rains means the shingle surface is wearing out and the roof is heading toward the end of its life.

Gutters and downspouts — hire this one out

Gutters need clearing before the first hard freeze. But ladder falls during gutter cleaning are one of the most common serious home injuries there is, and the money saved doing it yourself is not remotely worth the risk. Gutter cleaning is inexpensive to have done. Have it done.

Whoever does it should flush the system with a hose afterward to confirm flow, check for sagging hangers that will fail under ice weight, and confirm the downspouts discharge well clear of the foundation — four to six feet is the usual guidance, and extensions are cheap.

One correction worth making, because the advice is everywhere: clogged gutters do not cause ice dams. Ice dams form when heat escaping into the attic melts snow on the upper roof and that meltwater refreezes at the colder eave. Clogged gutters make it worse once it is happening, but the cause is insulation and ventilation. If you get dams every winter, cleaning the gutters will not stop them — sealing attic air leaks and improving ventilation will.

Trees and storm readiness

Branches overhanging the roof should be cut back so they clear it by several feet, both to reduce debris in the valleys and to stop limbs rubbing the shingles in wind — that rubbing sands the granules off over a couple of seasons.

Hire an arborist for this. Pruning limbs over a house, or anywhere near a service line, is not a homeowner job and the failure modes are severe.

Also worth a look from the ground: loose antenna or satellite mounts that could work free in high wind. Note them for whoever is next on the roof rather than going up yourself.

What this does and does not buy you

Fall maintenance reduces the odds of an avoidable winter leak and catches problems while they are still small. It is not a guarantee — a hard nor'easter can take shingles off a perfectly maintained roof, and a roof at the end of its service life will fail regardless of how clean the gutters are.

Photograph what you find. If there is active water coming in, widespread shingle loss, or daylight visible through the deck, get a roofer out before the weather turns. Coming out to look and quote repair work is free — see roof leak repair, or how to spot roof damage after a nor'easter in Waterford Works for storm-specific signs.

McManus Roofing LLC, 22 Maiese Ave, Waterford Works, NJ 08089. Calls answered Mon–Fri 8am–10pm and Sat–Sun 8am–8pm.