WINTER'S COMING

Inspect your roof now and you'll have time to get repairs done before the snow flies

I know we just entered fall, but that means the race to winter is on. You've still got plenty of time to get your home prepared for the coming winter.

Your most important job is taking care of the exterior building envelope to make sure the elements stay outside where they belong. That means making sure the doors, windows, foundation, and perhaps, most importantly, the roof are in good shape.

This week, pay special attention to your roof and make sure it's ready for battle this winter.

YOUR ROOF'S CHECKLIST

Some of these tasks you can handle on your own — others I'd leave to the pros.

You can manage a basic roof inspection on your own. You want to take a look for damaged or peeling shingles — or those that are missing altogether.

Take out your ladder and have a look at your eavestroughs. Do you see a lot granules from the shingles sitting in the gutter? If it's a new roof, it's normal to see some, as they settle. But when the roof is older and you're seeing a lot of granules, that's a sign your roof could be nearing the end of its life.

While you're on your ladder, make sure you're keeping those gutters clean from leaves and other junk. The eavestrough need to be clear to allow water to flow through easily. Finally, if you have any trees that are near your property, make sure they're good and strong. A winter storm could knock down any dead branches, causing major roof damage. There should still be leaves on your trees — but are any suspiciously bare? That, or some brittle bark are good indicators that a tree is in trouble. An arborist can remove any dead branches, or recommend if you should pull out the entire tree.

DON'T F ORGET THE CHIMNEY

The chimney is typically the strongest part of your roof, so it won't need as much attention as the rest of the roof. Depending on how often you actually use the fireplace, odds are you don't need a full chimney inspection every year, but you should have the exterior checked every few years to be safe.

On the outside, the inspector will check for damage in the masonry. Brick is long-lasting — but if the mortar between bricks has broken down, it causes water and moisture to seep into the brick. To fix that, you'll have to scrape out all that old mortar, and replace it with new stuff. This is a process called tuck-pointing. It's not too hard, but I recommend hiring a pro here.

Your inspector should also check the chimney cap, flue and flashing around the base of the chimney. If your inspector notices any problems with the flashing, have it fixed immediately. Without it, water will creep underneath the shingles and create mould problems inside the house.

For this reason, you also want to ensure your chimney cap has a drip cap — many of them don't. The drip cap is a curve on the underside of the cap. When you see a chimney in need of repair, often it's due to water damage from lack of a drip cap.