Spring and Fall Roof Maintenance for Ontario Homeowners
Two inspections a year, timed around the seasons that actually stress a roof here, catch nearly everything while it is still small. Most of it can be done from the ground.
Roof maintenance in this climate is not a long list and it does not need to be done often. It needs to be done at the right two moments in the year: once after winter has finished with the building, and once before the next winter starts. Almost everything on both lists is either an inspection you can do yourself from the ground or a cleaning task, and the point of doing it is that roofing problems are cheap to fix while they are still small and expensive once water has been getting into the assembly for a year.
Why These Two Windows
Spring, after the snow has gone and before the leaves come out, is when everything winter did is visible and the roof is fully in view. It is also before the convective storm season, so anything found can be corrected while it still matters. Autumn, after leaf drop is genuinely finished, is the last chance to clear drainage, confirm that the attic is ready for the heating season and make sure nothing is left open. Doing the fall inspection in early October, before the trees are done, means doing it twice. Wait until the leaves are down.
The Ground-Level Inspection Anyone Can Do
A pair of binoculars and a walk around the house catches more than people expect, and it involves no ladder at all.
- ✓Sight along the ridge, the hips and the eaves. They should be straight. Waves, dips and lifted ends all mean something.
- ✓Look at each roof plane in turn for anything out of place: displaced panels, lifted shingle tabs, open seams, missing or bent trim.
- ✓Check the flashings at the chimney, at every wall intersection, around skylights and at plumbing stacks and vents.
- ✓Look at the eavestrough line for sag, separation from the fascia, and staining on the fascia below it.
- ✓Check the soffits for panels out of their channels, staining, and any hole an animal has made.
- ✓Look at the walls, particularly the lower courses and the corners, and at any trim that is out of line.
- ✓Walk the fence line and look at the posts, the gates and the ground around them.
- ✓Look at where the downspouts discharge and where the water goes from there.
Spring Checklist
Do this once the snow is gone and the ground has drained, and before the trees leaf out and hide the roof.
- ✓Clear the eavestroughs and downspouts of winter debris, and flush them to confirm they run free and still drain the right way.
- ✓Check trough seams, end caps and hangers for damage from ice and sliding snow.
- ✓Confirm downspout extensions are back in place and discharging well clear of the foundation.
- ✓Look for ice damage at the eaves: distorted trim, damaged edge metal, lifted shingles, and any staining on the fascia and soffit.
- ✓Inspect the attic for the evidence winter leaves behind — staining on the sheathing, rust on nail points, damp or matted insulation, especially near the eaves.
- ✓Check exposed fasteners on any exposed-fastener roofing or siding for backed-out screws and deteriorated gaskets.
- ✓Look at valleys and behind chimneys for debris that accumulated over the winter.
- ✓Rinse the salt band: the lower part of roadside fences, railings, steps and the bottom of walls.
- ✓Check fence posts and gates for frost heave and reset anything that has moved before the ground bakes hard.
- ✓Photograph everything while it is in known good condition.
Fall Checklist
Do this after leaf drop is finished and before the first hard freeze.
- ✓Clear the eavestroughs and downspouts thoroughly. A trough that goes into winter full of leaves freezes solid and becomes the starting shelf for an ice dam.
- ✓Clear valleys, dormer roofs, low-slope sections and the area behind snow guards and chimneys.
- ✓Confirm downspouts discharge away from the house and that the discharge point will not simply freeze into a block.
- ✓Trim back limbs that overhang or touch the roof, and remove dead wood within falling distance.
- ✓Verify that every bath fan, range hood and dryer terminates outdoors, that the ducts are intact and that the exterior dampers open and close freely.
- ✓Check attic insulation depth and coverage, particularly out at the eaves, and confirm the intake baffles are in place and not buried.
- ✓Confirm the attic hatch is insulated and seals properly, and look for obvious ceiling penetrations that are leaking air.
- ✓Check that soffit intake vents are open and unobstructed, from outside and from inside the attic.
- ✓Look over flashings, closures and sealant at penetrations, and address anything that is failing before it is under snow.
- ✓If heat cable is installed, test it and check its routing and its connection before it is needed.
- ✓Store or secure anything on the property that a winter windstorm would send into the building.
The Attic: The Most Useful Ten Minutes
More is learned about a roof from inside the attic than from outside it, and it costs nothing but a headlamp and a cold morning. Go up on a cold day rather than a warm one, because that is when frost and condensation are visible. Look at the underside of the sheathing for dark staining, frost, or rusty nail points. Look at the insulation for matted, discoloured or damp areas, which mark where warm air has been leaking up or water has been coming in. Look at the eaves to see whether insulation has drifted into the soffit and blocked the intake. Look for daylight around penetrations and at the eaves. Check that every duct you find actually leaves the building rather than ending in the attic. Note anything you find and where it is, because the location tells a roofer far more than the fact of it.
Do not walk on a metal roof as part of a maintenance routine. Panels are slippery in any weather and treacherous when wet, frosty or covered in debris, and foot traffic in the wrong place damages panels and finishes. Everything on these lists can be done from the ground, from a ladder at the eave, or by someone equipped to be up there.
What to Leave to a Roofer
Some things need someone on the roof with the right equipment and the right eye. Anything involving flashings at a chimney or a wall, anything where the fix involves lifting or removing roofing material, any suspected leak whose source is not obvious, any structural question, work on a steep or high roof, and any assessment after a significant storm. It is also worth having a professional look at the roof periodically even when nothing appears wrong, because the failures that cost the most are the ones that were quietly progressing for several years.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a metal roof need maintenance at all?
Less than an asphalt roof, but not none. The panels themselves need very little. What needs attention is everything around them: keeping valleys and eavestroughs clear, checking sealant at penetrations, watching fasteners on exposed-fastener systems, and touching up any scratch that has gone through to substrate. A twice-yearly look is a reasonable habit.
How often should I clean my eavestroughs?
At minimum twice a year, in spring and after leaf drop. Under mature trees, more often. If troughs are overflowing, that is not a cosmetic issue — it is water being delivered against the fascia and the foundation.
Should I remove snow from my roof?
Usually not, and never by climbing onto it. Snow removal from the ground with a proper roof rake can be sensible where ice damming is a known problem or where a deep, wet accumulation is a genuine concern, but it is easy to damage roofing while doing it and it does not address the reason the ice is forming. If you have a structural concern about a load, that is a question for an engineer, not for a shovel.
What is the most commonly missed item on this list?
Confirming that bathroom and dryer exhaust actually terminate outdoors. It is out of sight, it is very commonly wrong, and it drives a disproportionate share of the attic moisture and ice damming problems we are called to look at.
Get a Free Metal Roofing Quote.
We measure your roof remotely by satellite and deliver a written, itemized quote — same day, no obligation.