Roofing - Prevention is the Key

It is a common misconception that if your roof is showing any signs of wear or damage it needs to be replaced. Sometimes if the damage or wear is bad enough this is true but often if the damage is just slight and you catch it early you can avoid a costly roof replacement and do cost effective repairs job instead.
The trick is to avoiding costly roof replacements is to do some preventive roof inspections and catch problems before they take on a life of their own. You don’t have to climb on top of your roof to inspect it either. At some point someone will need to go up to the roof but there are a lot of steps that can be taken from the safety of the ground. 
For example after a windy day or a storm do you see pieces of your roof on the ground or in the nearby vegetation? When you inspect the bottom of your rain downspout do you see granules from your shingle washing off and down the drain? 
Using binoculars look up at your roof and inspect for bare spots or shingles that are lifted up. Take note on how excessive this problem is. Is it widespread or just a few shingles missing?
You can also check the condition of your roof by looking inside your home. Is the ceiling showing paint blisters or discoloration spots? This could be evidence of a roof leak. If you have wall paper is it peeling at the top on the ceiling line? Are the baseboards damp down to the floor? These can be signs that water damage from a leaky roof has already gotten into the house and is doing damage. 
If you’re on ground inspection indicates there may be some damage your next step is to hire a professional roofer who you can trust to do an inspection and let you know if your roof needs to be replaced or just have some restoration work done. The best way to find a trusted roofing contractor for a job like this is to go to a consumer based web site that read consumer reviews of a business from real clients past and present like Angie’s List and find the contractors who are rated highly by other consumers. This gives you a list of professionals that have been vouched for to choose from to finish your roof inspection and possible repair or replace your roof. This is the best way to find a roofer who won’t charge you to replace a roof that just needs a repair job to fix the damage.