Spring: read what winter did

March–May. From the ground and windows: scan slopes for shingles lifted, cracked, or missing after freeze-thaw; look along flashing lines at the chimney and walls; check ceilings and attic for new stains while spring rain makes leaks announce themselves. Flush gutters and confirm downspouts actually discharge away from the foundation. This is the season most worth a professional once-over — a spring inspection catches winter’s pry-work while everything is still a small repair. Photograph anything questionable and send it through the photo diagnosis.

Summer: fight the growth

June–August. Everything green grows toward the roof. Trim limbs back off the roofline — contact points scrub granules with every breeze and hand rodents a bridge. Watch for moss and algae shadows on shaded north slopes; address them with gentle methods, never a pressure washer (our moss & debris guide covers why). Check the attic on a hot afternoon: if it’s brutally hot, ventilation may be underperforming, which cooks shingles from beneath. Summer is also the comfortable season to schedule non-urgent repairs before fall books up.

Fall: gutters twice, not once

September–November. Under heavy canopy, a single gutter cleaning is a half measure — the early droppers fill gutters in October, and the oaks finish the job after most people have put the ladder away. Clean twice: mid-drop and after final fall. Clogged gutters back water under shingle edges and feed winter’s ice dams, which makes this the highest-value maintenance money of the year. Add a flashing check and secure anything loose before the first hard freeze. Our gutter cleaning and winterization visits bundle exactly this work.

Winter: watch, don’t climb

December–February. Winter roof work is watch-from-inside season. After snow, note where the roof melts unevenly — bare stripes can flag heat escaping the attic. Ice thickening at the eaves is a dam forming: meltwater pooling behind ice, working up under shingles. Watch ceilings and the attic after every thaw. What not to do: climb an icy roof or chip at ice with tools — both end badly. If water shows up inside, that’s a call, not a project: emergency service runs through winter, and leak repair in a thaw window beats waiting for spring.

Or let the calendar be our job

Every task above is exactly what our maintenance plan exists to carry: scheduled visits timed to this calendar, photo reports after each one so you see what we see, small fixes made while they’re small. It fits owners who live away from their Gorge cabin, landlords with tenants who won’t report a stain until it’s a ceiling, and anyone who’d rather not think about gutters twice a fall. No plan required, ever — this page works fine as a checklist you run yourself. The roof doesn’t care who does the maintenance, only that somebody does.

Common Questions

What can I safely do myself, honestly?

From the ground: visual scans, photos, downspout checks, and trimming what you can reach standing on soil. From a properly footed ladder at the gutter line, many owners handle gutter cleaning — know your comfort and stop there. On the roof itself: that’s ours. Steep, wet, mossy, or icy surfaces take falls from people with decades of experience. No maintenance task on this calendar is worth a fall.

Do I really need gutters cleaned twice in the fall?

Under heavy canopy, yes — it’s the difference between gutters that work all winter and gutters that dam the first December rain. Early droppers and late oaks are weeks apart here. In open-sun subdivisions with few trees, one late-fall cleaning is often enough. Look up at your canopy; it answers the question.

When should ice dams worry me?

Thick ice ridges at the eaves plus icicles growing from behind the gutter — especially with water staining showing up inside — mean melt is pooling and probing under shingles. Don’t chip at it; that destroys shingles. Call us, and after the thaw let’s talk attic insulation and ventilation, because dams are usually a heat-loss symptom wearing a roof costume.

Hand the whole rhythm to our maintenance plan, or start with fall gutter cleaning.

Last updated: August 14, 2026